One foot bigger than the other

[GratitudeM]

Hi all, first time ‘posting’ , it is 2am on a hot summer night in Australia and I am ‘researching’... like fossiking, looking for the ‘gold’ Huh! I am booked on a flight to Paris in May and 39 days later booked on a flight home from Madrid!!! Nothing else booked. God help me! I have been training, purchasing stuff etc for the Camino walk from SJPDP - I would have booked everything by now usually. But I believe I have to ‘go with the flow’, be a pilgrim, make mistakes, be grateful. My biggest problem at the moment is shoes!! I have a pair of shoes that are a size bigger than my normal size, as recommended, but it has made a bigger problem with my smaller foot. I’m not keen on putting in padded inliners as that can tilt my back alignment (fine for a day but not 35days continuously) Should I just buy another pair in the size down to fit my smaller foot? As in wear two different size shoes?!!

 

[trecile]

Should I just buy another pair in the size down to fit my smaller foot? As in wear two different size shoes?!!

That's exactly what a woman that I walked with did.. And in fact they were also different colors!

 

[Deleted member 43985]

Have you seen your feet swelling significantly during your training? I've read many times people suggesting to buy a size up but for me, I've always worn my normal size and not had any problems. Maybe this has something to do with how people wear their 'everyday' footwear back home? When I buy footwear for any use I make sure there is a little space ahead of my toes and if the sides are snug I buy a wider size so they are comfortable. I follow this same MO with my Camino footwear and seems to work for me. If you haven't had big swelling during your training maybe it will work for you too. Good luck.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Backpacker Magazine shows a few different ways to lace your boots to ease fitting problems.
http://www.backpacker.com/gear/footwear/hiking-boots/common-hiking-boot-lacing-techniques/

Experiment also wearing different thicknesses of socks within each boot. And this is a crazy thought, if you don't want to wear an insole under your foot then maybe you can wear something above it. Take an old slipper and cut off the sole and punch holes in the rest for breathability. Try that in the boot. Testing may show that you may need to cut more away and you may need to slip this between two pairs of thin socks to keep it in place.

 

[Waka]

I've always had the same problem with odd size feet, I do get a whole size bigger in walking shoes to fit my bigger foot, regarding the smaller foot I wear a thicker sock, now this works for me but it might not for others.
It really is a shame that they won't sell odd shoe sizes, like you I did consider two pairs of different sizes, but that does come in rather expensive as apposed to a thicker pair of socks.
Let us know what you decide to do.

 

[WalkingJane]

That's exactly what a woman that I walked with did.. And in fact they were also different colors!

I'll bet she never had difficulty with her shoes being picked up "by mistake"...

 

[Alan Pearce]

I have the same problem of two different sized feet. I have always bought boots to fit the bigger foot, which gave me blisters on the smaller foot, as my foot slid around n the footwear. Lots of walking before I left toughened the smaller foot up, and by the time I got to the actual camino I was fine.

 

[Heikki]

Same here, different size feet. I have walked three caminos with a little bit too small hiking shoes. I have had no problems during the caminos, but afterwards have lost some toe nails. On every camino I have had a new pair Hanwag Banks shoes. These fits to my feet like gloves. I’ve used two liner socks, which I think kept my feet blisternfree. On my last camino I had bigger shoes and had to abort because of walking companions illness. We walked 150 km and shoes were all right. This time I lost no toe nails, maybe I’ll use bigger shoes in my future caminos.

 

[Linda Fantillo]

I have never subscribed to the "get a size or half size bigger theory". What worked for me was to get a comfortable boot that is wider in the toe box. My Merrel wide boots were the trick for me. Good luck.