Monday Kit Tip - Boot Tweaking

Volume adjusters from Basher, raise the foot to reduce internal volume.

This week's Monday Kit Tip is about optimising footwear fit - nothing beats getting shoes or boots that fit your properly in the first place, see these shopping tips to help you get things right – but you can also tweak the fit to suit your feet.

The easiest modification your can make to your boots is to add a volume adjuster, these are flat insole-shaped spacers that fit under the footbed of your boot or shoe and as the name suggests, reduce the internal volume.

They work well if your boot is basically the right shape, but simply has too much space in it. Brasher for one sell 3mm adjusters along with 5mm and 2.5mm footbeds to allow you to tailor volume. Or simply opt for an aftermarket footbed from the Sole or Superfeet range which also tend to up volume.

One thing this also does is lift your heel slightly, which in turn, by placing it in a narrower part of the heel of the boot, may reduce heel lift. 

Heel lift is a common issue which you can also improve with lacing tweaks or possibly by using a different type of volume adjuster called a tongue depressor that sits under the laces and above the tongue of the boot and holds the forefoot more snugly in place. 

Finally, if you have problems with a pressure spot in your footwear – maybe a spur on a heel or rubbing at a particular point – a skilled boot fitter maybe able to use something called a rubbing bar to expand the boot slightly at that point and reduce pressure.

So don't despair if your boots or shoes don't quite fit, a simple tweak could make a significant difference.