Fixing Boot Width?

[PNWSkier]

I have to say, I love this site and all of the Divas. You are all such a wealth of info. With that said, I need more help!

I have been shell fit for my boots before by a couple of different bootfitters and all have said the length is right. A couple of days ago during another shell fit I was told that my boot was too wide because I have narrow feet. He said that I could work through is as it is not excessively wide or I could think about getting narrower boots. I looked up the spec on my boots and they are 99mm in width (06/07Salomon Mynx). I have not seen many boots that are narrower. My foot does move around inside and I find that I have to really crank them down to the point that I lose circulation in order to secure my foot. I have custom footbeds and heel lifts in. I counted days on my boots and I have 10 days on them so the liners have packed out. I know they cannot fill out length if they are too long but can width be filled out?

 

[marta]

My old boots were too wide, and we put a full length bontex shim (insole shaped material) underneath the footbed. It effectively lifts your whole foot up higher up into the curved part of the boot which is a bit narrower due to the curve. Worked for me, and at least I was able to save the boots for one more season. Oh and one of my friends once had the outer part of the liner padded around the forefoot area, but I don't remember how that worked for her.

 

[volklgirl]

You can trick the boot into acting smaller by using a lifter plate as stated above, although this may also give you cramped toes, instep pinching, or problems around the ankle and heel area. The liner can also have padding added around the foot. Both of these are temporary fixes with mixed and usually minimal and temporary results. The only real fix for you keeping this shell at this point is to invest in thicker, customized liners (Intuition, ZipFit, or Conformable).

You can almost always make a too small boot bigger, but you can never effectively make a too big boot smaller!
Sorry for the bad news, but it's the truth. :(

About the only really narrow boots out there are the Lange World Cup series and the Nordica Dobermann series. Most everything else is gonna be too wide for anyone with truly narrow feet.

 

[PNWSkier]

The only real fix for you keeping this shell at this point is to invest in thicker, customized liners (Intuition, ZipFit, or Conformable).


About the only really narrow boots out there are the Lange World Cup series and the Nordica Dobermann series. Most everything else is gonna be too wide for anyone with truly narrow feet.

Would the custom liners really solve my problem or is it likely that I spend the money on them and still end up needing new boots? I really don't want to trick the boot since I have already had issues with shin pain and the top of the liner needed to be dremeled b/c of pain at the top of my foot.

This is so frustrating! I thought that I did everything right when I purchased the boots and saw a recommended bootfitter. Now, I'm finding that these may not be the best boots for me! I would go back to the first bootfitter but I am now living across the country.

 

[volklgirl]

I can't answer your question from personal experience yet, because I still haven't received the ZipFits I ordered weeks ago.

After a long, involved discussion with the supplying fitter, we think it may be the answer to my problem of too much area around my super-narrow heel and skinny, bony ankle.

Maybe you can discuss options with your original fitter by phone???
I CAN say that custom liners would be transferable to other boot shells of the same approximate size and most can be remolded several times.

 

[PowDiva85]

if you take your custom insoles out and put a plain factory one in do they feel snugger? and/or generally fit better? here is the thing with width... we are talking millimeters. The difference between the boot you currently own and the narrowest one on the market is about 3mm. Now mms can make a huge difference in some issues but in width not so much. When getting your boots if your heel does not feel "connected" in the boot it doesnt matter how wide the forefoot is because all your control is coming from your heel, not your forefoot so if the heel isnt strongly connected and balanced inside the boot you feel "loose" even if the width is right for you. Width of your heel is what you should pay attention to more than fore foot (unless you are excessively wide which it sounds like not!).