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Testing Location
Overview: The hiking environment of the south-west of Western Australia
allows for hiking and backpacking from coastal plains to forest.
Elevation ranges from 0 to 585 metres (0 to 1,920 feet). Within this region, I hike in varying
conditions from forestry roads, to sandy tracks to single-purpose walking
trails, to rock hopping, to beach walking to completely off-track walking
through open and dense country.
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Weather Conditions: During the summer period, daytime
temperatures average 30° C (86° F), whereas from March through to December the daytime average temperatures range from 15° C to 26° C (59° F to 79° F). During the
autumn, winter, and spring periods the normal weather pattern is fairly
wet with frequent heavy rainstorms evident. It does not normally snow in
Western Australia.
According to The Times Atlas of the World (Concise Edition - Revised 1997)
our weather is described as being "Mediterranean - rainy climates with mild
winters, coolest month above 0° C (32° F), but below 18° C (64° F); warmest
month above 10° C (50° F)." The atlas depicts the coastal area north of
Los Angeles as having the same climate.
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Field
experience:
Since receiving the Shock Doctor Ultra2 footbeds some two
months ago, I have pretty much worn them daily in my New Balance 805 trail
runners and I have worn them in my Scarpa Manta boots on three separate
weekend bushwalks. My first use of the Ultra2 in my boots was in
May on a weekend walk in Plavins Block, Dwellingup. Over this
weekend I walk approximately 26 km (16 mi) carrying approximately 15 kg
(33 lb). The walking was mixed, with both on and off-track sections. The
second bushwalk was in June in Noggerup Block, near Mumballup. The walking
this time round was predominately on-track. Distance covered was about 18
km (11 mi) but with a large load, approximately 20 kg (44 lb). The
third weekend walk with the footbeds was in July in the Avon Valley
National Park. This walk was 90% off-track, covering a distance of 22 km
(14 mi) and carrying a max 16 kg (35 lb).
In respect of using the Ultra2 in my New Balance 805s, my
walking has been more of the day to day kind, that is around home, around
the neighbourhood, down to the shops, as well as regular exercise walks
around Lake Monger, which are approximately 5 km (3 mi) in length. The
walking with the 805s has been predominately on hard surfaces such as
concrete or bitumen.
In my
Initial Report I went into detail about the various features of the
footbeds and the claims against these features. Normally I would revisit
those claims in this report, however, I am of the opinion that the claims
are of such a nature, that I can not fairly report on them, i.e., they are
technical claims for which I do not have the technical knowledge to
support my comments. Therefore, what follows is my laypersons' reporting of my experience
with the footbeds.
First up, using them in the New Balance 805s trail
runners. To fit them to the trail runners, I first removed the
original inserts and replaced them with the Ultra2. I have found that the
Ultra2 fit snugly in the 805s, so the sizing has been good. My initial
concerns about the height of the footbeds have proved unfounded. Overall I
am very happy with the comfort and support that the footbeds provide when
used in my trail runners.
The same cannot be said, of their use in my Scarpa
Manta boots. My first outing with the footbeds in my boots resulted
in blisters on the sole of my foot and on my heel. My initial
thoughts where that the height of the footbeds had relocated my feet such
that they where rubbing against boots in a new position and Scarpa boots
being Scarpa boots they inflicted blisters upon me. However on my second
outing with the footbeds in my boots, I wore relatively new socks and
guess what! No blisters on the first day's walking, the longest walk
distance. Due to wet weather, i.e., wet socks, on the second day of the
walk, I switched to an older pair of socks (same pair worn on the previous
weekend walk) and back the blisters came. This was after only
walking 5 km (3 mi). So it would seem that I had been a bit quick in
coming to the view that the footbeds where the guilty party, rather it
seems that my old socks where the problem. To clarify what was happening,
on the third weekend's walk, I wore brand new socks with the footbeds in
the Scarpa boots. Outcome no blisters! So the footbeds have come through
okay on this aspect.
That, however, is where my positive experience of the
footbeds end. Past experience has shown the Mantas to be the type of boot
that introduces fatigue over the day, particularly where a lot of hard
surface, read road bashing, takes place. Using a competing brand of
footbeds in the past has pretty much eliminated this problem for me. I
expected a similar outcome when I first got the Ultra2 footbeds. Alas I
have been disappointed. While the footbeds have worked well in my trail
runners, they have not provided as much support as I would desire when
worn in my Manta boots. That said, they do provide some support, however,
I do find I am getting "sore" feet at the end of a day's walking,
but not as bad as my pass experience with the original inserts.
I have particularly noted that lack of sufficient support when walking
more than two to three kilometres (one to two miles) on hard surfaces such
as gravel roads.
In summary, I find the Ultra2 footbeds more than adequate
when worn in my New Balance 805s and would suggest they are an improvement
over the original inserts. However, when fitted to my much heavier Scarpa
Manta boots, the performance of the Ultra2 footbeds to date has been less
that ideal, particularly when my walking involves hard surfaces (on-track
road surfaces in the main). I suspect, but cannot be 100% certain, that
the weight of the boots may have some bearing on my experience.
The above notwithstanding, I will continue using the
footbeds in both my trail runners and boots and will report on my
continuing experiences in the long-term report.
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