Author Topic: Boot Sole damage due to poor Gait  (Read 884 times)

VeloSpeleo

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Boot Sole damage due to poor Gait
« on: 09:36:38, 31/07/18 »
A very good friend of mine has big problems buying boots that will not fall apart.
He is quite an obstinate guy which is why I am asking the question and not him.
He is mid height, lean and quite muscular, in his early seventies and a strong cyclist and walker and one time caver.
He has had expensive Boots with Gortex uppers, but lately has gone to the bottom end of the price range from sheer frustration.
It is the right boot that is always the problem in that the sole detaches from the upper.
I have pulled his leg about his gait, which is somewhat of a waddle and suggested to him that it might be the problem, but with characteristic obduracy, he refuses to see it as the problem.
He dismisses any attempts like this to address the issue, so I am doing it for him.
(I might get a pint out of him!)
Does anyone here have similar problems with boots?
He is very active and gets all over on plant hunting forays, in the Lakes, the Dales and Scotland.
This means sharp rock, scree, sphagnum bogs and steep stream beds.
It is always the right foot that goes.
Driven to despair, he has bought the dirt cheap Hi Tech boot and they last five minutes!
Any ideas?

gunwharfman

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Re: Boot Sole damage due to poor Gait
« Reply #1 on: 09:41:19, 31/07/18 »
Not too sure of what movement he makes to ruin his boots but I noticed a few years ago that the outer edge of my boots were wearing fast. I found it simple to solve, I just cut and old trainer insert in half longwise and then fitted one of the halves under my Sorbothan insert. Works well, now wear is minimised.

Would inserts work for him?

VeloSpeleo

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Re: Boot Sole damage due to poor Gait
« Reply #2 on: 12:06:39, 31/07/18 »
That sounds like reasoned thinking and I will suggest it to him.


VeloSpeleo

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Re: Boot Sole damage due to poor Gait
« Reply #3 on: 12:08:21, 31/07/18 »
Of course parting with brass for an hours worth of Podiatry is anathema (Yorkshire tightwad!)

gunwharfman

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Re: Boot Sole damage due to poor Gait
« Reply #4 on: 22:06:11, 31/07/18 »
Yes, parting with money on 'experts' is very difficult for me. I did it this year however, my leg pain (a running injury) was so bad so I went to a Chiropractor. I paid my dosh, he pressed, poked and manipulated me and eventually my pain disappeared. What I cannot work out is, did he do it, or did my pain disappear because of all the exercises (suggested on You Tube) that I was doing anyway? Or was I cured by time? The injury had run its course and had repaired itself?

VeloSpeleo

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Re: Boot Sole damage due to poor Gait
« Reply #5 on: 07:54:46, 01/08/18 »
Well, I broke my left ankle coming down off Penyghent a couple of years back and I saw a podiatrist.
Fractures of the leg often involve very slow recovery and almost always result in permanent swelling and slight variations in limb length.
This was observed and I had pack up shims for my right heel.
I use them in all my footwear and have Superfeet green insoles in my three pairs of walking boots.
Another walking pal had so much trouble, he took himself to someone in Clitheroe who used a profiling machine to map his foot soles and determine the load center's down each.
From this, they came up with a tailored insole, but it was quite expensive.
Obviously doing nothing at all and bemoaning your lot is a bit daft!

kinkyboots

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Re: Boot Sole damage due to poor Gait
« Reply #6 on: 08:25:53, 01/08/18 »
The reality is that self diagnosis and buying cheap boots time and time again is not going to resolve the underlying problem. However much it may hurt the pocket seeking professional to find and diagnose the underlying problem is the only real way to sort this out for once and for all.

As you have mentioned visits to the Yorkshire Dales I would highly recommend booking an appointment at Whalley Warm & Dry https://www.whalleyoutdoor.co.uk/boot-fitting-service/ who are an Altberg Premier Retailer and I cannot recommend their boot fitting service highly enough. Customers travel from all over the country to use their boot fitting skills and services and they are highly recommended by many other forum members who have used them.

 

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