If you recently picked up a new pair of hiking boots, you might be planning to take a hike soon – but before you take this hike, you should know that one of the worst mistakes you can make is to take your hiking boots from the box to the trail! If you take your new hiking shoes or hiking boots straight onto the trail without breaking them in, you may very well end up with blisters on your feet within the first mile or two – and when your day is supposed to consist of walking, blisters are the last thing you want!
If you want to break in your hiking boots, the first thing you need to do is actually wear them – it might seem silly to slip into your hiking boots and wear them around the house, but this is the best way to make sure you are breaking them in. Put on your hiking boots when you come home from work (along with the socks you plan to wear while hiking) and walk around the house in them; if you want to really break in your boots, you should also spend some time walking up and down the stairs.
You can take your hiking boots outside after you have spent a number of nights wearing them around your house (make sure you do not take them outside right away, as they might get too dirty, and might keep you from wearing them in the house). Try to walk over tree stumps and uneven ground when you are walking outside; you should be able to find these sorts of areas around your house by going to a park or a more rural area. And you can even break in your boots outside in the city by using a curb – stepping up and down from a curb over and over again, rocking both feet as you do this.
Once you take these steps with your hiking boots, you will be able to hit the trail with a pair that is fully broken in, and you can feel comfortable walking all day – without risking blisters on your feet!
