Take care of your feet, they will take care of you.

Your feet are your most important piece of gear when you go anywhere.  If you don't take care of them, they WILL fail and you will be in a lot of discomfort at best, or stranded in the worst case.  Because this is so important, and so many people complain of foot problems when hiking I thought it would be a good idea to address this right away.

First off, have a look at your feet.  Are they well maintained right now?  Nails trimmed, clean and in good condition?  If not, then you really have to get them up to par. Talk to your doctor if you have serious issues, but for the most part self maintenance is something that you should have been taught from an early age and is easy to keep up.  Wash them daily, trim the nails and if you get pedicures make sure they don't remove too much callous. The callous is there to protect the tissue underneath. If you have really soft skin then you will be more prone to blisters. The opposite end of the spectrum is no good either, tree bark feet will split open and leave you at risk for infection just as easily as broken blisters.  Soft leather like a fancy sports car seat is what you are after.  Socks are your friends.  Learn to wear socks to keep the skin from drying out and cracking.

When I served in the military it was actually a charge-able offence to let your feet become a problem. Weekly foot inspections were a part of life while in the field.  Your feet are your most important piece of gear, treat them that way.

So now that your feet are in good condition, boots are probably the next most important piece of gear when you go out into the wild.  Your feet are what will get you to where you want to go and they will get you back.  Provided you take good care of them and protect them.  So what boots do you get?

This really depends on a lot of things.  Are you walking, hiking, climbing, riding, fighting fires etc etc. There are boots for everything, use the type of activity to determine the style of boot you need then above all, get boots that fit!  A poorly fitted pair of boots are going to cause you nothing but grief, pain and misery.

The steps to fitting boots:

1. Go walking.  That's right. Before you go anywhere near a store looking for boots, go for a good walk.  Spend at least an hour on your feet walking.  Feet that have been sitting around without your weight on them are a different size than they will be later after walking. Wander the mall, walk the dog, play with the kids or a game of tennis.  Do something to drive blood into your feet and spread out the bones.  Don't over do it, you don't want swollen feet either.  Just 'warmed up' feet.

2. Bring socks. For hiking or back country style expedition boots you will want to bring 2 pair.  A brand new pair of sport socks that go up past your ankle, and a brand new pair of wool socks.  Holy crap Tony, it's 35C outside, wool socks!?  Yes. Wool socks.  Put both the sport socks on and the wool socks over top.  Now try on the boots.

3. Find your size.  Every make and model of boot will fit differently.  Get the clerk to help you measure your foot if you need to. You will want boots that fit snugly, but not tight. They should hug your feet through the 2 layers of socks. Do up the laces on both boots. Walk around the store in them. Spend some time squatting, bending, leaning and rolling sideways on your ankles.  Check for support and for spots that seem to get sore.  If something pokes, pinches or feels in any way uncomfortable, get a different boot.  Don't be afraid to ask for a different pair in the same size and model.  Not all boots are made by the same person or machine and boots from different boxes may fit slightly differently.  Also don't be afraid to buy the left from one box and the right from another.  You need your boots to fit and be comfortable. You may not find a good match at this store, try another until you are happy.  Make this purchase as if you were going to spend 10x what they are priced at.

4. Break them in.  All boots need to be broken in.  Some boots may only need an hour or so, others especially heavy leather boots will need much more time.  I'll assume you bought standard hikers like in the picture above.  If you want to know how to break in heavy leather boots like combat boots, let me know and I'll write about that.  By breaking in, I mean they need to conform to the shape of your foot.  When you get the boots home, put them on (with both pairs of socks, even in the heat) and tie them up snugly. Now take the dog out for a 20 minute walk.  Adjust the laces as needed as you go.  The material in the boot will compress and form to your foot. when you get home, leave the boots on.  Relax, let your feet and boots cool down before taking them off.  A couple of walks like this and your boots should be good to go.

The big question I can see looming right now is why the 2 pairs of socks.

This is something I have learned over the years on long hikes and forced marches.  The sport sock will get sweaty, and stick to your foot.  The wool sock will compress and tend to adhere to the boot.  Any rubbing that occurs will be between the fibers of the two pairs of socks rather than against your skin, causing blisters. The wool is also a good insulator and will help you regulate the temperature of your feet.  I used this technique for years and I have never had cold feet or blisters to worry about.

Always deal with hot spots right away, BEFORE they turn into blisters.  I have an issue with my left foot where I get a hot spot under the ball of the toe, but it comes from the bone rubbing on the interior tissue.  It can cause me some problems, but a well broken in boot and insole helps me to keep that in check.

Hopefully you don't need custom orthotics but if you do, then have them made.  Your feet are your feet, do what you have to do to get out and be comfortable.

The Trail Awaits!

The cutline heading west from Fullerton Loop Kananaskis, Alberta

Camping on the Cheap

So you want to go camping, but don't have money to spend on a ton of gear.  Well, if you can eat, and sleep at home and can go outside in all weather then you have most of what you need already.

There are a few items that you will need to buy, but once you have them you won't need to buy them again and they become part of your camping 'kit'

To demonstrate the ease of getting what you need I am going to 'virtually shop' the Canadian Tire website for the gear you need.

Axe or hatchet.  I recommend a mid size axe as it will make splitting wood much easier.  As with any bladed tool, get the best you can afford.  You won't regret spending more.  But here is a nice entry level axe for camping.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/yardworks-axe-24-in-0575108p.html#srp  $31.99

Tarp.  The standard  tarp you can get from any hardware store. I recommend that you get 2.  1 to put on the ground, another to use as your roof system. the 9x12 tarp is plenty for 2 people, if you have to shelter a larger group, then go with a size up.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/certified-value-tarp-9-x-12-ft-0405030p.html#srp  $7.98 x 2

Bed.  You will regret not having something to separate you from the hard, cold ground. I recommend getting an air mattress as it will separate you from the ground completely and folds up smaller than a foam mattress.  This is on the expensive side, and there is a risk of leaks developing. Smaller is better as shared body heat helps in the night.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/woods-double-airbed-with-2-in-1-pump-0765573p.html#srp  $94.99

Cooler.  You need something that you can put 2 bags of ice in, plus all the food that you want to keep cool. Remember to plan your meals and bring plenty of snacks.  Don't bring more than what you have to, and keep in mind that wild animals are attracted to food smells. (bears, coyotes, wolves, cougars etc)  Lock your food up in the car when you are not using it.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/coleman-advantage-cooler-46-can-0853433p.html#srp  $49.99

Rope The last item is some sort of cordage to help with tying up the tarp.  There are tons out there but something like this should work.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/polypropylene-hollow-braided-rope-blue-50-ft-0618464p.html#srp $2.97 x2

Total cost for gear that will get used again and again:  $198.87+taxes The only risky bit is the air mattress. because if it fails you have a hard sleep.  Another option is to use a pile of quilts or a futon or something but if those get wet you are done camping.

Once you have purchased these items, then you can finish up your shopping at home.

The easiest way to pack for a camping trip is to work through your day in your mind.  You'll have breakfast at home, and you'll have lunch at the site.  So pack a lunch that doesn't need cooking, then activities for the day.

Pack the meals you will need.  Don't forget you will be cooking these over a fire, so don't go all 'iron chef'  Keep it simple.  If you want bacon and eggs for breakfast, bring a frying pan you don't mind getting scorched over a fire.  Or you can pick one up cheap at the dollar store.

Drinks.  Pack some pop, but also bring plenty of water.  Bring a litre per person per day. This is probably the most important thing to bring from home as well as a kettle for heating water for the hot chocolate or washing up or the all important morning cup of coffee (instant is your friend)

Snacks for during the day, snacks for around the campfire at night.  Don't over do it, but you want to have some fun food on hand.

Bedding.  It gets cold out at night in the outdoors.  Heavy blankets, flannel jammies, toque and mittens are probably a good idea to have along even if you don't use them. Use a fitted sheet over the air mattress, then cover it in a regular sheet, a couple heavy blankets and a nice thick comforter or quilt.  Just remember that everything will get dirty from being outside, and will probably smell smokey when you get it back home.

So there you have it.  For a one time expenditure of under $200 dollars (less if you have some of the items at home already) plus whatever food and drink you bring, you can have a nice weekend camping trip.

Don't forget to pack a flashlight and some extra batteries and a roll of your toilet paper (in a ziplock freezer bag to keep it dry) Trust me on this one.  The stuff they try to pass off as toilet paper in government run campgrounds is not worthy of touching anyone's bottom. Quarter ply paper made from the scratchiest fibers known to man.

Some questions answered:

How do you set up the tarp to provide shelter for the night?  That depends a lot on weather and your personal preference. There are plenty of guides online.  I found this in a google search a while ago

The reason I have 2 tarps on the shopping list is to use one as the floor and the other as the roof part of the shelter.

Here is a simple one that I built in the back country of Kananaskis.  It was toasty warm with the fire out in front.  I used a single 9x12 tarp with stakes fashioned from sticks and some paracord I picked up at liquidation world for 3 bucks for about 50 feet.

 

There are plenty of camping checklists to be found online.  Use them to help you pack, but remember you don't have to break the bank.  Everything that you use to live at home can be used to live outside for a weekend.  As you get more experience you will know what items you prefer, and you will probably want to get a tent at some point as well.

Key things to remember when going out camping in order of importance

1. Water
2. Shelter (this includes appropriate clothing for being outside in the rain)
3. Fire (matches, lighter and something that burns easily to get it started such as newspaper)
4. Food

With these 4 items covered  you can easily spend a night out doors.  Do a dry run in your back yard the week before you go.  That way if you forgot something, you can just run into the house and get it.

Contact me if you have any questions on how to get started with camping.

HAPPY CAMPING!