pozorvlak | These boots were made for walking

...and that's just what they've done* - I reckon nearly 500km in the last two years, and a fair bit before that. They're a pair of Karrimor KSBs, bought... er... between seven and ten years ago, I can't remember, but I've only started using them regularly since I came to Glasgow a couple of years ago (before that it was occasional walking holidays). Anyway, since the end of the summer, I've noticed that my feet get very sore, particularly on descents or on long walks on roads. I'd assumed that the shock-absorbency was starting to go, and bought a new pair of insoles (the old ones had worn paper-thin in places, and you could see the imprints of my toes very clearly). Unfortunately, the new ones were cheapass, and though they helped at first, the beneficial effects only lasted a few weeks. So I went back on Friday and bought some more expensive ones. I wanted the ones with extra shock-absorbency in the ball and heel, but they didn't have any in my size, and the bloke in Tiso reckoned the problem was more likely to be lack of arch support (hmmmm) and that I should therefore buy some other ones which were three times the price (again, hrmmmm). I wore these last week, and they did bugger all - as soon as we started descending, my feet started hurting. So, taking them back and claiming my sixty-day money-back guarantee would seem to be indicated. But is this likely to be a problem that new insoles can fix, or is it more likely to be indicative of worn-out boots? What do you reckon, guys?

[I'm particularly looking at

elvum,

half_of_monty and

michiexile here, but all comments welcome.]
[Edit: and, of course,

mrpjantarctica,

mi_guida,

susannahf, and anyone who's ever owned a pair of walking boots. I'll stop naming specific people in future, as with you lot being so multi-multi-talented I always leave someone out :-)]

UPDATE: the voting so far is that the boots themselves are wearing out, and that insoles probably won't help much. Bah. But they're still waterproof, and besides, I just bought a new jacket...

* And one of these days these boots are gonna walk right up your tum. *Horn break*

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I was largely sceptical about arch supports and all that malarkey until I had a pair of ski boots fitted about this time last year. What the shop assistant did was to measure my foot size whilst I was sitting down with my foot on an inclined board (as happens in most shoe shops) and then measure it again with me actually standing up and with my weight on it. Of course, putting your weight on the foot causes your arch to collapse slightly and your foot usually lengthens and widens slightly. In my case, my feet change by about three-quarters of a standard shoe size. Having good arch support stops this from happening, so your boots fit better and you're less likely to get blisters as your foot isn't expanding and contracting inside the boot. You could probably measure this yourself with the aid of a tape measure, a board and a helpful friend.
For rigid skiing and winter mountaineering boots, you can (as I did) have a custom-moulded rigid footbed (~£30) which holds your feet in exactly the right way, and I must say that my ski boots are extremely comfortable, even when I've had to abandon the skis and walk up mountains in them (they're ski-mountaineering boots, so they flex and have a proper walking sole). Obviously in ordinary hillwalking boots you need something that has arch support and also flexes. This firm (http://shop.sandpit.com/) will sell you a pair of heat-mouldable insoles for £35 a pair. You bake them in the oven for 2 mins at 90 celcius, then stick them in your boots, put them on, lace them up and stand still for two minutes. Hey presto, customised footbeds!

This being the reason I almost NEVER measure my feet sitting down. The custom-moulded stuff sounds nice - though it prices at slightly more than my normal budget for new shoes.

The ones I've got are these (http://www.superfeet.com/users-guide/). His argument was that I was getting some blistering on the pads of my feet, and some hard skin on the heels, and that this was probably symptomatic of lack of arch support. He's probably right, but that's not the main problem...

If you walk around in bare feet a lot, you'll have hard skin. If you don't, then maybe it is the shoes...

Yeah, but it's not necessarily *these* shoes. I have other pairs of shoes for day-to-day use, many of them starting to wear out.

[Though I have been getting blisters on the pad of my foot while walking recently. Tape usually fixes it]

they're ski-mountaineering boots, so they flex and have a proper walking sole
Damn, that sounds useful. Why aren't all ski boots like that?

These boots were made for walking

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