I dispense with toecaps, or have a very short one just covering the ends of the toes, as I have never found a bootmaker who could put on a toecap of the regular length without contracting the end of the boot and compressing the toes in a dangerous manner.
The ordinary bootmaker knows nothing about an alpine boot, which is very different from a shooting boot. The fault of Swiss-made mountain boots is that the leather is very hard and the boots much too cumbersome and heavy. A guide’s equipment is the very last to be imitated.
The measurements for boots should be taken standing evenly on both feet and over the mountain sock and stocking intended to be worn. The boots must not press uncomfortably at any point even when quite new. They need not permit of the inner sole being worn for the first time or two of using, but must after then permit of lacing up quite tightly. No hesitation must be permitted in rejecting boots that do not fit perfectly well, as damaged feet may lay a man up and cause his party delay and loss.
Of course, a mountain boot should be broken in beforehand.
A good pair of London-made boots will cost, pre-war, from £2, 10s. to £3, and are worth the money. The fit and make of boots is of the utmost importance. Boots tight in the toes cost one of my companions the loss from frost-bite of the toes of both feet.
Never let your boots out of your possession. Boots burnt in the drying caused severe frost-bite to a very well-known alpine climber and Himalayan explorer.
An unlined boot such as described will dry very quickly if stuffed with dry paper, hay, straw or oats—changed at intervals—and only requires a little castor-oil rubbed in before each expedition to render it quite supple and able to turn a lot of water. Boots should never be dried by a fire nor put in a hot sun for more than a very few minutes. The unlined boot is also more porous, so that the foot has less tendency to get hot and damp and subsequently cold.
In a hut, boots should always be stuffed as described, and this is even more important in a planned as well as an impromptu bivouac, as otherwise they freeze hard in a bent or twisted shape, and are very awkward to get on. A pair of light cloth slippers may be carried, or a pair of very light shoes for walking on occasion.
Nailing Boots.
Do not use too many nails. The so-called wing-nails overlapping each other all round the soles are absurd, and wear perfectly smooth. About six wing-nails kept in position by flanking hobnails as described may be used for the toes.