So last Saturday it looked like I had been on a long expedition, rather than preparing to go on a long expedition. The front of my home was littered with a good portion of my gear; large backpack, daypack, boots, ball cap, hat, all spread out on the hedges and hanging from my fence. It was waterproofing time.
Several years ago when embarking on my first Iona adventure, I discovered the importance of dry feet. When you are in a dampish place, strolling along the shore, hiking through bogs, it is imperative that your feet remain dry. There are scores of tales about infections of toes and feet, that I simply do not want to have to recall or recount. Dry feet. As a preventative, I sprayed my boots with waterproofing spray. And it was awesome. I could stand in the sea in my boots and nothing. It wasn’t until I lost one of them in a bog (yep, sucked right off my foot) that the waterproofing failed. And in that instance, I am not sure the waterproofing failed or my knot tying failed.
In the years since I have learned that you should also waterproof your ball cap. For those of us that wear glasses, raindrops falling on your head mean that you don’t see as clearly as you should. Rain gear simply doesn’t extend far enough or well enough to keep the droplets off your specs. But a waterproof ball cap will.
And yes, I do have rain gear, waterproofs, foulies. And they do fold up nicely into my pack, but nothing beats dry feet.
Why are so many thin places, damp?
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