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Cold Feet - Advice & Investigating Ways of Keeping Toes Warm

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hi all,

I've been doing loads of searching and researching, and wanted some opinions and offers of answers to help me keep my toes warm during skiing for this coming season's trip. Couldn't find much info on here from the search function.

Background - good skier, Level 7/8 etc; body core always kept warm with good layering and compression garments; toes sometimes get very cold (I suffer from Chilblains) that I have to stop and go back to hotel to warm them up in warm bath, and sometimes they stay warm all day with no problems; boots have no pinch points cutting off circulation, well fitted etc. Use medium weight X Socks for about last 5 seasons. Boots are HEAD S13s with custom footbed, and molded liners.

Just bought some Smartwool PhD Ski Light socks for this season - supposed to be warm, and the best at keeping feet dry.

Questions:

1. Has anyone tried silk ski sock liners with your technical ski socks? How thick are these liners - I've seen some Thaw branded ones online but have no idea whether this will interfere with the fit of my boots as I know you aren't supposed to wear 2 pairs of stuff on your feet.

2. Has anyone tried the toe warmers from LittleHotties or HeatFactory that you stick under the toe area of your socks? Do these interfere with the fit of your boots and how do you keep these things on whilst putting on your snug-fitting boots without ripping them off?

I'm trying not to go down the line of having new Intuition Liners (supposed to be very very good at keeping feet warm), nor buying the battery powered heated insoles from Hotronics or Alpenhead or DryGuys due to cost.

Lastly I'm on the verge of swallowing some pride and getting some BootGloves



Can't find any being sold here - have anyone used these before? Any idea where I can buy them from in the UK? I've just emailed CozyWinters in California that sell them to ask about costs incl shipping.

Anything you can add or help to answer my questions would be tremendously appreciated.

Ta!!

Smile
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I've got some heated insoles - cost about £15, powered by 3x AA battery packs.

You can pick them in Swiss Aldi branches, also a few online: heated insoles

They work really well. Had them for about 5years


Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Sun 28-11-10 12:18; edited 2 times in total
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 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?
putting a liner under a wool sock will negate some of the wool effect and may affect the fit of the boot

the best solutions are either the intuition style liners or the battery powered heaters but they are not a cheap solution ...unless you buy the aldi ones ...not got any experience of them so cant say how long they would last etc etc

the toe warmer packs will most likely not fit in the boots if they are a snug fit as you say.

the other thing you could try is getting some foil onto the bottom of the footbed or liner to reflect the cold back out, and the heat in, it does work and well in many cases... dryguys in the USA sell a thick foil which is self adhesive for the purpose or foil tape for duct work works well


also worth having checked to see that you do not have raynauds syndrome as this can cause all sorts of foot problems in the cold and whatever you try it would be mostly inefective other than heated insoles, and even then they may not do the whole thing, the fact that you say that sometimes you get cold toes and sometimes they stay warm leads me to think it could be raynauds but it needs to be tested properly....
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psbbst, I find a good thing is to start off with the boots absolutely dry and ideally warm to begin with. IMV there is nothing worse than leaving boots in a cold basement boot room overnight probably a bit damp and sweaty from day before and then sticking your tootsies into them. At the very least I take mine to my room overnight, but ideally its worth obtaining a Thermic boot drier/heater and running that overnight in them - the warm flow of air nicely drying the boots and it warms them up fabulously at the same time. I think half the battle is having them nice and warm and dry to put on in the first place. N.B. The only place I've ever seen heated boot driers in a ski locker room is the Oxalys in VT, so I've found plenty of use for my one. The only problem is then keeping it in your boots when your kids discover that they can get their boots toasty warm by nicking it out of mother's boots!

Thermic also do retro fitted battery powered sole heaters for boots, but I haven't tried those.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I think you make a very good point, Megamum, . Which sort of overnight drier is the best?

snowHead
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Chris Bish, They seem to vary, the thermic type actually blow warm air into the boot, you can also get something called dryzone which have a moisture absorbing chemical in them and you refresh in an oven, but they don't make the boots warm - they just dry them out, I also spotted a drier online earlier that was like a boot shaped towel rail concept - it sat on the floor and you sat the boot over the vanes that stuck up in the air. Off all those I've only tried the thermic air drier, and to my mind its the best £45/£50 I've spent.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Hi all, thanks so far - I've omitted to mention that a) I don't wish to alter my molded footbed so I can't add a heated insole; and b) I already have a heated and dry boot overnight before I put them on in the mornings - the boots come up with me to the room and I have a dryer/heater in it, and in my gloves etc all night.

So please take it that I'm an equipment-geek Laughing and already do all the 'good practice' things for warm, dry boots before skiing each day.

I wanted to know if anyone has tried/uses silk sock liners and how they fit with a race sock/light sock made from Merino wool over it.

Also has anyone tried those warming adhesive pads - I take CEM's point that they probably won't fit well, and I think I'll trot along to S&R to get some and try them - I've read of people sticking them to the area of the liner that is above the toes, rather than sticking them on the underside of the sock under the toes (the latter defeats the purpose of custom molded insoles esp at the front where you get 'feel' from the toes through to the boot).

I went to see the doc last year, but she seemed to think it was Chillblains rather than Raynauds - so I've not had a proper test - how does one get tested for Raynauds? Does anyone know? Bloodtest?

Basically I'm trying to investigate all avenues and exhaust all trials before plunging for Intuition liners from CEM - so one more season to experiment before making an appointment with CEM to fit the Intuition liners next Nov 2011 Smile

So do keep them coming.....no one has any experiences of BootGloves?? Puzzled


Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Sun 28-11-10 17:21; edited 1 time in total
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
you can have a heated footbed with your custom beds, just need the right ones, the element is inserted onto the footbeds you have
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Colin, do you fit them? If you don't mind, how much would these be - I can be contacted on ben_t6789@yahoo.co.uk for an offline conversation!

Thanks Colin!!
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
CEM wrote:
you can have a heated footbed with your custom beds, just need the right ones, the element is inserted onto the footbeds you have


This ^. It's really easy to do. Choose the expensive Thermics version or the cheapo from Maplins / Aldis, cut up the heated insole until you find the element, make a small hole (make a cross just big enough to squeeze the element through) in the toe area of your molded foot beds. I prefer to make a another small hole in the boot liner under the toes and run the wire out through the liner, tape it up the back of the calf between the liner and the boot. Batteries on top of the boot. Voila, controllable heat. Easy!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
psbbst,
Quote:

I wanted to know if anyone has tried/uses silk sock liners and how they fit with a race sock/light sock made from Merino wool over it.
I wear thin compression socks and am worried about getting cold in Tignes next week. I'm going to try putting silk ones over the compression socks (I think the important thing is to ensure that what is next to your skin doesn't slip about - that's probably more likely to cause blisters - and the compression socks are, obviously, quite tight.) I'll let you know how I get on!

I've also bought some of those gel thingies, mainly for my hands, but I might also experiment by putting them, as you say, on top of my toes. I only just catch the clips over my toes, anyway, merely to stop them flapping about, not to tighten the boot - so with luck the boots will still accommodate the pads. Again, I'll let you know.

Oh, and I'm taking a large box of blister plasters in case these experiments end in tears. wink
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 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.
Oh by the way Colin/CEM, I have thought about he Hotronics M4 pack but as my custom molded footbed is contoured in the toes area (its a hard shell custom molded footbed), I'm not sure that the heating element will sit completely flat under the toes area which it needs to (according to the installation instructions).

So that's why I've been searching for other alternatives.....it could be Intuition liners are my last best bet..... wink
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 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
Hurtle wrote:
psbbst,
Quote:

I wanted to know if anyone has tried/uses silk sock liners and how they fit with a race sock/light sock made from Merino wool over it.
I wear thin compression socks and am worried about getting cold in Tignes next week. I'm going to try putting silk ones over the compression socks (I think the important thing is to ensure that what is next to your skin doesn't slip about - that's probably more likely to cause blisters - and the compression socks are, obviously, quite tight.) I'll let you know how I get on!

I've also bought some of those gel thingies, mainly for my hands, but I might also experiment by putting them, as you say, on top of my toes. I only just catch the clips over my toes, anyway, merely to stop them flapping about, not to tighten the boot - so with luck the boots will still accommodate the pads. Again, I'll let you know.

Oh, and I'm taking a large box of blister plasters in case these experiments end in tears. wink


Let me know how you get on Hurtle - you can try your liners both underneath and over your compression socks and let me know! Laughing

Plus the heating packs above the toes Laughing
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
psbbst, who made your foot beds? Sounds like you need to see CEM ASAP. Get them ironed nice and flat, insert element, ski happy.

Are you a chick? What do you wear on your head? If you think you could fit heat packs in you certainly can get a heating element, worse case have it under your footbed, it will still be better than anything else you can try.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Megamum,

This one?

http://www.lockwoods.com/ski-boots/ski-boot-warmers-dryers-accessories/therm-ic-bootdryer-230v-uk-europe-or-120v-usa-canada-/prod_2844.html

snowHead
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Chris Bish, That's the one Very Happy
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
as someone further up the thread mentioned...aluminium foil tape is cheap and is very effective in reflecting cold and keeping the heat in. Just need to remove the inner boot and away you go
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 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?
Not sure if the liners make a difference but the liners in my latest boots are very toasty - definitely warmer than the liners in my previous boots. I think they're Palau thermo something-or-other.
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We all use Mycoal/Little Hotties which work really well and you don't know you've got them on. Just bought a supply for the season from Ebay. Make sure it's the toes one you get as the hand ones wont work !
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
I'm still thinking about boot heaters. My poor feet/toes were blocks of ice in La Thuile last season but it was uncommonly cold for March. Something tells me January in Scheffau won't be much better.

I only wear thin compression socks too. I need the compression factor and I haven't found any affordable ski socks that offer it.
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Battery Heated Socks ?

These where the first pulled off a google search: Search results here
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Well I have just ordered a pair of heated , rechargeable insoles from an austrian company. They are not cheap but claim to retain heat for 8 hours and charge upfrom the mains ( or invertor ) quite quickly. Occasionaly I get chilly feet whilst skiing and as other people have mentioned I try to dry them overnight if the inners get sweaty. I hire boots now so I pull the inner liner out which I feel aids the drying process and you havent got soggy ski boots in the bath all the time. Any way, to continue , I work outside and despite wool, thermal. 1 pair 2 pairs , seal skinz my feet still get cold so have bit the bullet and ordered some insoles and will keep you all informed. Watch this space. ian
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