As I had commented on in the not-so-live posts during the trip, the Brasher's had began giving me blisters in the backs of my feet within hours setting off. My problems started only when we began on the ascents but the damage was done and the stage was set for a painful 2 days of walking.
My lack of experience with walking boots meant that my feet (despite my futile attempts at clamping them in) were slipping out of the heel area of the boot. I added socks, I took them away, I packed a sock under the heel end of the foot bed but nothing I could do on the hill would stop the slipping. I did what I could to try and alleviate the pain but I just didn't enjoy the walking on this trip at all.
Now, I need to be clear here, because the problems I experienced above were purely as a result of my inexperience and lack of research. I know, would you believe it?! (Mike from Brasher, if you're reading this I'm sorry I ruined what could have been a nice review for the Brasher blog!)
On a serious note though, I thought that others might benefit from yet another one of my idiotic mistakes, so I'm going to highlight the catalog of errors leading up to the two painful days in the Black Mountains:
I didn't entirely just get of my sofa and head out to get some boots. The Buttermere trip had revealed that my (still respected) Hi-tech V-lites weren't up to the mountain terrain and load bearing I had put them through. It was time to look for some new boots. I read a bit and Paul shared some knowledge but as always I wanted to do this on a budget. I had set myself a budget and for that I needed a leather walking boot that would be waterproof, breathable and suitable for a wide variety of terrain. My budget needless to say was £60 - What? A lighter pack and tent were high on the list at the time!
Most things I came across on the net pointed out the importance of trying a variety of brands and boots before settling on the right pair. I didn't really take any notice of this and just assumed I could rock on up at my local outdoorsy shop, pick a style I liked the look of in my size and price range, bound around the store in them for a few seconds (doing that thing where you walk lop-sided trying to check out how you look from the side) before buying them and not looking back for the next 10 years. Oh how the Gods must have laughed as they planned my post purchase dissonance. In fairness to me (and I do like to fair) I had the full intention of sitting with a sales assistant and listening to their advice but I'd chosen the wrong day as it was rammed and the glee at buying something new got the better of me! Subsequently the sales folk pointed me in the right direction and left me to it.
I have now come to realise that the purchase of walking boots comes down to a number of variables including your budget, the brands available to you and your feet. On Sunday I plucked up the courage and went back to the shop where I bought the Trailmasters weeks before. They had no smaller sizes in stock and having tried a plethora of volume adjusters, foot beds, additional socks and even lacing techniques, they concluded the Brashers weren't suitable in this instance. They honoured the 'comfort guarantee' and I proceeded to try an eternity of boots from 5 different brands. After nearly two hours of walking boot mayhem, we found that my feet varied in sizes across manufacturers, I suited a narrower boot, and particularly one which had a well defined heel profile. The issue each time was heel slippage (mainly in my smaller right foot) and I finally settled on the a boot that seems to fit this criteria. The Raichle MT Trail XT GTX - below.

Now, I'm not that naive to think this is the end to all of blister troubles ever but the facts are that according to the methodology, these boots stand a good chance of reducing blisters caused by heel slippage. Time will tell of course and the only happy ending to this long winded (possibly quite boring) story is that I need to get outside to find out! Sugar loaf (Pen y Fal) this weekend will be the first short test.....