How tight should you have your boots?

A snowHead

On my last trip I kept getting conflicting info from the instructors I had for my individual lessons. One (who was quite old school) would not let me budge an inch until she had inspected my boots & tightly strapped my feet up while another one said ok to loosen them. Incidently I couldn't finish my lesson with the first instructor because my feet were threatening to divorce me as soon as the blood hit them again. I like the security of having my boots quite tight, especially around the ankles but my stamina is being severely impacted by the burn in my feet. They're my own boots & I've had mounded footbeds made so I don't think that's the problem. I'm quite a nervous skier so it may be my subconscious effort to grip the slope with my toes that's the cause of my grief. Any ideas?

A snowHead

In my opinion...
1. the toe buckle: forget about it. It serves next to no useful purpose.

2. the mid-foot buckle: finger tight. i.e. can you open and close it just by using one finger, and not having to put too much force on it?

3. lower calf buckle: same as 2.

4. upper calf buckle: same as 2. (but put your strap underneath the shell)

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Eeyore, are you curling your toes up, like a bird on a perch would do? If so, this habit is going to make your feet hurt. When you feel you want to "grip the slope with your feet" make a real effort to do the opposite and stretch your toes up.

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Eeyore, I think you should have your boots tight enough so your foot won't twist at all, but not tight enough to be uncomfortable. A solid clunk when you push the buckle down but not a big battle to close them - having said that I ski most of the time with my boots really loose . Embarassed

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I usually do them up first "finger tight" and after a run or two tighten them if I need to once my feet have settled

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I find that I do my boots up so that I my feet are firmly but not tightly clamped and then as the day goes on I retighten them as they become looser, I suppose as the stuffing gets squashed.

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Tight enough so there is no movement inside the boot (except for the ability to flex toes), but not so tight as to make the circulation stop. Over-tightening is no substitute for a good fit.

After all it is free

Eeyore, wot everyone else said.

I wear my boots loose or tight depending on whatever, and it makes no difference to my foot comfort. Except for my last holiday, when I got scared and spent the whole first day "gripping the snow with my feet" in the vain hope it would somehow help. Put my arches into agony for days! Spent the rest of the holiday conciously flexing my toes in the opposite direction every time they started cramping up. A lesson would've helped too...but I was bloody-minded.

I think I have my boots a bit tighter than the above posters.

I start by doing the booster strap up a little, just to hold it in place. I then fasten the bottom buckle so that the buckle takes up the slack when its open at about 90*. I do this on each buckle as I work up to the top one, then give the booster strap a bit of a pull tight.

I then have a test flex of the boot. If I'm off for a day on the groomed I may tighten the top buckle and the booster strap a little further, if it's deeper stuff or bumps then I may slacken the booster and top buckle off a bit.

I sometimes check that the buckles on each boot are about as tight as each corresponding buckle, by ear (is the click just as loud as the buckles fasten?) and feel (if I close both at the same time does each buckle click at the same time?).

Try with loose boots, try with tight boots, use whatever floats yer boat.

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comprex, I always fix the buckles tightness whilst sitting down.

However once I've got my settings "sorted" by the above method I tend to just ski like that all day every day. That means at the moment I buckle my boots on hooks 2,2,3,2 on each side. So I just do them up in that pattern (sitting or stood) unless I think the liners have packed out a bit more, in which case I'd go through the resetting routine again.

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I have quite narrow feet and so I do tighten up my buckles a little more than usual. BUT!!!... this season I have had them a little looser (although even before I never suffered any discomfort) and have found that I have increased awareness of how I am pressuring the front of the boots during turns.

I walk down to the ski room, put my boots on, and then do the buckles up until they feel right. If when I'm skiing they're too loose then I tighten them, if they're too tight I loosen them. This method has never failed me. wink

You know it makes sense.

Kramer, we need an unbiased study with a bigger sample population before we can really believe this.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Like most others I usually have my boots at a "finger-tight" and find that I make them BIT tighter as the day goes on. If I'm attempting sometghing a bit challenging then I will try to get them a little tighter. This seems to be at variance with marc gledhill, who appears to slacken his boots off.

A snowHead

I was always told that the feeling when your boots were done up should be like a firm handshake ie some grip but not too tight. One thing to consider is what is your ability to flex your ankles and lower legs. If you cant and find yourself locked into position, the boots are too tight. We spent the first part of a course with the instructor getting everyone to loosen off their too tight boots, especially the upper buckles. so that we all could increase the ability to flex. If you get through the day and you are not slopping about in the boot or alternatively screaming in pain, that is a good sign thast it is about right. We were also told about Foxs point about putting the power strap below the shell, which I found very helpful

A snowHead

halfhand, most people are at variance with me and I'm well known for slackening off. wink

What do you mean by challenging though? Steep pistes or bumps?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

'Just' tight enough wink

.... Try skiing with loose (or for the more adventurous...) undone buckles. Then re-tighten them and find that they don't need to be as tight as you'd thought.. snowHead

Have you noticed that w/c racers almost always undo their boots in the finish area ? Puzzled

That's why they go so fast, can't wait to get the damn things off ! Laughing

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Tight enough to be secure on my feet, maybe too tight sometimes. At home the fit is perfect but on the hill I fiddle a bit and pain is a factor sometimes

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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My boots vary from day to day as well. Some days I'll do them up in the morning, have no problem with them at all, even be dancing in them in the evening. The very next day, on the very same notches on the clips, and they'll be murder, on and off all day long. I think that part of it for me is that the longer I stay stood still on them, the more uncomfortable they get, but if I'm actually skiing on them then it's not a problem.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Hmm, glad I'm not the only one who tries to dig their 'claws' in. Is there such a thing as a valium shot for feet?

What about sock thickness, any one think that makes a difference?

After all it is free

marc gledhill, I guess "challenging" depends on your personal level. If it's a bit steeper and/or bumpier then I'll tighten up, if it's just steeper and well groomed then I'll probably leave alone. I am not great technically and am happier on reds and well groomed blacks. Bumpier blacks make me ski like Graham Norton with an orange between my a**e-cheeks! Laughing

Eeyore, Conventional wisdom seems to be with thin socks which I was always sceptical of. When I bought my boots last year, the boot-fitted advised that hornmal everyday socks would be fine for the fitting. I now use thin purpose designed ski socks, feet don't get too cold and my boots have nolded linings and footbeds. V. comfortable.

I start with less tight settings in the morning, then add one or two notches on the front ones. If I am on piste, I will tighten the top two plus strap more than I would off-piste, because I think there's more need for flex on uneven surfaces and variable snow conditions than on hard groomed snow.

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Eeyore, My new business idea - botox for the feet Puzzled

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I leave the two buckles on my feet as loose as possible, and have always been taught that the most important one is the lowest one on the ankle, that should be tight then it'll hold everything else into place. Try skiing with all your buckles undone - it'll improve your balance no end!

I'll have to buy new boots next season though as my feet are mysteriously shrinking from a size 7 to a size 5.5 Shocked

and then I'll have to go through the whole painful rigmarole of finding the "right" settings for my feet.

But I too have had the instructor do up buckles so tight they made my feet turn blue... I undid them as soon as his back was turned. Little Angel

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Nice warm liners in the morning (overnight on the rad) are lovely but I found this year that if you put the liners in the wrong boot (left in right & vice versa), they're not very comfy regardless of what you do with the buckles Shocked

Happily, I was on the bus when I realised so it wasn't a problem.

The 2 buckles across the foot should not be tight, they are really just to close the boot (you should be able to wiggle your toes, but not have your foot able to waggle from side to side). The higher of these two buckles will put pressure on the arteries feeding the feet, if it is too tight. ie if you get cramp in the base of your foot, then that buckle is probably too tight.

Next the cuff buckles should be pretty firm, with, in my view, a damn good yank on the power strap. If you don't have these tight then every time you tip your legs to make a carve there will be a delayed reaction at the ski whilst your calves legs take up the slack in the boot, before actually moving the boot.

Loosening the cuffs for drills to find your centre of balance is helpful, but keeping them loose to help ankle flex isn't really that good. Your boot has a joint in it for ankle flex, and good boots generally have a degree of adjustment in it, to make the flex soft or hard. You only need a small amount of flex at the ankle to make a big difference to the angle of ski tip.

So for me it's loose lowers, tight uppers, and a good yank !

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

Sometimes i take it so tight i use a stick to help me up it, the 1 finger technique thing is bs u use it - u die (for me, for other ppl who take it bit slower it might be ok)

A snowHead

Chemist, who fitted your boots for you? Cause if you need them that tight, they aren't fitted properly!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Chemist, please try not to use mobile phone text on this forum, some of the older people can't understand it wink

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Sorry I normally write with people that play games and stuff so they have their little 1337 talk thing going on and I got use to it Sad

...

I tried many boots, my trainer told me its ok and the tighter the better (I do races so if i dont make them really really really tight it feals... crap... unsecure, and you know sometimes it takes me 10 mins to put them on, and later in the day that setting is not tight enough so i tighten more. my tip is x (x = much as it goes) tight, same with bottom mid, x-1/2 in top mid, x-1/2. When i get on the lift sometimes or just after the course it hurts so much I can't even bare like 5 mins. of it. But if i make it less, i feal unsecure

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Chemist, for racing you will need them tighter than recreational skiers, however you may eventually find a pair of boots with a perfect fit, if you do, treasure them as if they were made of solid gold

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"Tighter than a snake's ass in a wagon rut"?

PS - name that film?

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

David Murdoch, I believe Robin Williams said 'hotter'.

The usage I'm familiar with is 'lower than'.

After all it is free

comprex, I believe you are right.

The "lower than" usage has nothing to do with combat aircraft does it?

David Murdoch, it was an ex-USN(submarine) Texas rancher talking about someone's intelligence, so Puzzled

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David Murdoch, Was it by any chance from "Hot Dog"? Sounds like it!

Chemist, To do your boots so tight for anything EXCEPT racing would not be a good idea. Mine are almost never really done up at all, but then all day I'm teaching so skiing well below my own level. If I go skiing I do actaully do all the buckles up (!), and if skiing seriously I might even tighten them up a bit too!!! Most people will not put up with the pain! Very Happy

Help!!

How tight should you have your boots?

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