Blister Prevention Study

The study is testing the efficacy of two blister prevention strategies on the Australian Army recruit population. The first strategy is the use of a two-sock system using polyester and polypropelene socks. Recruits will be randomly assigned to one of four groups. Group 1 will be given a polyester liner sock with the current army standard sock, Group 2 will be given the polyester liner with the polypropelene sock, Group 3 the polyproplene sock alone. The second intervention is tying off the army boots at the ankle height before continuing the lacing further up the boot. Half the subjects in each group will be randomly selected to tie the laces below the ankle and the other half will lace as usual. The study will continue until approximately 600 recruits have been recruited for the study.