How do you know how tight your boots should be?

[Noodler]

Care to share which ones? Been thinking about trying some, but $50 is abit hard to try something I may toss after a day.
-Chris

Pure Athlete Compression Ski socks

I wish these were a touch thinner like the CEP Ski Ultralights, but the CEP socks all go too high up over my knees. The Pure socks are about 1/3 the price though if you buy them in the larger packs.

Pure used to make a thinner version, but they're no longer available.

 

[crgildart]

Not quite this tight?

 

[coops]

Care to share which ones? Been thinking about trying some, but $50 is abit hard to try something I may toss after a day.
-Chris

I'll still recommend some $50 socks too though... Dissentlabs Nano Tour. Excellent, thin, proper compression (had deep vein thrombosis years ago and had to use the full thigh length medical compression stocking for a while, so these are equal to that and need to be inverted on your hand/arm to make putting on less of a major hassle...), and I've also worn them at work in the oilfield in steel toed boots etc, so they are head wearing/durable too.

Pro Fit Compression Nano Tour

Unquestionably the thinnest and most precision fit sock available, for high-output skiing, snowboarding, and backcountry use. The Pro Fit Compression Nano was the first compression ski sock on the market, delivering custom fit for ultimate bootfitting perfection since 2012.

www.dissentlabs.com

As for the original question - if you have Zipfit Liners (or a laceup liner like BootDoc foamed liners i think), then you only need to tighten the shell of the boot to 'take up the slack'.

Non-lace up, regular liners, you're having to clamp the shell down to squeeze the liner onto your foot and hope to get some kind of heel hold. Usually means having to lever the two upper clamps over with the heel of your hand to get the shell closed tightly enough to force the liner tight.

Zipfit/lace-up - your heel and foot and lower leg is already snugly held in the liner, and heel is in place in the zipfit (and once in boot, the heel of the liner is in the shell heel pocket)... so the upper two are just a one finger tightness, enough to snug the shell to the liner and that's enough. Bliss.

 

[Ski-Noob-87]

My boots were so tight that the long johns made a nasty imprint on my leg. Picture was taken 3 days after skiing. Safe to say I had the calf part too tight, or do I need to buy seamless base layer pants? What is the optimal way to wear socks and base layers? Thanks, Jeremy

 

[KingGrump]

My boots were so tight that the long johns made a nasty imprint on my leg. Picture was taken 3 days after skiing. Safe to say I had the calf part too tight, or do I need to buy seamless base layer pants? What is the optimal way to wear socks and base layers? Thanks, Jeremy View attachment 127338

There should be nothing else in your ski boots other than your leg/feet and a thin ski sock.

 

[Uncle-A]

My boots were so tight that the long johns made a nasty imprint on my leg. Picture was taken 3 days after skiing. Safe to say I had the calf part too tight, or do I need to buy seamless base layer pants? What is the optimal way to wear socks and base layers? Thanks, Jeremy View attachment 127338

I would only have the ski sock in the boot and fold up or cut off the bottom of the base layer. Do you really think you need it to keep warm? I don't.

 

[Ski-Noob-87]

There should be nothing else in your ski boots other than your leg/feet and a thin ski sock.

Thanks KingGrump!

 

[Ski-Noob-87]

I would only have the ski sock in the boot and fold up or cut off the bottom of the base layer. Do you really think you need it to keep warm? I don't.

Thanks Uncle-A! You are probably right about staying warm even without the base layer. It definitely wasn't worth the nasty irritation I got from them.

 

[Uncle-A]

Thanks Uncle-A! You are probably right about staying warm even without the base layer. It definitely wasn't worth the nasty irritation I got from them.

Why are your boots so tight? You don't look like you have a big calf that might cause something like that. If you are over tightening to hold your foot from moving chances are your boots are too big.

 

[Ski-Noob-87]

Why are your boots so tight? You don't look like you have a big calf that might cause something like that. If you are over tightening to hold your foot from moving chances are your boots are too big.

I thought tighter boots = better control. Maybe I need to visit a bootfitter?

 

[LiquidFeet]

I thought tighter boots = better control. Maybe I need to visit a bootfitter?

Set a boot down next to your day shoes. Line up their heels. Is the ski boot longer than the day shoe? How much longer?
If you are looking for a performance fit, the length (really) should be about the same. This simple check works for the boot's length, but it tells you nothing about whether its width and volume match your foot's anatomy.

If you are clinching the top of the cuff to get more control, yes, your boots are probably too big in one or more dimensions. Get thee to a bootfitter. A good bootfitter.

Do not stuff anything into the top of that cuff. Just your sock. It should be a thin sock. Those here obsessed with performance sometimes wear very thin compression socks.

You might consider starting a thread asking whether your boots are too big. Include details. You'll get all kinds of helpful information.

 

[SkiVt]

I thought tighter boots = better control. Maybe I need to visit a bootfitter?

In the morning your foot isn’t as big as it gets once you start skiing the muscle expands some, when buying boots you should not be able too tighen passed the first couple notches, once the liner breaks in they may tighten a little more, but you really should be able to ski with boots unbuckled with the proper stance, you may be leaning backwards or forward too much as well , start with them not so tight and see if they feel better as you get some runs in

 

[KingGrump]

I thought tighter boots = better control. Maybe I need to visit a bootfitter?

If you have to tighten your boots that much, there are probably multiple issues present.
Most common.
Boot fit issues - most common is boots too large.
Technical issues - you are zigging while the skis are zagging.
Skis issues - too much ski for the boot and/or your skill level.

 

[tomahawkins]

Thanks Uncle-A! You are probably right about staying warm even without the base layer. It definitely wasn't worth the nasty irritation I got from them.

Keep the base layer, just cut off the bottom. Anything for an unencumbered boot cuff. Rolled up pants will either cut off circulation or unroll themselves back into your boot. If scissors seem too drastic, there are lots of 3/4 pants available in both base and mid layers. Also, this season I've switched from a shell to insulated outer pants for this very reason -- it's been great and the cooling zips are more effective.

For socks, I've been using soccer socks with success -- cheaper, easier to find than ski socks.

 

[Uncle-A]

Keep the base layer, just cut off the bottom. Anything for an unencumbered boot cuff. Rolled up pants will either cut off circulation or unroll themselves back into your boot. If scissors seem too drastic, there are lots of 3/4 pants available in both base and mid layers. Also, this season I've switched from a shell to insulated outer pants for this very reason -- it's been great and the cooling zips are more effective.

For socks, I've been using soccer socks with success -- cheaper, easier to find than ski socks.

The soccer socks seem like a good idea, don't they have a pad on the shins or a pocket for a shin guard? One of the socks I found is baseball sanitary sock, it is thin enough to fit under the baseball stirrup sock so it is thin enough to fit inside a ski boot. They are also easy enough to find, not made of cotton nowadays and available in several colors if you want.

 

[Tony Storaro]

What is the optimal way to wear socks and base layers? View attachment 127338

Something like this:

X-BIONIC® ENERGY ACCUMULATOR 4.0 PANTS 3/4 MEN

Conquer the peaks of ambitious competitive sport with the X-BIONIC® X-BIONIC® ENERGY ACCUMULATOR 4.0 PANTS 3/4 MEN. The new 4.0 generation is the first to feature the Retina® ultra-high definition quality for unique accuracy of functionality. For a targeted effect, intelligent functional zones...

www.x-bionic.com

or similar. As was already mentioned, nothing but your foot/lower leg plus a sock (thin) in the boot.

 

[Tony Storaro]

Boot fit issues - most common is boots too large.
Technical issues - you are zigging while the skis are zagging.
Skis issues - too much ski for the boot and/or your skill level.

 

[Chris V.]

Some ideas on specific points, if you haven't yet worked this all out:

Notes I took from today:

- Rubbing sensation on inner heel (behind inside ankle); both left and right boot
- Lots of pressure when tightented down on top of left food; right food not as bad but still aches
- Bottom of left foot really sore immediately following run (front of arch, behind toes); right foot aches but not unbearable
- Toes okay (although big left toe is sore tonight), shins okay

Custom footbed. My bootfitter was StartHaus in Truckee (recommended from here).

The big issue is pain on my instep. Left boot is the worst but both are very noticeable if clamped down (see below, though).

Start Haus gives excellent service after the sale. And probably won't charge you much unless you do canting or something else fancy.

Rubbing sensations around heels are likely to be a product of movement, perhaps from boots being not closely fitting enough in some location, as opposed to being too tight. The shop could likely address this. It could also be technique-related.

Too much pressure on the instep isn't good. Most good skiers don't need to fasten the lower two buckles at all tight. Just one finger tight. It's the upper two buckles that you might want to crank down to take up any excess space and keep the cuffs fitting closely around the shins.

As to the pain in the bottom of the foot behind the toes--if it's not simply a matter of your instep being crunched down too much by the buckles--I'll put out a possibility that others may not have brought to your attention. This area is called the metatarsal arch. It's not the big arch that runs front to back. It's an arch in the bone structure, side to side, formed by the small bones in the forefoot. I had the same problem. Pain can be a result of the footbed providing an insufficient or inappropriate level of support for the metatarsal arch. Mark Elling discusses this in his excellent book, The All Mountain Skier. He calls it "da burning balls." It builds through the day, and it can be excruciating. The fix may be to add a bit of support in the footbed, toward the middle of the metatarsal arch. But a little goes a long way. It's very subtle, and it may take some fine tuning over time. But in my case, making the adjustment fixed me up a treat.

 

[LiquidFeet]

....Pain can be a result of the footbed providing an insufficient or inappropriate level of support for the metatarsal arch. Mark Elling discusses this in his excellent book, The All Mountain Skier. He calls it "da burning balls." It builds through the day, and it can be excruciating. The fix may be to add a bit of support in the footbed, toward the middle of the metatarsal arch. But a little goes a long way. It's very subtle, and it may take some fine tuning over time. But in my case, making the adjustment fixed me up a treat.

It's hard to forget Mark Elling's descriptor for this phenomenon. For anyone suffering from this pain, look up Morton's Neuroma. The nerve in that area of the foot can get inflamed. Then you're in trouble. A shim under the footbed often fixes this -- it's preferable to surgery.

 

[Henry]

I think it would be useful to have a list of tasks that fail with loose boots.

What ski movements work right with loose boots?

I was teaching beginners. I noticed first-timers working hard to make all the right movements, and nothing went right. I finally deduced that their boots were too big. I sent them back to the rental shop for boots a full shell size smaller. It worked wonders. Then there were the busy days when the rental shop sold out of many sizes and could only offer too big....

NoScoped, your boots should be as tight as you can get them without discomfort. They should fit like a comfortable exoskeleton like a lobster shell. No slop, and no pain. Lots of things can change, such as different thickness ski socks. Try to eliminate what you can, and if you have either slop or pain, make a return trip to the fitter. Give them your best description of the problem. This is with no discomfort during the ski day. We all know that the real reason we all ski is for the exquisite delight of removing the boots at the end of the day.