Boat Shoes Tearing Up My Heels.

[Dave Porter]

The warm weather inspired me to start wearing my new boat shoes (Sebago Docksides).
Only problem, they are killing my heels.
Tips? Tricks?
I read to soak them in salt water? That seems strange considering they are leather.
I have these in Brown: http://www.sebago.com/US/en-US/Produ...t?dimensions=0

[Duvel]

Ouch! Sorry to hear that. How are they killing your heels exactly?

[Vicious49]

Are you getting heel slippage and that's causing them to rub against your heels on every step?

[Idle_Hands]

I use heel pads in the shoes that chafe when I go sockless. Works wonders. I get them at Duane Reade for $5 or so.

[shad0w4life]

I've tried heel pads in shoes etc. Never had any luck completely getting rid of it.

Some brands are for specific feet and some for others, I've got a high instep and a more pronounced heel, AE shoes no matter what Last etc just don't fit, I've got a strawfut that molds to my foot and heel and it still causes ever so slight slippage. Yet Herring double monks that are bigger, are the comfiest things I've ever worn, Magnanni fits great except the cap part rubs my toes over time and causes blisters depending on how thick my sock is.

I think there's an expectation that all these recommended shoes on sites will fit flawlessly, I know I made that mistake and went overboard with AE, had a pair of rockport slip on square toes, they were sooooo comfy and never had any issues, made the switch and the whole "they have to break in" phrase came up a few places. They never broke in


One other thing it might be is soft skin, mine is, so maybe our heels aren't "conditioned" for it, where I am certain someone like Sabir who always seems to be sockless, has the equivalent of those *cringe* cracked skin I wear high heels all the time and need to have someone file of the dead skin feet that some women get.

[shockfinder]

Are you wearing them sockless? You don't say, but we all obviously think you are. My camp mocs were hurting my Achilles until they broke in and softened up a bit. I wore a small bandaid to pad for a few wears. It wasn't noticeable. Worked great. If you are wearing socks and it's the Achilles area, then a bit of duct tape on your heal, put on the socks and shoes and in a few days it should have loosened up enough to stop hurting.

[Dave Porter]

Wearing sockless. Heel slippage. Heel pads didn't help. For now I put band aids on the back of my heels. Helps some. Maybe they just need to break in. Anyone heard of the saltwater trick? I had this problem with one foot when I started wearing my PF flyers sockless, but they are fine now. Maybe the stiff leather takes a bit longer to break in.

[Lemmy127]

I put duct tape on the back of my heels when breaking in the second last pair of boat shoes I got. My newest were perfect out of the box.

[frost]

They need to break in. I have this problem with a lot of different shoes. I just use that first aid tape stuff until they've softened up.

[Vanquish]

I've had problems with getting blisters on my heels with shoes that I haven't broken in yet that I walked long distance in. That was a mistake on my part for not coming to that realization, but I have never had problems with boat shoes. I feel that boat shoes should be easier to wear and not cause problems. I would just say that they probably need to break in and eventually will be comfortable. It could also just be the fit. Shoes that don't fit as well will probably end up causing some kind of problems. Hopefully, it will all work out though.

[Teej]

Never heard of the salt water trick, I'd be pretty scared to do that with leather shoes, even boat shoes. My sperrys used to hurt my heals but after a little while they were fine. Now they feel great when I wear them and I don't get any tearing up or blisters.

[Jamie]

1 - you need to break them in, and 2 - you need to condition your feet. If you don't usually go sockless, then the first few times you do will result in blisters. Band-aids are your friends - but also consider no-show loafer socks if its too bad.

[Duvel]

I want to see photographs of your heels.

[TKNumber3]

Are they perhaps too big? I bought a pair of Sperry's this year, my first go at any sockless shoe, and was sure to buy them quite tight. This means no heel slippage and so far no issues.

[MarkB]

Never heard of the salt water trick, I'd be pretty scared to do that with leather shoes, even boat shoes. My sperrys used to hurt my heals but after a little while they were fine. Now they feel great when I wear them and I don't get any tearing up or blisters.

I used to wear Sperrys all the time when I was younger. You should have no worries about getting them wet, that's what they are made for, after all. I would make sure I wore them when it looked like rain (which is every day in the summer in FL where I grew up) because you can't kill those shoes.