When hiking, your feet not only carries the weight of you body but also the weight of of heavy backpack.

Carrying such a heavy weight, wearing new hiking boots and ignoring hotspots all contribute to blisters.

And a blister can be such a bitch! If you’ve experienced one before on a hiking trip, you’ll know.

Blisters keep you in pain the whole way. You walk slower and you slow everybody else down. How you wish that you could have prevented it in the first place.

The sun is shining, the landscape beautiful, everything is perfect but you’re not enjoying it just because of a small hotspot that has gone bad. You vow not to let it happen again...

Fortunately blisters usually start small before becoming a real menace. It usually starts from a barely noticeable area of inflammation but it only takes a few seconds for it to become a blister so you need to take action quickly.

To avoid a fully fledged blister you should look for this inflammation by stopping and checking your feet as soon as you feel even a small amount of discomfort.

A single grain of sand caught in your sock can cause a blister if not removed quickly. If you’re anything like me and you'd be reluctant to stop for a slight discomfort because you want to cover more distance but I learned the hard way that it's not the wise thing to do.

Checking your feet for a few minutes will let you cover more miles than having a blister. You need to understand that preventing a blister is more important than anything else to ensure an enjoyable hike.

Even if you don't feel any discomfort you should also check your feet during a rest stop. You don’t have to check at every rest stop but the more you check the better because as you take off your boots and socks, you are also airing and drying your feet which in turn helps to prevent blisters.

Washing your feet is another good practice. It removes tiny particles of sand or dirt that could rub against your skin and cause blisters. As a bonus, the cooling rejuvenates the muscles of your feet. Just make sure your feet are dry before you put your socks and boots back on.

Keep your toenails short as sharp toenails can rub against adjacent toes causing blisters.

Use thin liner wicking socks inside thick wool socks to keep your feet dry and prevent blisters. If your boots feels too tight as a result, try to use lightweight socks.

Make sure you get the right fit for your boots and make sure they don’t rub against your feet. Boots comes with liners in place but you can add to them with stronger insoles to improve the fit.

Keep your feet and socks as clean as possible. You can use your outer wool socks for two days or more but make sure you rinse out your liner socks to keep away the dirt from your feet.

If you know of certain parts of your feet that are prone to blisters, cover them with a piece of plaster or moleskin.