CBT wearers... I have had my CBT lits for nearly a year now and have broken them in nicely. Yesterday, I started getting a hot spot on my heel. Most likely due to much walking and wearing in the wrong socks. Wool socks not so good for 65F >. Anyhow, I noticed this morning that the grey liner on both boots is wearing a small hole. This is the inside liner on the boot sort of "behind" where the outside heel reflector is located. The hole is worn completely through as I can feel the inner side of the black boot leather. The hole is about this size of a dime. See a photo below. I am not sure how long this worn spot has been there, but I am sure a combination of bad socks and the hole caused the hot spot (almost blister). I called Duluth and got the proverbial shoulder shrug. Has anyone else got the same or similar worn spot? Any blister issues? Any fix? Local cobbler (replace liner). Open for comments and suggestions... Just when I thought I had found the perfect boots. Damn-it! Thanks in advance.
My CTBs are 15 years old. Liners still look good. My left boot does have a dime-sized hole worn through the lining layer in the heel area. But, I never noticed it until I just did a visual inspection before responding to this post.
I've got about 100k on my CBT Lites. I've done a fair amount of walking around...just enough to warrant sole replacement. The lining still looks great. I did "snug up" the fit with a set of gel insoles. Overall, they still look great. I clean them thoroughly once per year and apply some leather conditioner after cleaning. That's weird that the leather interior would get a hole from wear. Those must be some tough wool socks! (I wear Thorlo).
I checked mine after reading the post. I have the same issue. Mine are about 3 years old and are used daily.
My experience isn't with MC boots getting that worn, but the heels of my hiking boots can wear through if there's too much sloppage in heel fit. Easy solution is stick-on Moleskin or Molefoam in the Dr. Scholl's section. The latter is thicker, but will get thinner as it breaks in, both can be stacked if more thickness is needed. Put your boot on carefully at first until they adhere better from constant foot pressure, or you'll peel the patch off. They will wear out, just replace or stack a new one on top of the old one. Wool should not cause an issue with temperature, works better than cotton ("the fabric of death" in cold weather and foot rot in warm), but thickness and weave might contribute. Some PhD socks from Smartwool are densely woven and the density varies by foot zone to allow cooling in the arch. If they make tall enough ones they would be great for MC. I like wool REI hiking socks in my CBT, I'm a sales-rack opportunist so they didn't sting that much.
I agree . . .wear like that comes from an imperfect fit . . . . If you have an old-fashion cobbler around wander in with your favorite socks and the books, and I'm betting he can fix you up with an insole or other device to improve the fit. These guys are wizards! lacking a cobbler (harder and harder to find) a high end hikers store (think REI) will likely have somone on staff who can help in similar ways.
A cobbler can also stretch out just the hot spot. They do this with shoes for people that have a bunion or hammer toe. I've had no issue with my CBTs but I have to do super careful foot care, Seamless socks, etc. I usually wear a very thin cotton sock seamless, then a thin silk then a thick whatever. I've found spongy (and gel) insoles can cause problems. As the foot sinks into them and rebounds, it moves around in the boot and you get blisters. Putting the shock absorption in the sole outside the boot avoids this.
I use superfeet in mine and they've been great, but I take steps to avoid walking around in them where I can (sneakers in my office, sneakers or sandals with me on trips, usually change right out of them after I commute). They suck as walking shoes, and I'm using CBT lites.
As anyone that owns a pair of CBTs knows they do not offer a sz. 9 and I usually wear 9s. I have the 43 (9.5). So there may be a bit of slippage that can be fixed with the moleskin as mentioned. I think it was a combination of very thick merino wool socks, a bit of sweat and the socks were bunched down just a wee bit causing a seem at my heel. Thanks for the tip on the cobbler. Yes, we do have a old guy cobbler in my town that I go to often for new heels, etc (especially to repair my wife's shoes). I have been using some cushioned insoles and that may very well contribute to the issue. I have superfeet insoles in my athletic shoes. I think I will swap them out today and give it a try...then get a new set of superfeet insoles for the CBTs. Thanks!
I've had my CTB's for 4 years now and just checked the liners...no issues. 'Stich doesn't make the boots (SIDI does) so to get them to repair them is extremely unlikely. I agree with others that have already posted here. I would start with the cobbler and proper fit. Then wearing proper socks, insoles and maybe moleskin. Cheers and good luck.
Update... I took my boots to the local cobbler. He looked over the "rubbed spot" on each boot. After talking a few minutes, he suggested sewing in a piece of pigskin leather to cover the worn holes and to cover the stitching near the heel. He also says that the hole rubbed is indicative to boots being a bit too big. I did not disagree on the sizing issue. My CBTs are sz 43 which is about a US 9.5. I generally wear a US 9. He then suggested to get a Superfeet insole that is thicker than the one I had in the boot. I was using the Blue Superfeet insoles. I switched to the Copper DMP which is a bit thicker insole to take up some of the boot slop and to make up that 1/2 size. Overall, I am 90% satisfied. I had to break in the newly added pigskin...that took a couple weeks. But now the boots do seem to fit better and there is no more rubbing on the back...well, not as much rubbing. It seems that my right foot is slightly bigger than my left. It seems that is normal, according to the cobbler. Anyhooo...with thinner socks I do have some slight rubbing, but with my normal boot socks the rubbing is very minimal and the boots wear good once again. Here are the results. 30$ for the pigskin and 40$ for a new set of Smartfeet insoles.
Look into some diabetic socks for the under sock. It's OK to wear a double undersock on the smaller foot and a single on the larger foot, then the over sock.
