Numerous retailers are reporting that Hydropel has been discontinued by the manufacturer! Freakin’ out a bit here..... what is ‘plan B’?

Maybe bodyglide liquified powder or some of the beeswax formulations out there. Skurka sells a beeswax product. Even Walmart carries a beeswax product I think.

Lately others are reporting that zinc oxide works too. It may be harder to find non scented type. Desitin original paste even contains it at 40% concentration.

Edited by jshann on 07/29/2012 10:27:04 MDT.

make your own.

1) hit up the sex shop for water play lubricant.
2) head to drug store for creamy Vaseline, and regular pj.
3) blend to desired consistency.

For Dual use as a chaffing treatment, add zinc oxide and neosporin to the mix.

https://www.bonniesbalm.com/Handmade_Product_List.html

http://andrewskurka.com/product/bonnies-balms-climbers-salve-2-oz/

I've always used Aquaphor. Started using it in my marathon days. Walgreens has it and their own store brand of it. Works wonders!!

Great suggestions folks, thanks so much. I guess there is life on the trail after Hydropel!

Here's what John at http://hikelighter.com/ had to say about Bonnie's Balm.

"I also bought some of the Bonnie’s Balm that Skurka has been pimping lately, as a potential replacement for Hydropel and after using it discovered it to be a total and absolute joke and waste of money."

Has anyone else used it? I still have some Hpel left.

I've always done fine with Body Glide.

Bonnie’s Balm is not as good as Hydropel that's for sure

Edited by popsc on 07/30/2012 15:57:16 MDT.

Big fan of Vaseline. Don't have too much of a problem with blisters, honestly; a little Vaseline seems to do me right when I get an hot spot. Does double-duty as my firestarter (slathered on cotton balls for easy application).

I hope that Hydropel isn't being discontinued, I've been wanting to try some. I bought some Bonnie's Climbing Salve recently. I don't feel its worth the weight to carry. I've used it on a few shoulder season trips (hiking in rotten snow with creek fords wearing my trail runners) and really didn't notice any benefit over nothing at all.

Hey All,

It is indeed true that Hydropel has been discontinued. A sad day for hikers and runners.

The company that owned it "Genesis Pharmaceutical, Inc." is now a subsidiary of Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmétique USA. Genesis Pharm has gone completely under. Even their website has been removed from the internet. Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmétique has given no indication that they will continue on most of the products that GenPharm created.

Body-glide just does not come close (at least for me) to what Hydropel was able to accomplish for hiking through the mud, muck, streams, rivers, and ponds that I hike through here in the Redwood forest of Northern California.

And yeah, I did make that comment above about Bonnies Balm. It was/is a lot more natural than this other stuff we use, but it just was not able to keep the water repelled anywhere near as much as Hydropel or even Body-glide. For me, it just turned into an expensive lip balm. YMMV

So having a little bit of fun with the above suggestions:

Desitin Maximum Strength Paste (pj with max OTC zinc oxide available)
Aquaphor Ointment (monkey butt help)
Wet Light (well, you know ;)

I have to say, the neorsporin suggestion... seemed odd. However, the mixture of polymyxin, bacitracin and neomycin actually help prevent the growth of bacteria, from what I can find, so that could actually be benificial - we all know how bacteria love your feet, eh.

I can just see a pct thru-hiker trying to get back into the USA with some of this concoction in his backpack... border patrol would be "uhh, and what *exactly* is this stuff" - giggle.

Edited by JohnAbela on 08/01/2012 17:39:20 MDT.

This could be promisng.http://www.gurneygears.com/gear/gurney_goo/

@Jason,

Could very well be the product we are looking for.

Sadly looking at over $40 bucks to get a single container of it shipped here to the USA. I was going to order some up but not at that price.

I am planning to get a single sachet to use in a one foot hydropel and one foot guerny goo trial. If it works out I could potentially send some out from here at probably lower postage rates.

Anyone considered using "men Degree Clinical Protection"?
It has many of the same ingredients as Hydropel,
and seems pretty effective at making skin repel water.

http://fixingyourfeet.com/blog/2011/09/a-new-kind-of-foot-coating/

http://fixingyourfeet.com/blog/2011/06/maceration/

Edited by jshann on 08/01/2012 22:12:09 MDT.

Try Burt's Bees hand salve.

Yes, Gurney Goo is $40 (from http://www.pxtkayaks.com/products/GurneyGoo-Anti-Chafe-300ml.html based out of the US) but that is for a 10.1 oz jar. This, compared to $20 for a 2 oz tube of Hydropel makes it significantly cheaper than Hydropel, even when it could be found on sale. The important issue to me, though, is whether or not it works as well as Hydropel does!

Edited by pgjgarcia on 08/02/2012 14:17:37 MDT.

fortunately I have a new tube and it goes a long way- hopefully there is a product that can equal Hydropel

I'll be subscribed to the thread w/ fingers crossed