I will never understand people who bring less than 14 pairs of socks on a roll. I get it, when you buy that many the price adds up. However, the benefits of taking care of your feet greatly outweighs the $100 or so you save by skimping on a solid collection of high quality socks. It’s not just socks that will keep your feet tip top either. Care is important and will make your life so much easier if your feet are healthy. Below I line out all the things to do to keep them ready to go each day.
I learned my lesson on a Minnesota roll in my first year Hotshoting. If you don’t know, Minnesota is The Land of Ten Thousand Lakes. I thought I would be good with my normal allotment of socks. It quickly became clear to everyone on the crew that even if you left your socks out to dry all day, they would still be damp when you needed them. Hiking in reused soggy socks for 14 days straight will cause your feet to rot. At the end of the day I would take off my boots and literally ring the moisture out of my feet in front of the fire.
I could push a finger into the heal of my foot and water would seep out and waterfall down my hand. The real trouble starts when you dry your feet out at night and then the skin cracks. This provides a roadway for bacteria and fungus to enter through the once protective layer of your skin. When this happens your feet feel like someone put Jalapeno juice on socks made of sandpaper and forced you wear then. It burns! If you let this snowball you get to a point where you start having trouble walking without extreme pain and can lead to nerve damage and different types of infections.
There are a lot of ways to keep your “money makers” healthy. It just takes some time, dedication, and care. I’ll go over a handful of them but the number one way to keep your feet healthy is wear
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