Gear

ok... so I bite the bullet, pop to Peglers (www.peglers.co.uk) and throw myself into the hands of the knowledgeable being that I'm not doing anything too hardcore this year but the boots I wanted needed to be up for Snowdon in April and the Yorkshire 3 Peaks in August.

Firstly I have to say I was overly impressed with Peglers... exactly what I wanted, went in, told him what I needed out of the boots, he measured me up (I have stupidly skinny feet but I'll get to that in a bit) with some trekking socks on, had a think and bought down a pair of boots which to my amazement actually fitted (I honestly seem to be the only person who doesn't have "wide fit"... am really hoping I am not...)

So, I get home tonight, think, might as well chuck em on for the hound walk this evening, was out probably for about an hour ish I'd say, and after about 3/4 of an hour noticed a small amount of movement on my heel on the left boot... on further inspection, I really don't think it's anything to do with the fit of the boot, so much as although I have the right pair of socks size wise, they are really quite baggy on me feet (ie, my feet are too narrow to fill them out properly) and there's a lot of twisting movement...

My first thought I have to say, was to get a pair of thin socks to wear underneith, it's something we've used on the horsey side and I am guessing the theory would still be sound... however, I thought I would pick your brains re socks you guys and gals have used (and hopefully find some other people with the same problem who can point me in the right direction lol)... any of you bought a pair of socks to go "OMG these are tight" etc etc?

I also realise that my feet might not be all that hard at the moment as it's been a good year since they had to do anything really hardcore.

aTdHvAaNnKcSe

What socks are you using to walk in now then there with the boots today? I ask as you don't appear to have really said, and it might sound silly but are they winter-weight outdoors socks you tried them on with at the store? Likely being if you did not, then the boot sales-person should really have lent you the right thickness outdoors socks to try the boots with there and then in the shop Tweek! And you should really have done a good bit of walking about in the store with the boots on too, checking out the fit was definitely absolutely right for your feet. Did you get to do all of those things at all ok? If not then you might need to take a little trip back to the store for a re-sizing maybe.

If you think that is not at all the necessary case then you can just simply pop along to your local Millets or Blacks in Crawley town centre to get a pair of inners/in-soles; that then should indeed help to fill the boots out a little bit, and to stop any slight lateral movement of your feet. The Sorbothane ones are ok, and they also make the budget cheaper grey colour ones you will see there in hanging packs too-even though it be written in very smal print on the pack! Try those and see if it helps you, and at a fiver only per pair-£4.99 last year when I bought some-for the insoles it is not too much of an extra big bad outlay to go forking out, on top of your already paid boots price!

thin liner socks may help.

as regards socks in general, all outdoor brands are good. you need to buy a sock that is closest to your foot size for a proper fit. each brand has their own sizing. i once did a thread listisng the major brands sizes but i just get a purple death screen when i try to look for it.

like boots, socks should fit properly so don't take any notice of this brand, that brand.

take a trawl through the sock brands and note their sizing (even socks from the same brand may have different sizing just to make matters worse). if you are, say, size 6, get socks that are sized to a maximum of size 6 e.g. socks sizes 4-6 will fit much better than those 5-7.

Trevor... the socks I was wearing were from his recommendation, and I bought socks with the boots, so the ones I wore last night were the ones in the boots round the shop, (where I did a good 10-15 mins of walking round and phaffing in them), I am also aware I'm not going to have had the same nack at doing them up yet as he will have... this is my first pair of walking boots, I've always used shoes before. Oh and the socks are wigwam merino wool "comfort hiker" ones.

I've had a dig through my horsey sock draw and come across two pairs of old hiker socks I bought years ago which fit the width of my feet better so I'll give those a go today and see how much of a difference it makes.

Parky... yep I see where you're going with the lenght thing.... it's the tightness round the foot that I am lacking, which is why I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for skinny feet

I suspect that the layer principle will need to apply - thin liner socks. I have very wide forefeet, but narrow around the heel area. I've even resorted to chopping the toes off of a thin pair of socks so as to fill the heel area whilst leaving the toe end less cluttered sock wise!

aTdHvAaNnKcSe was very clever.

I seem to have narrow feet and am right between the cutoff in sock sizes.  I usually end up buying the smaller socks so that I don't end up with lots of "extra" which usually ends up rubbing.  I've been using smartwool socks recently and they seem good - I think they may shrink a bit in the wash which seems to help.

Depending on how they go when you are breaking them in, it might be worth going back to Peglers - they probably have all sorts of "widgets" like heel volume reducers which go underneath the footbeds of the boots to "fine tune" things.

Oh I have no doubt Peglers would sort me out... thing is... I had to blag the car off my brother to get there last night, if not I have to use my motorbike... (for those in the know, it's a GSXR750... not very good for holding a box of boots on lol)... that idea doesn't exactly fill me with joy and I do try not to have a backpack with anything solid in on just in case something does happen cause I kind of like my back the sape it is lol

I shall try them out with my old socks tonight and look into getting some thin inner socks... and work on getting the laces done up right too, cause I am sure there's a nack to it that once I get it'll make life easier lol

Judging from the replies so far, it seems a fair few of you use the layered system anyway?

(oh and thanks Ian... most people just look at me like i am mad when I put that lol)

I use thin liner socks (wicking) and then loop stitch bridgedale (I think) "commando" socks very comfy indeed.

and get some throw over luggage for the bike it worked with me for years. You can take the luggage with you for a little distance then cache it somewhere and cam it down.

 luggage on my baby ha ha... (love that smiley)

Should have kept my old GPz lol didn't mind what I did to her... this one's still a bit too precious at the moment

Think I shall go into town later if I can, armed with my discount cards for millets and blacks and see what I can find

be aware that wool socks stretch when wet (from sweat) and can bunch up when your feet are particularly damp.

you may like to look at x-socks that grip quite well all around the foot - again if the sizing suits.

rather than initially trying to fix any movement problems with socks/inserts, first consider different lacing on different parts of the boot so you can get a customised fit e.g. i always use a heel lock so my heel is always clamped snugly irrespective of how loose/tight the rest of the lacing may be. this may help clicky

it's cheap.

Silly me there Tweek! I only realised just this morning that I had neglected rather stupidly by oversight-plus the old memory just is not what it once was sharpness of rememberance-wise these days too-in not telling you about another simple solution you might like to try! Also in Millets/Blacks Group of shops chains, hanging up in brown/green cardboard hanging packs by the insoles and socks, you will usually always find the great green coloured Brasher insoles that are an extra thin boot liner to help stop just this exact problem! These too are just a little cheaper than the cheap pair of grey Sorbothane make shock-absorbing insoles I first told you about above!

While not being a shock absorber protective layer too themselves; and rather simply just a plain thinner boot filler insole instead, these items are often quite a useful addition to your armoury, in getting varied fits of boots and shoes just right! As you no doubt know by now, different makes of boot vary widely in same measurement sizing quite a good bit oftentimes, and even different pairs of the same size boots in the actual same manufacture can differ like this slightly even too! Lots of people too naturally have one foot bigger than their other one as well, and that is perfectly human and normal, so do not worry about that problem at all either! Just in case you might have been concerned at all! I hope this added info is helpful too perhaps, even though it comes a little late to you!

something else i forgot to mention. you will probably have to adjust the lacing when you are out as the initial lacing and your boot will stretch and any foam will have compressed fully. (like adjusting ski boots after you've walked in them for a while)

may be a bit of a faff but you will soon get the hang of what it feels like.

You do need to experiment with socks to get the combination that suits you best. 

I tried 1000 miles (stank and blistered me good-style), Smartwool (great outers, liners too hot), Bridgedale (way too hot in summer), Brasher (outers too bulky, liners felt clammy) before settling on Bridgedale Coolmax liners and Smartwool outers.

Many people don't use the inner/outer system with socks but if you have skinny feet, it is one way of helping fill out your boots.  Parky and Windscale are absolutely right - buy the smaller sock in your size range.  They will always stretch and a close-fitting sock is always preferable to a loose one.