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how often do you replace your boots/skis?

avgDude

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Is there a rule of thumb or guideline as to when is it time to replace boots and/or skis? Such as X number of ski days? or after X number of seasons?

I like the idea of a changing gear after x number of ski days because it's something easily qualified. BUT let's say as an example that number is 100. Well if you only ski 1-2 weeks a year that would mean you're changing gear somewhere between 7 and 14 seasons. Seems like you should be changing more often than 14 years.

I'm curious what others think about when to upgrade.
 

Spring1898

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There are a lot of factors to consider there,
I have heard 50-200 days, the spread is so large because of all the different skier types and sizes.
As would be expected, heavier/aggressive skiers will wear out gear sooner.

Also things like liners will often pack out before the boots

My mother has a 30 year old pair of boots she refused to give up because they are comfortable, but at that point I think aging of the plastics is also a factor.

I haven't been skiing long enough to wear out any hard equipment yet.

When in doubt, try new stuff!
 

Bill Miles

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Not until they need it.
Until a few years ago, I was replacing skis every couple of seasons because they were used demos and the bases got too thin to repair.
My boots are about eight years old, are my favorite boots I have ever had, and they will have to pry them off my cold dead feet. Might need new liners though.
 

Jack skis

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I replaced, or bought another pair, of skis or boots right after my wife did. It made life run easier without conflict. Now she's gone I have no restraint whatsoever. Except for physical probs that seriously cut down my ski days and need for new stuff. Things may go better this coming season.
 

slowrider

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Boots about every 3-4 seasons @ 70 days/yr. Skis depends how many days I put on them. Some skis get very little use so I keep them 10 yrs. Others 5 yrs usually. Poles every 50 yrs. ;-)
 
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DanoT

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A lot of people replace skis, not because they are worn out but because they want to have the latest tech and performance that new skis offer. A used ski, in good shape, can still be sold but my old skis become the early season sketchy condition skis for a season or two and then they are done with no resale value.

Boots, in an effort to avoid the sometimes difficult and trying fitting and break in period, get kept usually until the shell breaks or the liners fall apart.

In terms of a calendar schedule, different brands and products offer variable durability so I have no set schedule. However, most skis don't ski the same after 100 days (some would say 25 days) but a skier can always adapt to the equipment, to an extent.
 
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Tricia

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My general rule of thumb with boots is 150-200 days.
If you're only skiing 10-15 days a season then the plastic may be compromised long before the 150 days are up.

For skis, it depends on the build of the ski, because different materials break down differently and skis are made from a lot of different materials.

Most experienced skiers can tell when a ski starts feeling "dead"
Some Skiers fall in love with a ski so much that they stay enamored with it long after its time to replace it, but when the change happens, wow!
 

Jilly

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Boots - once things hurt or are sloppy. Usually 4 years give or take.
Skis - once as Tricia describes, dead or I can't tune them anymore. But sometimes you buy a ski then realize 1/2 way through the season, they aren't cutting it. So new pair again this year. Older skis - rock skis. Not worth trying to sell. My "old west, eastern powder", just before they are too old to sell.
 

eok

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Skis: If I had to come up with an average it would be around 4 years. But I do have skis in my quiver - that I still use - that are older than that. But to be honest... most seasons my resistance breaks down, I'll get something new and I'll (usually) sell off one of my older sets of skis at the next local ski swap.

Boots: For me I guess it works out to 5 or 6 years.

Bindings: If the bindings go off the indemnification list I will surely replace them - even if they *seem* to still work fine.

In the above, I'm talking relatively "modern" gear. Not old "straight" skis or ancient boots/bindings. If all your stuff that old it's way past time for you to upgrade to more current stuff.
 

Don in Morrison

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The skis I got last month marks eleven years since the last new skis. My boots are also eleven years old, but I plan on using them at least a few more seasons. I only get out about ten days a season, so I'm not putting a lot of wear on my gear anyway. I stopped skiing in 1984 due to a job loss, and didn't start back up until 2001. I used my old 70's gear until 2008. I still take some of the retro gear out a few times a season. I think I spent more than half of the 2017-2018 season on the retro skis.
 

AngryAnalyst

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I have never worn out a ski, though I have decided I want new ones quite regularly.

Boots are a totally binary thing for me - either they're comfortable and functional or they're not. I have never replaced a comfortable boot simply because it was not stiff enough.
 

geepers

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Knew a guy who finally replaced his Salomon SX90 boots when the duct tape and bailing wire could no longer keep them operational. That was a couple of years ago. He duly re-appeared the next morning with updated boots - SX91s.
 

markojp

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Boots, usually every other season. Skis, generally while they're still current enough to resell them unless an amazing ski that's out of production. Occassionly something is just kept for nostalgia. I truly wore out my rev 85 pros. I was working on the mountain full time and skied them a ton. They were truly shot. I even mounted them teley hoping to keep them going, but they just sucked. Dead. I'd buy a pair tomorrow when my monster 88's die if they were available still in the wrapper.
 

Sibhusky

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I used to replace skis every 100 days because that was some rule of thumb. Then I retired pre-pension and was living off savings and they've lasted:

Outlaws - 184 days, retired
Recons - 206 days, gifted to my daughter's boyfriend who uses them for beer league racing (his other skis are very wide, no camber, so these are clearly better than that!)
Rictors - 220 days and counting, but their replacements arrived at the end of last season. I love these skis, hate thinking they are done.
Hell and Back - 162 days and counting. Would love to replace these things, but don't know how much off piste is still in me.
IKonics - 7 days. Not sure yet if I'll ever love them.

Current boots have 417 days. I thought I'd be replacing them at this point, but the fit is still perfect. Still don't need any insoles added. They did come with an adjustable last which I used to tighten the fit as they packed out. I wish every boot came with that.
Last boots had 462 days. I only replaced them because I was worried about the plastic. I needed three insoles towards the end to make up for packing.

I don't have a huge desire to keep up with the latest thing. My last car I had for 18 years.

And yes, I do keep track of all this, so those aren't estimates.
 
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Wasatchman

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My general rule of thumb with boots is 150-200 days.
If you're only skiing 10-15 days a season then the plastic may be compromised long before the 150 days are up.

For skis, it depends on the build of the ski, because different materials break down differently and skis are made from a lot of different materials.

Most experienced skiers can tell when a ski starts feeling "dead"
Some Skiers fall in love with a ski so much that they stay enamored with it long after its time to replace it, but when the change happens, wow!
I'm surprised only 150-200 days for boots. What do you think is compromised after that? The stiffness, the sole? I know the stock liner would easily be packed out by then, but I figure you guys are pros at baking liners so I would assume that's not the limiting factor. Also, is it because you have access to so much free/cheap gear that you simply can change?

A big factor to consider in replacing boots is how hard it is to get the fit dialed in for your particular foot. If your foot does well out of the box or with simple tweaks, it's no big deal to buy new boots more often. But if I had a foot that really took a hard time to get dialed in, I'd keep the boot a lot longer than 150-200 days.
 

Jtlange

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I'm surprised only 150-200 days for boots. What do you think is compromised after that? The stiffness, the sole? I know the stock liner would easily be packed out by then, but I figure you guys are pros at baking liners so I would assume that's not the limiting factor. Also, is it because you have access to so much free/cheap gear that you simply can change?

A big factor to consider in replacing boots is how hard it is to get the fit dialed in for your particular foot. If your foot does well out of the box or with simple tweaks, it's no big deal to buy new boots more often. But if I had a foot that really took a hard time to get dialed in, I'd keep the boot a lot longer than 150-200 days.

You cant just rebake a liner once its packed out. When a liner is done its because the foam has been too compressed and wont rebound. Shells last far longer than the liners so you can always throw an aftermarket liner in it. How hard you are on equipment also makes a difference as well. Some people only get 80-90 out of a boot, some get much much more. Just please get a new boot after 12 years though. You will be doing yourself a favor because materials and fitting have progressed so much in that amount of time. Plus the plastic is known to crack at any moment after 12 years...
 

Tricia

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I'm surprised only 150-200 days for boots. What do you think is compromised after that? The stiffness, the sole? I know the stock liner would easily be packed out by then, but I figure you guys are pros at baking liners so I would assume that's not the limiting factor. Also, is it because you have access to so much free/cheap gear that you simply can change?

A big factor to consider in replacing boots is how hard it is to get the fit dialed in for your particular foot. If your foot does well out of the box or with simple tweaks, it's no big deal to buy new boots more often. But if I had a foot that really took a hard time to get dialed in, I'd keep the boot a lot longer than 150-200 days.
150-200 is a general rule of thumb, but not an exact figure.
A lot of this depends on the type of boot, the quality of the liner, how much the person walks in the boot, how hard the skier is on the boot, and most of all, how was the fit from the beginning?
If a skier is in a recreational fit, there is a chance you'll get much less than 150 days just based on how much the boot packs out and what has to go into it to snug it up.
If a skier is in a performance fit, well, packing out isn't as much of an issue.
The last pair of boots that I had 300+ days in it, I had gone through 2 liners, the first one fell apart around 150 days.
 

François Pugh

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Replace shells when they crack at the stress points. Replace liners when they pack out and your heel is swimming around in the heel pocket instead of being held tightly. Works out to between 200 and 300 days for shells, and 100 to 200 days for liners in my limited experience. Exception: my antique Koflachs seem to be lasting for ever.
 

pliny the elder

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Most people think about replacing their boots when they notice the fit has declined. You start buckling down tighter and tighter and they start to hurt and make your feet go numb. At the same time, the plastic degrades. It becomes softer in directions you don't want it to, and they go dead and lose rebound. This loss of performance is slow and you often don't notice it until you get new ones. Kind of like the shocks on your car.

The 150 to 250 days is pretty commonly accepted as a lifespan for boots. This does not mean if you ski 10 days a year they will last 20 years. Even a never used boot degrades from oxygen and uv light exposure. Fresh plastic skis better.

Aside from the expense, the most commonly heard reason for keeping boots too long is fear of the process. If you have an understanding of your boot set up, angles and typical fit modifications, it should be a relatively simple matter to replicate.
With an athlete, you take the old boot, match the grinds and the angles and the boot is usually very close without the person even there.

Your results may of course vary.


pliny the elder
 

Wasatchman

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You cant just rebake a liner once its packed out. When a liner is done its because the foam has been too compressed and wont rebound. Shells last far longer than the liners so you can always throw an aftermarket liner in it. How hard you are on equipment also makes a difference as well. Some people only get 80-90 out of a boot, some get much much more. Just please get a new boot after 12 years though. You will be doing yourself a favor because materials and fitting have progressed so much in that amount of time. Plus the plastic is known to crack at any moment after 12 years...
Sorry, I meant cooking a new liner, not recooking the old liner. But a new liner is way cheaper than a new pair of boots.

Interesting the consensus on this thread seems to be about 150-250 days regarding the plastic. I tend to go that route myself but the crowd that I know tends to keep their boots longer than that with what they swear is no discernible reduction in performance.

Agree on no longer than 12 years regardless. I've seen a boot crack to a million shards first hand when my wife tested her luck with an old pair of boots that were 15 years old.

How long do after market liners last? I've hear some reps tell me some of those higher quality after markets liners easily last 150-200 days? Is that just a a sales pitch that isn't generally true?

Also, if 150 days rule of thumb is right, I'm not sure why very many would choose to go to a place like surefoot and buy the full service boot with custom injection liner? You're talking somewhere easily in the neighborhood of $2000 for their full monty service of boot plus liner (and that's assuming you already have a footbed). That's some serious cash for 150-200 days.
 

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