View Full Version : Brand new Chaco's... will I have a problem?
Im taking an extended section hike like in two days.. should I carry my worn out boots as a backup or do my brand new Chaco's not need any breaking in time?
Tha Wookie
05-08-2007, 12:34
Im taking an extended section hike like in two days.. should I carry my worn out boots as a backup or do my brand new Chaco's not need any breaking in time?
NO..... just carry some ankle-high smartwool or REI-type socks to prevent chaffing. Soon, they will feel like gloves.
also, carry some salve (like burt's bees) to apply to your feet so they don't dry.
have a great sandal hike!
Hikes with a stick
05-08-2007, 12:55
It took me awhile for chacos to be comfortable on my feet. I was not used to having that arch support, and it felt like I had hard spots under my arches. After I got used to the extra support, they were great! And, unlike other footwear, the footbed does not break-in. I see no toe marks or anything like that on mine.
Moon Monster
05-08-2007, 13:08
They do need some breaking in time depending on your feet and how you personally take to them. Everyone is different.
The straps that can cut the tops of your feet. When they are new, the straps are a bit stiff. An alternative to socks would be some athletic/medical tape (or even duct tape) placed just on any red spots as soon as they form. You could perhaps also be irritated by the bumps on the top-sole for a few days at first.
Wearing sandals a lot at the beginning to normally shoed feet can also aggravate the tendons and ligaments in the tops of the toes, which will get more of a workout than they do while locked down in the toe-box of a shoe.
Moon Monster
05-08-2007, 13:12
And, unlike other footwear, the footbed does not break-in. I see no toe marks or anything like that on mine.
True! They do not wear-in like the material on Tevas. I interpret this as one of many indicators of Chacos' durability and long life-expectancy.
Rhino-lfl
05-08-2007, 13:26
You hike in that crap open toe stuff?
Appalachian Tater
05-08-2007, 23:58
You hike in that crap open toe stuff?
Better an open toe than a closed mind.
As a kool-aid drinking Chaco wearer, I would say take your boots. Breaking in Chacos on the trail is not desirable. The foot bed DOES NOT give in the beginning. Feels like walking on wooden boards. Most pain I have been in my entire time on the trail was my first day after wearing new Chaco's. After that, they are golden.
Open-toed crap? OK, what should we all wear, oh fashion director?
My feet took some time to adapt to the straps. About the same as a new pair of running shoes. Socks help. But then I have sissy feet.
Rhino-lfl
05-09-2007, 09:57
As a kool-aid drinking Chaco wearer, I would say take your boots. Breaking in Chacos on the trail is not desirable. The foot bed DOES NOT give in the beginning. Feels like walking on wooden boards. Most pain I have been in my entire time on the trail was my first day after wearing new Chaco's. After that, they are golden.
Open-toed crap? OK, what should we all wear, oh fashion director?
Fuzzy bunny slippers and a hemp poncho.
Rhino-lfl
05-09-2007, 09:58
Better an open toe than a closed mind.
Never stubbed a toe?
I have stubbed my toes on several occasions but over the course of a thruhike, it's say, only 5 times. Jammed the hell out of my pinky toe in NH, painful as hell. More regularly than stubs are just the slipping and sliding and pinching your feet/toes in rocks. That hurts, too. But the bumps and bruises are few and far between. Nothing is perfect. But, for me, the pros outweigh cons.
Rhino-lfl
05-09-2007, 11:28
I have stubbed my toes on several occasions but over the course of a thruhike, it's say, only 5 times. Jammed the hell out of my pinky toe in NH, painful as hell. More regularly than stubs are just the slipping and sliding and pinching your feet/toes in rocks. That hurts, too. But the bumps and bruises are few and far between. Nothing is perfect. But, for me, the pros outweigh cons.
Have you ever had giant south American chinese leeches attach to your feet while crossing a crocodile infested swamp, blindfolded, in the dark, uphill, both ways while avoiding the man who kept you buried in a wooden box for 15 years? Well if you have, you’d appreciate a good solid pair of boots to support you, not that hippie free love crap.
what are the benefits of backpacking in beachwear?
Rhino? Are you drunk? You do realize you are on an AT discussion board. Take your macho south american chinese leeches, your colossal steel toe manly work boots, and your anti-hippie attitude and kiss my a*$. Who needs you negativity?
Really, it so good to have you in the AT community. You add so much.
Rhino-lfl
05-09-2007, 11:40
Rhino? Are you drunk? You do realize you are on an AT discussion board. Take your macho south american chinese leeches, your colossal steel toe manly work boots, and your anti-hippie attitude and kiss my a*$. Who needs you negativity?
Really, it so good to have you in the AT community. You add so much.
Yes, it is true, worship me. I add like the wind adds to the weight of a vacuum.
Did everyone get that? Rhino be smart.
Whatever the hell that vacuum stuff means if it isn't about you blowing hot air over a computer line it ain't true.
Peace and love to all who deserve it.
Rhino-lfl
05-09-2007, 13:50
Did everyone get that? Rhino be smart.
Whatever the hell that vacuum stuff means if it isn't about you blowing hot air over a computer line it ain't true.
Peace and love to all who deserve it.
You should do a better job of keeping the sun off your head, I'm just screwing with you buttercup, didn't think you wouldn't have got it by now given how retardedly obvious it was.
Thank your caregivers, they have a hard job. Oops, is it diaper changing time?
My problem with my new Chacos is that the straps gradually tighten on me while I'm walking, and that could be really annoying if you're walking all day and have to keep bending over to readjust. Will they ever stop doing that.......anyone?
D'Artagnan
05-09-2007, 14:33
My problem with the "new" Chacos was the way the footbed to outer side of my feet just below my ankles dug into the soles of my feet. It's at the point where the strap comes out of the footbed. I didn't notice a problem when I first put them on, but after only a couple hours, my feet started rebelling. I guess I tend push over on my feet and this just didn't gel with the Chaco design. Thankfully, the outfitter allowed me to trade them out since I'd only been wearing them indoors. I was bummed since I was really looking forward to walking sans socks and "shoes". YMMV!!!
My problem with my new Chacos is that the straps gradually tighten on me while I'm walking, and that could be really annoying if you're walking all day and have to keep bending over to readjust. Will they ever stop doing that.......anyone?
No. Sadly they do loosen as you go. I like wearing them loose, so no sweat for me, but that could be a problem if you like them tight.
Also, didn't like the new design. The sole just looked to freaky for me. And they felt even more bizarre.
Rhino, I get. You're a weasel who posts smarmy sentiment and then says you were only kidding when someone calls you on it. It was a pleasant thread about Chaco's til you had to come dick it up. "You're so cool", is that what you need to hear.
Rhino-lfl
05-09-2007, 15:47
Rhino ... "You're so cool" if I thought you were into man love, I'd call you right now.
Thanks bubba, you're aces. Glad you caught on so fast about the sarcasm too, you should be proud of your IQ.
IQ, dude you went to the wrong place. I'll give you my bank account if your IQ is larger than mine. Hehe. Not that being intelligent is any great feat, its a genetic condition. But sarcasm on the web? You are the infantile one. Us, mature & intelligent people figured out long ago that sarcasm on the web is left for the ineffectual losers who couldn't possibly muster the courage to say such things in person.
Rhino-lfl
05-09-2007, 16:02
...Us...
O'rly, yer gang gonna cap my ass homey? Pappa smurf got his scare on yo. I gots ta boot cause meye life youz gots me scared for.
... Oh, and I'm sure your parents don't want you mentioning genetics and your IQ; you'll give them a bad rap.
Woh. You win. I made no mention of violence. You did. There wasn't even the hint of that in my post.
Way to bring it all down to the lowest level, jackass. Truly sad, it has come to this.
Say what you will, I am done responding.
Where do I sign up for that hippie free love crap? I remember alot of the 70's but the better part of the 80's are a blur. I think I had fun...