HikeGoo

Boo! It rhymes with Goo.
And, goo is the secret ingredient in HikeGoo foot treatment.
No one's going to want a tube of HikeGoo in their halloween bucket, but scouts working on the Hiking or Backpacking merit badges might be very thankful.

FootKinetics has four products to help your active feet - HikeGoo, RunGoo, WalkGoo, and SilkStep. They are all very similar, and they sent me a tube of HikeGoo to try out. So, I used it over the last month of hiking.


Now, I seldom get blisters since I hike about 4 or 5 miles nearly every morning. My feet are used to the routine, my shoes and feet have developed a nice relationship, and the trail is well manicured. So, trying HikeGoo was more to see what it felt like and how it affected my feet.

The thick wax is squeezed out of the tube directly onto the foot and smeared around with the applicator. I found the goo to take some effort to squeeze out, especially these last few cold days, but it then spread around just fine. I found it worked to spread the goo with a couple fingers to get a thinner, even layer. I then pulled/rolled my socks over my feet so the goo stays in place better.

After my short Appalachian Trail hike in August, I had quite a bit of rough, flaking skin on my heels and around the edge of my soles. The biggest thing I noticed about using HikeGoo this past month is that it really smoothed that skin and made my feet feel better. I was concerned that the wax cream might make my feet perspire more, but that did not happen. My feet and socks were just as dry as normal, and my socks did not get caked with goo after a morning of hiking.

I can really see how this cream could help someone prone to blisters, especially scouts with little hiking experience or just starting to prepare for Philmont or some other long trek. Here are a few things I particularly noticed about HikeGoo:

• Odorless and Colorless - no perfumes or pigmentation, just smooth white waxy protection
• Creamy - I guess you'd expect that from a foot cream, but it isn't greasy and it felt nice
• Packaging - You can carry a 3oz. or 5.5oz. tube. The package adds another ounce, most of that is the 0.6oz. applicator lid. On a backpacking trek, I'd replace with a simple lid.
• Slippery - I could certainly feel the smooth glide rather than rubbing on my feet

With the cold and dry air invading Minnesota now, I've found that the extra HikeGoo left on my fingers after applying is useful. I massage it into my hands and they don't feel so dry and chapped after being outside for hours. Maybe FootKinetics will come out with HandGoo next. :-)

Scout On