I bought a pair of caligae from Rusty at Soul of the warrior. I wore them for five minutes and still have scars two months later. I have started walking around the house in them with socks, but was wondering what any of you guys do to break them in. They seem to fit okay. If I push my foot all the way to the front edge, I only have a little room at the heel. I think the next size down would have been too small. I guess my feet are too use to high dollar hiking boots and modern shoes. Any help in how to soften them up or a link to a previous thread would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Scars 2 months later? What kind of scars are we talking about here?
1) My first suggestion would be to add another layer of leather insole. All the problems I've experienced with boots has been from them being too loose. Blisters come from the friction of rubbing. Some space front to back is usually OK, but you'll want them to fit really tightly around the arch (this is why all modern athletic shoes lace up in that area).
2) Don't try to go too long at once with them. If you're used to modern shoes, you may need to build up some calluses on your feet.
3) A couple of times, with cowboy boots, I've gotten them wet and wore them until they were dry. You shouldn't need to do that with any Roman style footwear.
There's an old soldier's trick that may help, provided the sole of your caligae is a reasonable fit ( this works for any boots,as well as caligae ).
Completely soak your caligae in a bucket of water for a day or more, until they are completely soaked. Then wear them for as long as you can - over socks if necessary, but for several hours at least, walking around in them ( the idea is that they will 'shrink -wrap' around your feet as they dry).If not completely dry when you take them off, allow to dry. When dry,they will be hard !
Now, take plenty of 'Dubbin', saddle soap or similar and work in well with a cloth.
Result ? Soft, snug fitting caligae or boots that should last a lifetime, if kept treated with 'Dubbin' or similar, and re-soled from time to time !!
I realy need to disagree with you there Paul, the only thing you should need on caligae is neatsfoot oil for softening. If there are uncomfortable or causing sores I'd question the fit. It is possible to fine tune the fit of caligae.
You can always try using Udones (socks).
Perhaps you could post a picture of your foot in situ and you may get some suggestions of tweaks.
Perhaps I was being un-necessarily brutal with my caligae, :lol: but it sounded as if Chris B. had a more serious problem than could be solved by adjustment, and I had a similar one, but now have very 'snug' caligae that are comfortable all day long ( I often wear them in 'mufti' ).
Certainly, more gentle methods may be tried first, but I do know the method I described will produce an instant cure in most cases. :wink:
As to neatsfoot oil, I have only tried it once, and then relied on tried-and-tested 'Dubbin'.
What do you think its advantages are ?
Thanks. I will try those methods. I used the soaking method on my combat boots in college at Texas A&M, but wasn't sure how it would affect the sandal. I will try fitting it more over the weekend and post pics if I am still having problems. The scars on my feet are right below the ankle on both feet. The leather left more than blisters. It rubbed the skin off completely. The sandals may be a little too lose based on what you guys are describing. I will also try adding an insert if they seem too lose to pull everything in tighter. Thanks again.
Salve,
I would agree with Marcus, the only oil I use on caligae, is neatsfoot, and I find this softens them perfectly.
I also wear leg wraps that wrap around under the foot, but not covering the instep or toes, this really helps the heel, where I have found most discomfort occurs.
Hope this is of some help,
It's all good, I guess .
I'm still interested to know what, if any, are the advantages of neatsfoot oil?
My own experience is that oils of any description dry out more quickly than gels like 'Dubbin', and need re-application more frequently.
Salve,Paullus,
I think your probably right, as I recall now that in my youth playing Rugby we allways used dubbin on the boots, and they certainly stayed softer for longer.
We use nut oils on our caliga.
Beeswax does a great job sealing the outer sole and the edges.
I agree that caliga need to be snug, no slop, no sliding, no flip-flopping like sandals.. These are boots afterall and not sandals.
And keep in mind that we have modern feet.. all coddled and pampered and the like... So, yeah, udones of some sort are defintely in order!
Speaking fo scars.. I wore mine on a sunny day, without udones and had really fun sunburn stripes.... some blistered, all peeled, sometimes twice.. eeyouch!... the darkened skin lasted for a year! I had zebra feet.
:lol: :lol: :lol: !!!
Sorry to laugh at what must have been a most unpleasant experience, but the words 'zebra stripes' and the picture it conjured up, just creased me up !!
The tip about beeswax to seal edges etc is a good one, and one I shall take up.
Quote:Speaking fo scars.. I wore mine on a sunny day, without udones and had really fun sunburn stripes.... some blistered, all peeled, sometimes twice.. eeyouch!... the darkened skin lasted for a year! I had zebra feet.
I can't look now, as I'm at work, but I'd be willing to wager that I STILL have striped feet.
The process of softening leather is actually a destructive one. Unsoftned dry leather gets its strength from the bonding between various layers of dried cells. The process of softening involves the breaking down of these cellular bonds so cells and layers have limited individual movement. The way to do this is by soaking in water which swells the cells and breaks some of the bonding between it neighbors but, this allows ingress by fungi and other parasite's which 'rot's the leather quickly.
The other way is to use oils or fats. They do the same thing as water would do but are more resistant to invasion by fungi and bacteria. They also provide the additional benefit of lubricating the pores between the cells. Fats like polyunsaturates and in particular monounsaturates have good lubricating properties and very good penetrative properties given their short molecule length and relatively low viscosity. However, they provide poor protection from contamination. This combined with their good penetrative properties result in a rapid break-down of the leather and thus a shorter lifetime of the caligae.
Animal fats contain largely saturated fats. They offer slightly less penetrative ability but are far more resistant to fungal and bacterial contamination, thus offering slower break-down of the leather and longer lifetime to the caligae.
So, use vegetable oil and quickly get nice soft caligae that rot relatively quickly, or use neatsfoot oil and still get fairly soft caligae that last longer :wink:
contamination
When I break in any leather shoe (period shoes) I always put on an extra pair of wool socks, and wear the hell out of the shoe as much as I can. Coat the shoes with a liberal amount of your favorite leather dressing. I usually make my own from rendered sheep/deer fat mixed with and equal amount of bees wax.
The caligae I have seen coming from India have a coating on them that will not take oil very well so be sure to oil them from the flesh side.
Of course you could always use the old Native American Indian method and chew them (well, actually have your squaw chew them). :wink: