@valais2, believe me we tried all methods. Liners are still firmly stuck in boot. Another attempt on our next trip out .
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@Hells Bells, hmmm….thinks…some Tecnicas we have are very 'grabby' - they give up their liners very reluctantly. This is because they have irritating little sewn-on patches on the heels, which keep the liners grabbing all the way out. Three things to do?
1 two people, one holding open the top leaves of the calf section of the boot, the other pulling up and forward by pulling on the very top of the liner at the back - is the bit that sticks up at the back. Pull forward rather than up, and that gets the liner out.
2 possibly take out the insole before doing this - this can really help make the liner more flexible
3 leave the boots for a while to heat up in the accommodation - cold boots very rigid and difficult.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
PowderAdict wrote:
I must be unusual, my boots don't leak, my liners don't get wet, and I can wear the same pair of socks for a week without them stinking.
Could be a problem with your nose, rather than your feet.
and they had been in the apartment on the heated floor for several hours before I got round to taking the liners out. They definitely weren't cold.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
I leave liners in for life. I always use a boot dryer immediately at the end of every ski day and store them warm and dry. No problems that way and my mrs would be the first to complain if they smelled bad!
Just to add, I wear clean ski socks every day.
After all it is free
After all it is free
I've read this thread with interest because we're currently in the middle of spec'ing up our new home in the Alps and I've got around to the ski rack/heater bit.
It would seem from this, and a few other threads I've read, that most Snowheads would consider drying boots & liners something that absolutely should be done fairly religiously and thoroughly. I know from my own experience, I've always had a "go" at getting them dry but if they happen to be a bit damp towards the end of a week, so be it
However, as we will be renting our chalet out, it seems to me that these days perhaps it's not quite enough to leave people to sort themselves out and that most would expect boot heaters/dryers.
Quick straw poll: what do you guys think? How "mandatory" or "expected" are boot heaters/dryers these day in any decent level of ski chalet accommodation?
The chalet sleeps 10 and it's an important question as a 10 pair heater/dryer doesn't come cheap.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
@fatmansan, ...in Chetzeron hotel - just rated one of the best new Alpine hotels in the world, and on a hill near us - has heated, vented, purpose built cupboards for guests. These were part of the (high-spec) build for the place. I'd say it is important, but I wouldn't supply the facility through boot heaters - too much to go wrong when renting - when people are not in their own house, they tend to break things through lack of familiarity. Better to have a warm room or a slatted bench above a low rad which boots can go on, and call it a 'drying area'., of course making sure that you won't get loads of condensation.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@valais2, Good point, thank you. The floor will be heated so perhaps we just need to provide for "racks" for the boots to hang upside down on... some food for thought there... Call it a drying area.. stating the obvious is sometimes required - v.good!
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@fatmansan, may not be right to have boots upside down - you need hot air flowing out of boots carrying moisture with it - upside down, boot shells can accumulate moisture inside - better a heat source beneath, and boots right way up, with convection carrying warm moist air out of the boots.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Hi
I always make sure my boots are placed on a boot drier overnight (toes facing up so the air circulates right to the toe area). I always wear clean socks every day without fail and on return from the Alps I store my boots in their original box in the house under the spare bed. Never taken the liners out and have never had an issue with smelly or damp boots.
Griggs
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
@valais2, @Griggs,
Cheers. When I meant facing upside down I had in mind what @Griggs had said - toe end up. This seems to be the way the boot heaters are designed too but I see what you mean about having a heat source from below. I'm still pondering... Will let you know what I decide. Cheers
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@fatmansan, if you have heated floors I would supplement this with the cold air blowers that a few snowHeads use in their French apts. mount them on the wall and then the boots will be sat on a warm floor with a constant cold air flow through, perfect. They each blow two pairs of boots, so five will do the job, budget €300. they blow cold so can be run for many consecutive hours without 'burning out' or costing a fortune in leccy.
@under a new name posted a link to them in Vieux Campeur somewhere, I'll go look for it.
Takes two pairs of boots and gets the liners dry and toasty in 3 hours. So you need one between four skiers to dry their boots in the evening. It is a fairly gentle radiant heat - no threat to heat mouldable liners! Bought it from ski Bartlett I think for roughly £80.
I have noticed that it won't get all the moisture out from between the liner and the shell but I only know this from pulling the liners out. If this is an issue at all then it is only for long term storage which is where we came in.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
I'm horrified by the 250ml of sweat per boot per day statistic. If that evaporates every night, imagine how much dried sweat builds up in hire boots over the course of a season. Yuk!
I hired boots for the first time in a decade this year, as I needed special touring bindings for some off-piste excursions. I now can't stop thinking about the 20 litres or so of sweat that total strangers had previously left in each of my boots.
@midgetbiker,@jedster, - magic. They both represent a substantial saving on the EUR1000 they want for 2 x 5 pair of wall mounted boot warmers.
@Jonny Jones - you're stuffed. You can't unthink that stuff!
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I've generally found that any sorted of heated boot room, and often even the normal chalet temperature, is sufficient to dry boots/liners overnight.
This year returned to somewhere that had replaced the old racking with a fancy modern drier that blows hot air out of individual prongs on some sort of timer system (and with less heat in the room itself). I thought this was a bit OTT, although a big advantage was that if operated in the morning boots were much more flexible so easier to put on. The problem was that there weren't enough prongs for the number of clients, so some people returning from skiing later removed the boots of those who had come back 5 minutes earlier!
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
ecureuil wrote:
I've generally found that any sorted of heated boot room, and often even the normal chalet temperature, is sufficient to dry boots/liners overnight.
Although that's true, I've found that a dedicated dryer (the air blower type in my case) dries them out much faster, allowing less time for bacteria to grow. So they never get smelly, even after a good few years of regular use. They also have a UV light on them, which helps to sterilise too.
After all it is free
After all it is free
PowderAdict wrote:
I must be unusual, my boots don't leak, my liners don't get wet, and I can wear the same pair of socks for a week without them stinking.
+ 1. Leaving boots to try in the bathroom overnight is enough for me. If there is a drying cupboard i'll stick them in there, but just as much to keep them out the way. Only if its been raining can i sometimes see a bit of damp through the clear sections of the shell. Then I take the liners out.
I usually just take 2 or 3 pairs of ski socks for the week. Haven't noticed any pong. Or more to the point, my wife hasn't complained.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
@ecureuil, @spyderjon, thanks both.
I'll need to make a decision soon. I have already decided that if I was to get the blower type then absolutely would need to ensure there's enough for every client in the chalet.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
fatmansan wrote:
@ecureuil, @spyderjon, thanks both.
I'll need to make a decision soon. I have already decided that if I was to get the blower type then absolutely would need to ensure there's enough for every client in the chalet.
Boots only need to be on the blower type dryers for maybe an hour each evening. We get by no problem with just a single portable boot dryer between 4 of us. But that might be more difficult if your boots are not close at hand. If they are going to be left on a blow dryer overnight, you would want some kind of timer on the blower power otherwise it could be quite expensive to run and the motors would probably wear out pretty quickly too.
This one for example works on a timer and is available in 10-20 pair sizes, but it ain't cheap!
And the menu fixe is actually extremely good value and exceptionally good.
Back to boots....But if I were to rent a property (ours is a family home and we never rent it) I would keep it dead simple - have a room called 'drying room', with nice slatted benches in hard wood, a vent or so to vent out the moist air and run at a temp which will dry things, either by a normal low radiator under or behind the bench or a timed electric heater such as an agricultural background space heater, with tamperproof controls. Complexity almost always comes with faff.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
@uktrailmonster, Thanks - I think! You're certainly paying for Swiss engineering there. Looks decent though. I like @valais2's, summary - more stuff = more faff, Swiss or otherwise.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
I have to take my liners out every time I take my boots off as they are a lace fit. If they stick a bit then give them a spray of silicone lube, Zardoz works in a pinch too
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@spyderjon, thanks.
*Edit* I've had a look into their gear and it's a touch more pricey than the other option I was looking at.
486.90 vs. 594.27
Any knowledge of the other lot in terms of quality, servicing, after sales? No worries if not, but thought I'd ask!
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
