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Looking for suggestions - removing cold boots at the end of the day

bbbradley

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I have lace-up liners and I am willing to go in/out with them on.

I was always under the impression ski boot liners aren't well suited for the wear and tear of constant removal and reinsertion. Are newer liners better about this?


And, your excerpted quote really seems to need this:
1614114690066.png
 

Ogg

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I was always under the impression ski boot liners aren't well suited for the wear and tear of constant removal and reinsertion. Are newer liners better about this?


And, your excerpted quote really seems to need this:
View attachment 125484
Lace up liners are meant to be used that way and most liners will probably be packed out before the wear and tear becomes an issue anyway.
 

gwasson

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I wonder whether they have people to pull one's boots off at the Yellowstone Club? Now THAT would be service! :roflmao:

I can confirm that they definitely do. We had lunch in the YC, and saw a pretty famous celeb getting his boots buckled up by his personal ski instructor.
 

Noodler

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I have lace-up liners and I am willing to go in/out with them on. When you use the UHMW tape do you just tape the shell and bootboard or do you put a strip on the liner down by the heel? Would gaffer tape work better on the liner with UHMW tape on the shell? Also do you put the UHMW strip down the entire back of the of the shell from top to bottom or how far down the shell do you start?

If you can get a piece of the tape to stay on the rear heel of your liner, then that makes this work even better. I don't think gaffer tape would help at all. The strip is placed down the entire rear spine of the shell.
 

hbear

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Ermmm..dunno about that. Skied in them down to -20C and while they do stiffen up I do not remember struggling excessively removing them-both with stock liners and ZipFits.

I hear quite a few horror stories about Raptors tho...

Skied both the Raptor 140 and Lange RS130 (current boot) extensively and can attest the Raptor is vice like in the cold (needs to warm up before taking off) while the Lange is no issue at all. Lange also skis significantly softer as well.
 

François Pugh

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Not sure how that is going to make my boots more flexible but hey if I can build up my quads to the point where I just rip my lower leg out of my boot and leave my foot in the shell that might work just once....
Yup, that would help avoid the hernia (provided you take your time building up strength so it doesn't give you one instead), but it won't help with the broken foot.
 

Noodler

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Skied both the Raptor 140 and Lange RS130 (current boot) extensively and can attest the Raptor is vice like in the cold (needs to warm up before taking off) while the Lange is no issue at all. Lange also skis significantly softer as well.

Be careful about generalizing all Raptors. Like any boot manufacturer, Head uses the Raptor name across many different models that may use different plastics. There are Raptors that have plastic that does become "vise like" in colder temps, but there are others that do not. My B2 RD and B3 RD Raptors are much easier to get in/out than my 130 RS or 140 RS.
 

Ogg

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Skied both the Raptor 140 and Lange RS130 (current boot) extensively and can attest the Raptor is vice like in the cold (needs to warm up before taking off) while the Lange is no issue at all. Lange also skis significantly softer as well.
I guess it's all relative because I struggle getting my RS 120s off in the cold. I would not want anything much more difficult.
 

Tom K.

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Skied both the Raptor 140 and Lange RS130 (current boot) extensively and can attest the Raptor is vice like in the cold (needs to warm up before taking off) while the Lange is no issue at all. Lange also skis significantly softer as well.

Agree 100%, and had the pulled/torn tendons to prove it.

The current RX 130 is also much easier to remove.

I guess it's all relative because I struggle getting my RS 120s off in the cold. I would not want anything much more difficult.

Old version, maybe? The current dual-injection-whatever Lange RX130s are not very difficult to remove when cold.
 

Andy Mink

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Here's what works for me in my Raptor RS140 boots. Granted, it was fairly warm today but it does work when it's cold.
 

Tony Storaro

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I was always under the impression ski boot liners aren't well suited for the wear and tear of constant removal and reinsertion. Are newer liners better about this?

You still need to be careful and use tape, boothorn etc to reduce the tear and wear to the liner.
 

Snowfan

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When cold, my RS 130's try to cut through my socks and leave signature on top of my feet when I try to get out to drive back to hotel. Oddly difficult. As friend recommended, next time I will try to remove foot with liner. First time facing this struggle....but fun escaping injury. :wave:
 

hbear

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Be careful about generalizing all Raptors. Like any boot manufacturer, Head uses the Raptor name across many different models that may use different plastics. There are Raptors that have plastic that does become "vise like" in colder temps, but there are others that do not. My B2 RD and B3 RD Raptors are much easier to get in/out than my 130 RS or 140 RS.
For sure, that's why I used Raptor 140 vs B3 or WCR4. Similar to using the RS130 for the Lange vs. the ZA.
That being said, I still found the Head Plug much more difficult to entry/exit comapred to the Lange/Rossi plug so based on my experiance the same theme through both the race and consumer race lines.
 

SpikeDog

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Very good topic here. At the end of a cold day, it's something I dread. I think I've injured myself far more times pulling boots off than hitting double blacks. Almost always roll a rib, and pulling a lat or trap is fairly common too. Sad. Still waiting for a high performance rear entry boot for us +60 skiers.
 

Noodler

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You still need to be careful and use tape, boothorn etc to reduce the tear and wear to the liner.

Also note that some liners don't make it easy for the "in" because they often have a plastic upper collar on the cuff that has a large exposed plastic ridge sticking out that likes to catch on any part of the shell it can get its "hands on". One of the advantages of a ZipFit liner is that it has no such ridges. In fact, I think Sven went out of his way to manufacture the Zip to make it easier to go in/out with the liner on your foot.
 
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pjcodner

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Thanks everyone for all of your suggestions.

Noodler I ordered some UHMW tape that should be here by Friday. Going to line the back of my shell and bootboard with it. I will also use my boothorn to get into the boot hopefully that will protect the tape from coming off while putting the boot on. I will also be putting the boot on "racer style" and just keep an eye on the heel part for any excessive wear.

Andy thanks for the video I don't think my boots will flex that much on a 80 degree day in the sun. Your technique is exactly how I take them off but as soon as my instep starts pressing against the top of the shell that is where I resort back to my Navy days of cussing like a sailor.
 

Tom K.

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@pjcodner, one thing I at least thought helped on my Raptors was flexing the upper cuff and lower shell open/closed three times before pulling my foot.

Still, a bear trap of a boot!
 

Noodler

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Thanks everyone for all of your suggestions.

Noodler I ordered some UHMW tape that should be here by Friday. Going to line the back of my shell and bootboard with it. I will also use my boothorn to get into the boot hopefully that will protect the tape from coming off while putting the boot on. I will also be putting the boot on "racer style" and just keep an eye on the heel part for any excessive wear.

Andy thanks for the video I don't think my boots will flex that much on a 80 degree day in the sun. Your technique is exactly how I take them off but as soon as my instep starts pressing against the top of the shell that is where I resort back to my Navy days of cussing like a sailor.

I don't think you'll need the boothorn, but if you do use it, then add a strip of the tape down the boothorn too.
 

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