You are not going to tell me you have never had a blister; we have all suffered this plague at some point in life – they hurt, incapacitate and are just a real pain in so many ways writes Mike Gormley.
Possibly since Adam was a boy, mankind has been devising ways of preventing and curing these annoying facts of life. From the tiny one on a toe to those that cover the entire area of your heel, blisters are to be avoided if at all possible.
First up, good boots and socks go a long way to prevention. Those old enough to recall the days of British Army issue DMS boots, that the good folk in MoD Procurement seemed to take pleasure in buying, will remember they were the cheapest possible and left the ‘grunts’ to sort things out in the field using any means possible. I am pleased to say the quality of issue boots has moved on a whole bunch of miles since then, as have boots in general. Issue socks are another matter. From the hairy wool that Granny could have knitted to the modern day ‘technical’ socks, things are now light years apart.
© Mike Gormley
Training and getting feet used to hard work helps a lot, but blisters still plague us and in particular those new to walking long hard miles and carrying weight. Enter Blis-Sox. I have to put my hand up here to say I have not had a proper blister in a long time, so it is hard to quantify these. I have, however, worn these heel socks for full days wearing boots and, of course, normal socks over the top. They are comfortable, did not ruck up or become misplaced in any way over a full day. Sadly, for now at least, there is only the style shown that just covers the heel and Achilles area. I asked and am told they are working on a front foot version as well.
Blis-Sox are manufactured from seamless fabric with a special polymer gel impregnated into the impact contact area. This not only provides added protection but also the gel has other good stuff in it (Aloe Vera, Shea Butter and Ceramides) which it releases into the foot to further soothe and protect. We cannot quantify this scientifically, but it most certainly feels like it works.
These socks, which are hypo-allergenic and odourless, are washable (up to 30 times) and reusable so will be able to work for you over a lot of miles. For my money, I would say give them a go if you have not done any arduous tabbing / yomping, or just plain old walking / running, for a while and suspect you may get blisters. Don’t wait until you have friction blisters forming, work on prevention being a whole lot better than cure.
Blis-Sox are distributed in the UK through New Heights.
