How To Buy Ski Boots

[Music] yeah brain once hey guys welcome to boot Orioles I'm your host Craig and today we're going to talk about so buying a new set of ski boots can seem like quite an intimidating task especially when you don't know how to approach it how to buy ski boots is such a huge subject but I've tried to film this video about five times and just get stuck down in the weeds so I want to outline the process that you need to follow I'm gonna keep this one pretty simple and then if you're up for it we're gonna dive in really deep in my next video series now there really are three different places where you are able to buy some ski boots it's either gonna be at a specialist ski store with a boot fitter guiding and assisting you with your purchase or maybe perhaps a more big box ski retailer or sports store where the level of service may vary or there is the internet and that is where you are all alone so there is varied levels of success between these three options but it's going to be very dependent on where you live and where you ski as to what is available to you so no matter where you buy your ski boots the process will remain much the same and that is you should go and get [Music] [Applause] catch me ridin dirty so introducing to you the get effed method now these are the main points that you should be focusing on when you're buying a new set of ski boots and these efforts are function feet foot beds flex fit fitting fun and fixing so finding the right pair of ski boots for you out of a whole world of boot options really is about funneling and filtering down your options until you find a couple of candidates now do this you want to begin by thinking about the type of terrain you like to ski and also what you want your boots to do for you now there are a couple of defined ski boot styles on the market whether that be ski racing downhill resort style boots freeride or even backcountry touring boots now we are starting to see a lot of crossover these days where you can find a boot that serves a couple of these purposes but if you can narrow down these options into a function and style of boot you're looking for this really helps steer you in the direction to finding a boot that has the features that you want and one of the most important steps in this process is that you are going to need to get to know your feet and the better that you can understand your feet the easier this whole thing becomes so you're going to need to measure them at a minimum you should know your foots length for foot width and instep height but also you need to analyze other aspects of your feet so also pay close attention to the overall shape of your feet also your stance is there any obvious lumps or bumps that you will need to pay attention to when you're fitting the boots but also have a think about your feet do you have any previous history of problems in ski boots are there any pains or pressure points that you'll definitely want to get addressed when going into a new set of ski boots so knowing these things about your feet make the task of finding the right ski boot lasts a lot easier because we're looking to have a boot fit you not just correctly in only the length but also the width instep height the right amount of grab at the heel and also security of the lower leg and next up is foot beds now foot beds are an essential item in making a ski boot truly fit to you they serve as your entire foundation and the purpose of a foot bed is to support and stabilize your foot on the inside now not only do they give you a faster reaction time but they also reduce the stresses exerted on your feet while skiing the foot beds really are one of the most important things in solving most ski boot fit issues so if you've never skied with some foot beds you really need to make this a part of your next pair [Music] now the equation of Flex really comes down to just a couple of things you do need to consider your weight and height but the biggest factor that will determine what flex range of boots you should go into is going to be how aggressively you ski so consider your ability when looking to choose at what Flex of books the other thing that on a side note that can be considered with boot flex is generally as you're going up the scale you're usually going to have to spend more money now this cost is determined by manufacturers usually using more premium materials in the construction of their higher-end boots so at this stage you should have a couple of candidates that are ticking the boxes in what you're looking for and to go further along the next thing that you need to do is make some checks to reference how these boots will match your feet so the first thing that you should do is a process called shelf fitting and this is where you're going to directly see how your feet interact with this plastic boot from a size and shape perspective and once this checks out you want to get the liners back in the boot and then you want to stand inside the boot for a while now the best thing that you can do at this point is if you have two different boots that you can get on your feet that is going to be the best thing for direct feedback as to what's feeling better but spending a little bit of time in these boots that are possibilities is going to help you steer towards the ones that are gonna feel more natural on your feet now the better of ski boot feels initially before you make any alterations the easier it will be to make some changes as required for a better fit now type is usually the right adjective here when you're trying boots on so here is where you're making a selection of boot and moving forward into making these boots fit you as well as they can be the process of fitting a ski boot at a minimum should include setting up your buckles to their best position adjusting things to suit your stance such as cuff alignment or forwardly also you want to do a heat mode to the liners and if your boots allow it may even at this stage you want to do a custom shell molding to your boots and then it's the best bit going and skiing in your boots to test them out now keep in mind here you may still need a few days of bedding in time not only deal liners need to mold and relax a little bit more but also your feet need to adjust to being inside of this new ski boot so you may really want to pay attention to the buckle pressure in this time and also the soft that you're using until you get a better molding now with any luck that is going to be all set and you will have nailed it and if not you may be saying the other F word fudgesicle and never fear there is still a multitude of ways that you can alter a boot to ski better or customize them to address fitting issues now it's at this fixing stage that you will look to still change the boot from its current form to improve them even further now there's ways that you can make some alterations to the boots plastic whether that comes in the form of a custom shell molding also you can change them by grinding or manually stretching or punching the boots plastic for a better shape also you can address any stance issues you may look to alter the canting also you can change forward lean and ramp angle other things you may look to get done is alterations to your liners so liners can be manipulated to loosen them up and get relief or strategically you can add some foam to lock them in and make them tighter possibly you can even change and replace a liner altogether to get a different fit out of your boots all in all there is a whole bunch of ways that you can still change your boots and optimize them so they fit you better but it is really best if you can make some better choices earlier on in this process and then you'll have less to do in this fixing stage so that is it in a nutshell quickly going over the process of how to buy ski boots now hope it's been a little bit helpful and insightful on how you are going to approach it next time so best of luck in your search for a new pair of boots now I know I've glazed over some things here but if you do want to go in deep my next video series is going to cover everything so be sure to subscribe thanks for watching stay rad be a patriot so now [Music]

Channel: Patriot Footbeds

Views: 9,275

Rating: 4.9775281 out of 5

Keywords: Ski Boots, How To, Buy, How to buy, Skiing, DIY, bootfitting, ski boot fitting, patriot footbeds

Id: fQnnAt0qqbw

Length: 9min 51sec (591 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 06 2020