Boot fit/volume reducers

[alaski]

Disclaimer: I can never get my boots to fit right. I'm mostly happy if they just don't cause me extreme pain. That said, is there any reason why I can't put volume reducing inserts in the shell instead of in the liners themselves? I have Intuition liners and don't want to re-bake them around volume reducers.

I'm not sure that the volume reducers will help, anyway, as it seems that I've got too much room in the ankle of my boot. I have to put the buckles as tight as they'll go, even though the shell fits just fine. It's so frustrating!

Any thoughts? Tips/tricks?

 

[Gloria]

HIgh Density Foam

Try getting high density foam, the dark grey stuff that you outfit kayaks with not the kind they make beds out of. You can buy it at less than 1/4 inch. Find the voids in the boot and place this on the outside of your liner. Use Dragons Skin a type of sand paper or a dremmel to sand it down until you get the fit you want. Sometimes a donut that goes around the bone Works, sometimes just an oval piece on one or both sides of the ankle or sometimes you need to wrap the whole ankle. You can get it with a sticky side which helps when you are trying to determine how much where, and then when you get it dialed in you can use a contact cement, the kind you use to replace the gaskets on your dry tops works well, WET SEAL I think. You can also try putting additional liners, in first to see if raising the foot puts you back in the heel pocket. Some of both ussually works for me.

 

[Gloria]

Forgot, the cardboard liners that go under the liner work well but pack out very quickly, grab a couple pairs so you have extras around. You just kind of have to spend some time experimenting with the fit between the two options, but once you get it, it's great.

 

[alaski]

Cool, thanks for the tips! I get so sick of fiddling with my boots all day. Hopefully one of these days I'll get it just right.

 

[SueNJ]

I can't remember which ski shop I got it at, but somewhere along the line, I found a sheet of high-density sticky-back foam that had cut-outs of various shapes for finetuning ski boot fit. I ended up not using them, but we put some inside my DS's ski boots when his heels started getting a bit loose, and he said it made a huge difference for him. The label on the outside of the package says "RED boot fit pads." The adhesive on the back is Scotch 300LSE Hi-Strength Adhesive, and they stick really good.

 

[Gloria]

Cool, thanks for the tips! I get so sick of fiddling with my boots all day. Hopefully one of these days I'll get it just right.

Just throw a good movie in, and play with em until you get them right. Just ski in them once before you permantely glue the foam on, but it will work, you'll be really happy.