Is it the boots or is it me? Mountaineering Boots, Heel Rub, lacing...

I've had my Sportiva Nepal Evos for 2 seasons now, spent a lot of time with the fitter trying to get the "right" fit and a lot of time in the boots since then. Some trips the boots are extremely comfortable and have no issues, other trips i destroy my heels. HELP!

What i am noticing is that if i am on a trip that i can keep my boot relatively flat, ie kicking steps or use snowshoes with the heel lift bars, i have zero heel issues. But if im on a trip that requires steep up hill  barebooting or in crampons and i need to flex my foot a lot, i lose alot of skin on my heels. Currently i tie my lower and upper laces pretty tight. I did loose a little extra skin last trip due to some slightly looser than normal socks, but even with my perfectly tight fitting Defeet Woolie Boolie socks, i still get heel pressure.

Could it be that my boots are still breaking in and they will flex more over time? My activity tracker says i have about 64mi in them, how long is normal break in?

Could this be a lacing issue, like would keeping the lowers tight and the uppers loose help with mobility and walking up steep terrain?  

Am i trying to walk in these boots too much like soft hiking boots and need to always walk flatfooted in stiff mountaineering boots?

Are the boots just wrong for me and i should be able to lace them up super tight all the way through and just be comfortable no matter what the terrain is?

What am i missing here?

I swear by Engo Heel Blister Prevention Patches. I mainly use them for prevention as I've never had chronic issues like yours. I've used them in almost every single pair of boots I own, except for my current Scarpa Phantom Techs - Best fitting and most comfortable mountaineering boots I've ever worn.  I'd seriously consider a different boot if the Engo patches or something like a SuperFeet insole don't work.  The Engo is very slick, which prevents any contact/rubbing between your heel and the back of the boot.  A SuperFeet insole may lock your foot in a bit better than the stock insole, which may prevent heel rub.

Thanks for the reply, ill try some of the Engo patches and see if they work.

Part of my original heel problem was using Superfeet Greens in my boot. Although they were super comfortable under my feet, they were way too thick and couldnt get good heel placement. I switched back to the stock insole again, much less comfortable under my feet but i think my heel is in the right place. Maybe i can try an insole with less volume, like the black one?

Whenever I’m going a long distance in any mountaineering boots. I put a strip of duct tape going up both heels. Works great. 

Are you getting pressure on your heel or are is your boot slipping at the heel and causing the blisters? They should definitely be broken in with 64miles on them. 

If there is pressure on your heel with you boot on (heel welts on the crampons increase the pressure on your heel even more), your boot is probably a little bit too small. Your feet are going to swell when you climb, especially as the day goes on.

If the boot is slipping and causing friction on your heel... Are you using the inserts on your Nepal Evos? I used to have a bad problem with heel lift on my Evos, and I started using the inserts and it went away almost immediately. I wear a large boot size, but my calves are pretty regular, so I would get some slip in the boot because I couldn't lace them tight enough. Had to use the insert to really lock the boot into place... They take a little getting used to, but it's way better than coming home with no skin on your heels.

Also Leukotape (can be bought on Amazon), is amazing for taping your feet for blisters. It's a very, sticky medical tape. I swear by that stuff.

One thing I don't see recommended here yet is insoles.  I have a low volume foot, so adding a SuperFeet insole closed up some of the empty space in the heel of my boots and prevented rubbing there.

I forgot to mention that i am also using the tongue inserts currently, It seems like without them the boots would be too big. Im getting slipping in my heel, not pressure, im kind of fearing that maybe my boot is half a size too large...

El Duderino wrote: One thing I don't see recommended here yet is insoles.  I have a low volume foot, so adding a SuperFeet insole closed up some of the empty space in the heel of my boots and prevented rubbing there.

Which superfeet do you use? I tried green and they brought my heel up too high, but definately open to getting a more comfortable insole than the awful stock one

Corey Day wrote:

Which superfeet do you use? I tried green and they brought my heel up too high, but definately open to getting a more comfortable insole than the awful stock one

I use the green, unfortunately.  As I understand it, the blue has a lower profile and may be better for you.

I wear the SuperFeet Blacks in my Evos (my feet are pretty flat though), and those coupled with the inserts took care of pretty much all of my slippage issues.

 Lengthwise do they fit correctly? No toe bang ,etc?

Jordan W wrote
 Lengthwise do they fit correctly? No toe bang ,etc?

No problems with toe banging on the downhills. When I fit them in the store I was able to put a finger behind my heel with my toe just barely touching the front with the boots unlaced

On some La Sportiva boots the tongue is attached with velcro and it can be moved upwards or downwards to achieve a better fit. My right foot is about 1/3 size smaller in volume in the heel area than my left and makes fitting boots a challenge. I adjusted the tongue of the boot downward on the right side and it took up all of the heel slop in one model boot and in another model I do the same thing but also added the thinnest ankle height sock I could find in my sock drawer and that took care of the heel lift/blister problem. In another pair of La Sportiva's I have found that the Sole Performance Thick (Ed Viesturs) model footbed worked really well but that the Superfeet Green was too high in the heel and pushed the heel too far upwards out of the heel pocket/cup and was a blister forming PITA.

After 25 years of wearing a variety of mountaineering, ice climbing and snowboarding boots I have found that my feet aren't "normal." Duct tape, adjusting the tongues, different thicknesses of socks or multiple sock combinations, liner socks, aftermarket footbeds, factory footbeds, different lacing patterns blah, blah, blah have been all been required for me to get boots to fit properly...sometimes a totally different model or brand of boot is required as well. Good luck.

Another option to play around with is using just part of an innersole.  I use aftermarket innersoles (Sidas) in everything so I have a collection of shitty ones. For my summer boots I was able to perfect the fit with using the heel half of a innersole taped to the boot then a proper innersole on top. Something like that may help.
J

Could try ​this​​​ or ​this​​​

ezeefit booties.
https://www.ezeefitsports.com/product-p/011.htm
exactly what the guy above me said.  Sorry I didn't check the link before posting.

I get heel rub too, one thing I found is that after hiking in them for about 5-10 minutes to res if down the laces, I always get about an inch more lace to pull down after my boots have warmed up and my feet have settled in. I also will try to hike a few times in them before the season starts to toughen the skin up.
Body glide on the heels can help as will prophylactic duct tape. 

Corey Day wrote:

Which superfeet do you use? I tried green and they brought my heel up too high, but definately open to getting a more comfortable insole than the awful stock one

I've used the blue SuperFeet insoles with great luck.  They're minimalist, which still leaves clearance in the boot.

If the boots fit your feet well then I would play around with the lacing. If I'm hiking a long ways with no snow I will sometimes leave mine all the way unlaced. Other times I lace the bottom semi-snug and leave the top unlaced. It all depends.

The other possible bad news is that La Sportiva's last may be a bad fit for your foot.  I used to use Nepal's and had constant issues with my toes in them.  I changed brands to Scarpa's which are a much better fit for my feet.  Unfortunately that would mean buying new boots, but if you can find a way to try out some other brands you might be able to sell your old boots if they've only got 64 miles in them.

Update: I just purchased SF Black insoles which feel like a much better fit compared to the stock insoles and the SF green insoles I already own; stock are too low and not much padding and SF green are too thick and cant get good heel contact. SF Black felt good in the store, now i just need to get some miles on them to know for sure. If that's not the answer, it sounds like ill be looking for a new boot. Thanks for all the insight. 

Not sure if you have thought about this. But diff soles work in diff boots. I use blue SOLE insoles in my fire boots, orange SOLE inserts in my Nepal’s, oranges SOLE inserts with wedges in my baruntse. Grey carbon superfeet in my mammut boots. Black superfeet in my sneakers etc. it costs a lot but they all take diff insteps. Experiment and find the right footbed. Incorporate that with preventive measures like taping you should be good. I learned years ago in the military taping works wonders and saves you a lot of pain.  Tony