Wuru Sports Wool Gives Blisters The Boot
Eve Flanigan 04.02.19
Ah, SHOT Show. The annual event where hundreds of gun industry folk spend four days walking hundreds of miles around a climate-controlled environment, up and down stairs and walking several blocks between the Sands Conference Center and their hotel. Two weeks before my departure to SHOT this year, a package showed up in my mailbox, seemingly out of nowhere. “A big trade show is on the horizon,” the cover letter read, explaining the reason for the sample. Inside the durable, resealable packaging which read “Wuru Wool” was a loose, wooly rope, about two feet long. The public suffering of some SHOT attendees apparently caught the attention of a company that produces a rather unusual product – simple and generous swatches of white, lofty, New Zealand wool, meant to be used as padding for those proverbial ‘barking dogs.’
Wuru Wool is based in Utah. It wasn’t immediately clear how to use the product, but the company’s website has a simple instructional video. The method of use is to pinch a small quantity from the rope, apply it to blister-prone areas of the feet, under socks. It’s as simple as a product can be, but does it do the job? I put it to the test to find out.
My mainstay shoes are really boots; long days at the range feel better with ankle support. Wearing men’s footwear that’s typically wider at the front is my solution for dealing with bunion feet. Problem is, a wide-enough toe is often accompanied by just enough looseness in the heel to make hot spots and blisters. I became eager to see if Wuru would help my quandary.
Prior to SHOT, I pinched off a piece to shield my left heel for an all-day range class. On my feet for 10 hours in Blackhawk Terrain Mid training shoes, I forgot all about the inserts until pulling the shoe/boots off at day’s end. Success, in this case, is forgetting the product entirely—and my feet too, for that matter.
I repeated the exercise for four days at SHOT Show. Once, I forgot to put the inserts around my heels before donning socks. So I cheated and wrapped the wool around the outside of my heel, putting shoes on carefully so as not to dislodge the wool. It worked as well as when it was on the inside; no blistering at all.
Since the show, I’ve continued to use Wuru Sports Wool for range days and short hikes, short only due to an injury. The longest of these was 3.1 rocky miles in Propper Series 100 boots. The wool inserts stayed in place and kept my heels blister-free.
The only disappointment I’ve found with using Wuru is a slight one. The time I wore them between my sock and shoe, it was with woolen socks. The inserts frayed to form a quite permanent bond with the socks; which after several washings still have tufts of white wool stuck in them. It’s only a cosmetic issue, not a functional one. Also I’ve found it easier to cut the inserts off from the main rope rather than tearing them off as shown in the instructional video. Just a roll in the fingers gets rid of the blunt edge that cutting creates, to make a smooth-fitting pad.
For anyone who exercises, hunts, or works outdoors, Wuru Sports Wool just might be the ticket to eliminating foot-related misery and getting on with what you’re really there to do. The $10.95 package weighs only 0.75 ounces and contains enough wool for what the company says is 20-30 applications. I’ve successfully re-used the pads before, which don’t seem to take on any odor. Depending on the quantity of wool your feet require, the product may last through many more than 30 applications.
