How to look after leather walking boots.

Gareth    Footwear, General Outdoor     boots, gear care

Leather boots need more looking after then most, so it’s key to make sure that you take care of them – unless you want to be replacing your boots each year. If you leave your boots too long, every time they take a step you’ll be grinding dirt further in to the leather. This then has an effect of a grater, destroying the leather until it splits or cracks. Mud also sucks any moisture out of the leather leaving it old and tired.

All is not lost though, just follow our simple guide and your leather boots will serve you for many years becoming best friends with your feet. If there is just one simple thing we would like you to remember when you have bought from us it’s this.

Never ever forget to clean them!!!!

If you’re too tired on the day having just got back from the Aanoch Eagach or some other monster day out, just clean them the next day. Just don’t forget to clean them!

Step 1) Clean

• Take your laces off your boot and take out the insoles too.
• Wash the outside with a gentle brush to get rid of all the mud. Make sure the brush is soft and gentle – no wire brushes please.
• Every couple of weeks rinse the inside of the boot as well. You might think that’s a bit strange, but the reason goretex linings sometimes fail is because of dirt that gets in to the boot. That dirt then punctures the Goretex from the inside of the boot as it’s forced by your feet in to the lining. Warm water is the best when cleaning, but don’t worry if you’ve only got cold.
• Don’t be tempted to use anything like washing up liquid or any other detergent as they leave traces that end up attracting water and leaving a residue.

Step 2 ) Dry

• Under no circumstances use heat to dry them. That means no airing cupboards, radiators, camp fires or hairdriers people. You’ll weaken both the leather uppers and any glue that’s been used in making your boots.
• Leave your boots to dry naturally with the insoles out.
•  If you have to dry them quickly stuff them full of newspaper (we prefer the Western Gazette….) and be sure to change paper every couple of hours.
• Dry them upside down for the quickest results.
• Store them at room temperature.

Most of the time these steps will be enough, but sometimes your boots will need a little more care. If your boot is not beading water properly on the outside, you will need to reproof it. We recommend Nikwax as the best solution . Don’t attempt to reproof your boots however until you have cleaned them, it doesn’t work if they’re dirty and you’ll just be grinding that dirt back in to the leather.

Step 3 ) Reproof 

• With leather boots the wetter they are, the better the application will take. Nikwax say that you can apply their reproofing to both wet and dry but they think wet does a better job. If you have just come back from a soggy walk and have cleaned your boots it’s probably the best time you can do it!
• Apply liberally and make sure it gets in to all welts and seam.
• Pay special attention to the seams as these are your boots weak points – particularly the join between sole and upper.
• After 2 minutes, remove surplus with a cloth and allow to dry before use.

Step 4 ) Condition 

And there you have it. Follow these top tips and your leather boots will give you years of happy use yomping the hills. If you’ve got any boot care tips or questions fire away in the comments below!

Never The End…

Helen Lloyd    cycling, Helen Lloyd     cycling, Helen Lloyd, Helen's Take On

Well, another trip is over. Eight months and 11,600km cycled, 725km sailed and 250km packrafted on the North American continent.

But for now, here are some highlights from the last eight months…

Top of Heckman's Pass

To cycle across the Chilcotin Plateau…

Chilcotin Plateau

Cycling the Icefields Parkway from Jasper to Banff in beautiful British Columbia…

Icefields Parkway, British Columbia

Over the Elk Pass and into Montana…

Spray Lake Trail on way to Elk Pass

Over the Lolo and Whitebird Passes through Idaho…

Whitebird Pass, Idaho

Biking the backroads of Nevada…

Off the Beaten Track...

And facing snow in Utah…

Summit in the Snow

Seeing some of the most stunning landscapes in Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks…

Bryce Canyon

Crossing the Mohave desert and Joshua Tree…

Joshua Tree...

Through Southern California and into Baja, Mexico with it’s abundance of cacti…

Cacti in Baja

Sailing the Sea of Cortez with Kevin on board Alex II and sighting whales, dolphins, turtles and a shark…

Sailing Sea of Cortez

Cycling Mexico’s coast…

All up and down along the coast...

And inland and over hill to Oaxaca and San Cristobal de las Casas…

Oaxaca Cathedral

Visiting the Mayan ruins of Palenque and Tikal…

Tikal, Guatemala

Cycling through Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras…

El Salvador, a small country of many volcanoes

Packrafting the Rio Bocay and Rio Coco in the Moskitia border region of Nicaragua…

Packrafting the Rio Bocay in Nicaragua

And finishing it all off with some back-road biking through Belize…

Backroads of Belize, Through Rio Bravo Conservation Area

#Walkwednesday – East Knoyle round walk via West Knoyle

Gareth    General Outdoor     Walk, Walking, walkwednesday, wiltshire

Well after the weather of the last week or so you’ll definitely need your boots for this one, it’s a 7 mile round walk through prime Dorset countryside. From the birthplace of Christoper Wren, East Knoyle via it’s sibling West Knoyle, you’ll go through Nature reserves, get great views over the Blackmore vale all with some gentle up and down.

Parking can be found in the church car park at East Knoyle,  following the route up towards Milton you’ll soon find yourself heading through the beautiful woods on Haddon Hill, and if you’re out this week you’ll get a wonderful view and smell of the bluebells. Next head to the top of Cleeve Hill with stunning views across the Blackmore Vale and head down towards West Knoyle church following the road for a bit. You then head up to The Middles before coming back to East Knoyle via the Mackintosh Davidson Nature Reserve.The homeward stretch towards East Knoyle can have a detour if you fancy to the pub on The Green.

The walk can be downloaded via Viewranger for your mobile phone and is FREE to download as all of our routes are.

Water Travel, Like a Local

Helen Lloyd    Helen Lloyd, Trips     Helen's Take On, Nicaragua, Niger river, packrafting, pirogue, rafting

I’ve just returned from a great trip, packrafting down about 250km of remote rivers in Nicaragua.

Packrafting is relatively new to me, but so far I love it. Because the raft is so compact, I could carry it in my backpack together with food and gear for 10 days out.

Packrafting Rio Bocay in Nicaragua

The rafting trip had fun, adventure, challenge, white-water, wild-camping and a chance to see how the local indigenous Mayangna and Miskito people live.

I have only one other water trip I can compare it with, and that is paddling down the Niger River in West Africa. For that trip, we had a local fisherman build us a pirogue, just like those the locals use. If I had had a packraft with me, I probably would have used that. But I’m glad I didn’t.

Paddling a pirogue was physically much more challenging and we encountered difficulties navigating downstream which wouldn’t have been a problem in a packraft.

But the pirogue let us experience the river as the locals do. And it brought us closer to those we met.

Paddling a Pirogue on the Niger River

In Nicaragua, I felt we were viewed as a passing novelty; rich tourists with hi-tech products. On the Niger river, we were just two more people heading downstream.

Both ways of river travel were great. And I’m pretty sure i’ll be doing more trips in both styles…

Since i’ll be back in the UK for the rest of the year, the packraft will be seeing plenty of action in the coming months. Pirogues aren’t so common on British waterways…. Narrowboat barges though, now there’s an idea!

Farnham round walk or off road cycle – take your pick!

Gareth    cycling, Trips     chettle, chettle down, cycling, dorset, farnham, Hiking, MTB, Walking

This weeks #walkwednesday route is one we have created in Farnham, Dorset and is either a challenging 13.5 miles of walking, or a quick hour and a half on the Mountain bike – whichever you prefer. Set in an Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Cranbourne Chase, this is a walk or ride that takes in downs, ancient deer parks before delivering you back to a pub of course!

Parking starts at the Museum in Farnham (do make sure you stop in for a pint afterwards, it’s a cracker) and there’s a little bit of up and down to whet your appetite. You start off heading past Chettle Down where you can take a detour to look at an abandoned ancient settlement. Quite a bit goes through Harbin’s Park which was once a Medieval deer park covering, more or less rectangular in shape and surrounded by a bank up to 16 feet (5 metres) wide and 5 feet (1.5 metres) high and a ditch over 15 feet (4.5 metres) wide. See if you can spot any of these features as you head around. You come back through Chettle which has been described as the perfect English Village before heading back to Farnham.

We’ve put a map of the route up beloow, but if you’ve got Viewranger you can download this route for FREE on to your mobile and follow it around. Please note Walking or MTBing can be challenging activities, so do check out the weather and be honest about your level of fitness before setting off.

Stats Update from Chiapas, Mexico

Helen Lloyd    cycling, Helen Lloyd     bike, Camping, Helen's Take On, statistics, take on africa

Time for a quick update on how the Take On The Americas trip is going, now that the journey has passed the 10,000km mark. I suppose the best way to do it is with a few numbers…

Distance cycled: 9222km
Distance sailed: 725km
Distance travelled on bus: 425km

Total nights: 165
Nights camping: 118
Nights in paid accommodation: 34

No. of cycling days: 122

Countries cycled: 3 (Canada, US, Mexico
US states: 6 (Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, California)
Mexico states: 7

Lowest/Highest altitude: -226ft / 9600ft (-69m/2926m)
Most km in one day: 136km
Coldest night/hottest day: -11C/+30C* (12F/86F)

Bridges/roads slept under: 5
Firestations slept at: 1
No. of times disturbed by men with machetes/men with guns/mountain lions: 3

No. of times cautioned/warned by warden/police: 2

Brake cables replaced: 1
Bottom brackets replaced: 1
Tyres used: 5
Punctures: 22*

Bears/coyotes seen: 6 / 3
Sealions/sharks seen: 1 / 1
Whales seen: 31*
Tarantulas seen: 3

No of times fallen off bike: 0(me), 1(Lars)

No of burgers eaten by Lars: lost count
No. of Thai red curries eaten: 6
No. of tortillas eaten: 173*

No. of lucid dreams: 5

No. of beers: 182
No. of glasses of wine: 31

Average distance cycled: 75.5km/day (not including rest days)
Average distance cycled inc. rest days: 55.9km

Average km/beer: 50.7km/beer (compared to Take On Africa trip of 24.5km/beer!)

If you want to read more about the trip, best go to my blog.

(Photo courtesy of Lars Bengtsson)