Fixing Your Feet

Fixing Your Feet, by John Vonhof ★★
Having had many blisters from my years of backpacking, I was quite eager for some advice on how to prevent blisters from happening, and what to do about it when they do occur. Thus, with this book recommended, I eagerly plunged into its 260 pages, hoping for concrete advice that would prevent the painful foot sore from ever happening again. The advice was quite mixed. The author repeatedly (and correctly) noted that everybody is going to have a different fix. Then, he repeatedly repeats much of what he says again and again and again. This book is not intended to be read straight through like I did. Considering that its on its 5th edition, my presumption is that the author started to throw in chapters here or there, without ever re-reading the book to see what he was duplicating. About a third of the book is taken up with anecdotes by other athletes regarding their worst blister stories, or their solution to a bad blister—not terribly helpful. Vonhof’s focus is on the long-distance ultra-marathon runner, including those people that run extreme races like the Death Valley run (which goes from Badwater to the summit of Mt. Whitney), or the Marathon de Sables in southern Morocco across the Sahara desert. There was very little advice for long-distance backpackers who do not have massive support teams and need to consider weight as an important variable in preventing blisters.
The book was marginally helpful, as advice acquired here was available from most backpacking books. The first several chapters offered a summary  of all that was essential in the book. Subsequent sections on prevention and treatment of foot injuries of the long-distance runner, and not terribly applicable to hiking. Climbing foot problems were never mentioned where many of my blisters occurred, when the foot was in a very stiff and waterproof boot by necessity. Neither was mentioned foot problems with cross-country skiing, a unique time when the foot must be flexible but very warm.
If there are any changes to this book in subsequent editions, I recommend several things. First, the author should actually read through his book, and delete the bountiful repetition that occurs. Second, anecdotes need to be more selective, and advice ranked and categorized better. Advice was all over the board from not doing something to only doing the same thing, to extremely crazy things. We don’t need to know about the bizarre things that might have worked on one person, but rather what generally works, and what could be tried if general advice doesn’t work. Second, the author should create sections specifically for certain activities, since every activity is going to have different solutions. Thirdly, complex problems that require specialty treatment need to be stated clearly as such without lengthy details.