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Breaking in Scarpa Phantom 6000 boots?
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I took my new pair of Scarpa Phantom 6000 boots on a 10 mile hike in the snow up in Rocky Mountain National Park yesterday. Aside from blisters on both my heals, the outside of both my shins/calfs was in some intense pain for the last few miles. I tried loosening the liners, but nothing seemed to work. Today, I have about a 4 inch section above my ankle on both legs that is extremely swollen and tender to the touch. Has anyone experienced this before while breaking in their boots? I've had the dreaded shin bang experience with plastic boots before, but this is on the side of my leg rather than my shin. I did put in superfeet trail blazer insoles and only wore a thin smartwool sock, as recommended by the mountaineering shop. I'm leaving for Ecuador in less than two weeks, so any advince/help is greatly appreciated! |
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I have a similar boot, the La Spo G2SM. I find that it is very easy for me to make the inner boot too tight. If the inner boot is too tight, I get a lot of swelling and irritation above my ankle like you mention. For anything over 4 miles, it is absolutely necessary for me to keep the boots loose while walking. Once I reach the technical climbing, I tighten them up. |
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The Phantom 6000's factory liners are surprisingly flimsy. Have you thought about replacing them with custom-molded liners? I replaced mine with Intuition Denali liners, which have a relatively low ankle cuff for use in mountaineering boots. Neptune's or Bentgate should be able to help you. It'll cost you about $200 but that's cheaper than a new pair of boots or a wasted trip to Ecuador. |
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I hear that the Phantom 6000s with the La Sportiva Baruntse linear is a good combo. https://www.sportiva.com/baruntse-replacement-liner.html http://coldthistle.blogspot.com/2010/10/baruntse-dbl-boot-liners.html |
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I’ve found that a thin ski sock not a thicker mountaineering wool sock and the right size makes a big difference in comfort and blisters. I almost feel like my size 46 6000s are too tight sometimes. I own Phantom Guides and Techs in a 46 and Rebels in a 45.5. I also make sure doubles are a absolutely necessary before I wear them. It’s gotta be a cold long trip otherwise I’m sticking my Guides in my sleeping bag and hugging on them all night like a body pillow. Sweaty socks and wet liners created blisters on my feet. |
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I have the older Phantom 6000 boots (non wrap around zipper) and also went through a period of breaking them in after getting heal blisters. Both were in the same spot. unfortunately you can't bake those liners. You should try wide heavy duty band aids on your heal area before wearing the boot once you heal up. A liner sock might also be useful in combination with a medium weight wool mountaineering sock(recommend Darn Tough). Finally, while I don't think the liners are all that bad, the stock foot beds are horrible. Throw them out and get the orange or green colored Superfeet. That alone might solve your problem (never tried the trail blazer Superfeet). As for the shin bang, I'm guessing that is simply user error. You likely had them laced too tight from the get go. Mountaineering boots should be somewhat lose, but not sloppy. Its a a real pain in the ass dialing in, since loose fitting, doesn't equate to snug heal fit. You need to find a happy medium, which will require figuring out your sock system and foot bed combination that work for your foot. The goal is an overall good fit that enables you to wiggle your toes comfortably, with minimal heal lift. |
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Thank you all for your help! I think I'm going to give the liners another shot this weekend and keep them super loose....if that fails again, will opt for some custom molded ones. Hopefully that will do the trick! |
Katie Fidler wrote: The liners are not what you need to worry about. Fit them comfortably. The lacing of the boot is what can give you shin bang etc., so start there. Go loose, then tighten as necessary. You will find the sweet spot. |
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Hope you figured this out. I personally sold my 6000's to buy g2sms as no matter what I did (inc other liners) I got awful heel lift and blisters. My father in law had the same issue and he had multiple trips to boot fitters to try and fix them to no avail. I think they fit really bad on some people, and it is hard to tell in the store honestly..... |
Nick Baker wrote: No doubt! Some people’s feet fit well into LaSportiva and some into Scarpa. I have a pair of Rebels, Phantom Techs and 6000s. My 6000s climb water ice really well and give me zero blisters. I couldn’t fit into 45.5 or 46 Batura 2.0/s or Nepals to save my life. |
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It sounds like something is wrong. (I’ve only tried on the 6000s but ended up getting the G2SMs, like many people above.) You may want to try not tightening them up as much as you did, and possibly wearing two thin liner socks rather than only one. I also personally have found that aftermarket insoles don’t work for me in mountain boots whatsoever. Because it elevates my foot, my heel no longer fits in the heel cup, and I end up with massive heel lift. Basically it throws off the whole fit for me and causes tons of problems. You may want to try removing those insoles. |
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My feet usually take time to adjust to a new pair of boots, especially doubles. Going for a mellow day or two of ice climbing is probably a safe bet. Mountain boots are generally uncomfortable to hike in, and feet are always going to be in some level of discomfort at the end of the day. Hope the ecuador trip went well! |
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I wear a 43.0 Phantom Guide (older-style, straight-up zip), and I'm about to get a pair of new 6000's... looking for thoughts on sizing. 44 most likely, or do folks find the 6000 fit similar to the Phantom Guide? Thanks! |
08kreiskl wrote: Hell no! Well depends.. My 6000s are sized for NE cold weather water ice climbing. I wear a ski liner. Both my old guides and my New 6000s are 46s. My doubles climb grade 4 WI very confidently but if I wore them on Aconcagua my feet would be sorry. If you’re mountaineering I would start by going up one size over your Guides. |
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For the walk in/ out, keep your top strap loose, just tighten up the laces. That will let your ankle flex more, reducing heel lift and shin bang. A liner sock helps with heel blisters. If that's not enough, duct tape on the heels will stop the blisters. I'm in the process of breaking in a new pair of 6000s too. |
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08kreiskl - I wear 48 Phantom Guides and the 6000's in 48 seem to translate perfectly. My experience has been that all of Scarpa's footwear (except rock shoes, which are their own league of weirdness) is very consistent in sizing. I also have their R-Evolution hikers and a pair of running shoes- all size 48. In every single instance, 47 would be just a hair too small (toe bang when going downhill). I will say that I haven't tried the 6000's in a smaller size (tried 47 in both hikers and single boots), but the fit seems quite good and I've had no issues. You may well find that a half size down works better for you (not an option for me), but I definitely don't think you need them bigger. |
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I had two miserable trips on Rainier with La Sportiva. Once I got into the Phantom series I never had an issue again. Not even during the initial breaking phase. Like I am sure you have all heard on here before, " The best boot is the one that fits." I really want to wear the LS G2SM, but It just doesn't fit. If a boot requires that much modifications out of the box, it is not the boot for you. |
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Hey, all, interesting reading all this. I've been trying to make my size 45 LS Nepals work for years. Like Travis, I had an awful climb up Rainier because the boots are just too narrow for me. By the time I got back to the parking lot, I was crying my feet hurt so bad. I'm off on a trip to Nepal and to climb Lobuche Peak, so just bought a pair of size 45 Phantom 6000s. With thin socks they seem to fit me much better (as in wider toe box) but we will have to see how the break-in period goes. I surely hope I don't get these blister problems, as I do notice a bit of heal lift. I think that's all due to dialing in exact sock thickness and lacing tightness--we'll see soon enough! |
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John,   |
