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Put liner on first?

asolo

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Is it a good idea to put the liner on first and then put foot into the shell? It seems to work at room temp. My boots are super hard to put on and even harder to take off when they are cold. The shell edges dig into the top of the foot, having the liner on helps.

The liner actually has holes for laces, so it looks like it is designed to be put on first. Do I get it right?
 

Ulmerhutte

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I am no boot expert, but I would venture to say that it depends on the boot and liner. I use Zipfits and liner-on first is the recommended process. It works for me. I suspect it might be difficult/impossible with stiffer liners, eg foamed liner.
 

Steve

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I always put my liners on first. Both with Intuition laceup and Zipfit laceup. To me it's much easier than putting my foot in the boot. I can hold the plastic open with my hands while pushing the liner in.

I do also use a heated boot bag, but even getting them off isn't that hard and they're not warm at that point in time. Of course it depends on your boots and boot size. My previous boots I'd have to use a hair dryer to warm them up a little to get them off.

The other advantage is that I drive to the mountain in my liners, with overshoes (rubbers) on top of them to protect them. So when I get to the lot and sit behind my car in a chair I carry I can put the shells on without exposing my feet to the elements.
 

Tom K.

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IMO, liner first then into the shell puts some serious wear on the liner.

Maybe first try my cheapo approach to a heated boot bag alternative: I've got a couple of fabric sacks filled with rice. Put the into the boots after minutes in the microwave, then "capp" them with a pair of cheap pair of rolled up driving gloves, and my feet slide in like butter.

Easy-peasy.
 

Noodler

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IMO, liner first then into the shell puts some serious wear on the liner.

Maybe first try my cheapo approach to a heated boot bag alternative: I've got a couple of fabric sacks filled with rice. Put the into the boots after minutes in the microwave, then "capp" them with a pair of cheap pair of rolled up driving gloves, and my feet slide in like butter.

Easy-peasy.

Simple solutions for the concern about wear on the liner. First is to sand or grind away any "catches" or other rough sections that may be inside the shell. This is a must with Head shells, but I've found my Nordicas to be remarkably smooth and catch-free. Second solution is UHMW tape. The tape can either be applied to the inside of the rear spine of the shell or down the liner's back cuff and over the heel area. UHMW tape is incredibly tough, slippery, and abrasion resistant. It does the job remarkably well.
 
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asolo

asolo

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Simple solutions for the concern about wear on the liner. First is to sand or grind away any "catches" or other rough sections that may be inside the shell. This is a must with Head shells, but I've found my Nordicas to be remarkably smooth and catch-free. Second solution is UHMW tape. The tape can either be applied to the inside of the rear spine of the shell or down the liner's back cuff and over the heel area. UHMW tape is incredibly tough, slippery, and abrasion resistant. It does the job remarkably well.

I was considering using some silicone lubricant to make it easier to slide the liner in.
 

Noodler

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I was considering using some silicone lubricant to make it easier to slide the liner in.

I also used silicone spray for years (food grade, so it doesn't smell). However, UHMW tape blows away silicone. No messy silicone residue to deal with and the tape is way more slippery. I would have to re-spray my liners and shell every few weeks. The tape is a "set and forget" solution. :)
 

Tom K.

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Regarding the use of silicone spray for this or other purposes, IMO, accept no substitute for this stuff. Expensive, and darn well worth it. The only niggle in my book is that it comes with a "stream" applicator nozzle and I prefer the "fogging" style. Easy enough to find one on a can of something in the shop.

IMG_3661.JPG



@Noodler more info on this UHMW tape? Is that what many call Helicopter Tape? I just know it isn't Gorilla Duct Tape...
 

Noodler

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Regarding the use of silicone spray for this or other purposes, IMO, accept no substitute for this stuff. Expensive, and darn well worth it. The only niggle in my book is that it comes with a "stream" applicator nozzle and I prefer the "fogging" style. Easy enough to find one on a can of something in the shop.

View attachment 120034


@Noodler more info on this UHMW tape? Is that what many call Helicopter Tape? I just know it isn't Gorilla Duct Tape...

I used to use the CRC food grade silicone (available on Amazon).

For the UHMW tape, I splurged and went with the 3M brand to get the better adhesive backing. I'm sure other stuff might work, but I didn't want to end up with a gooey mess that just wasn't sticking well. I use the 1" wide roll and run a piece down the rear spine inside the boot shell and another shorter piece down the back of the heel of the liner (and a bit onto the liner sole). This tape-on-tape interface makes taking the liner in and out much easier (it's a massive reduction in the friction you normally would encounter). I'll try to grab some pictures at some point, but I think it should be fairly clear how to do this.

Oh, and I think this is indeed called "helicopter tape" by some folks.
 
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asolo

asolo

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I used to use the CRC food grade silicone (available on Amazon).

For the UHMW tape, I splurged and went with the 3M brand to get the better adhesive backing. I'm sure other stuff might work, but I didn't want to end up with a gooey mess that just wasn't sticking well. I use the 1" wide roll and run a piece down the rear spine inside the boot shell and another shorter piece down the back of the heel of the liner (and a bit onto the liner sole). This tape-on-tape interface makes taking the liner in and out much easier (it's a massive reduction in the friction you normally would encounter). I'll try to grab some pictures at some point, but I think it should be fairly clear how to do this.

Oh, and I think this is indeed called "helicopter tape" by some folks.

So, wait this is funny. UHMW tape is not the same as Tyvek tape, is it? It must be, that stuff is very slippery. Also, a variety of polyethylene.

Both, the silicone and Tyvek are from my boating gear stash, one for lubricating waterproof zippers, another for patching boats in the field.
 

Tony Storaro

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The liner actually has holes for laces, so it looks like it is designed to be put on first. Do I get it right?

Put some laces in the holes and you are good to go...:ogbiggrin:

Also you might want to buy one of these:

1609805652361.png


makes life much easier.
 

jmills115

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I also used silicone spray for years (food grade, so it doesn't smell). However, UHMW tape blows away silicone. No messy silicone residue to deal with and the tape is way more slippery. I would have to re-spray my liners and shell every few weeks. The tape is a "set and forget" solution. :)
Stepping into my shell isn’t as much a problem for me, my concern is the wear on my Zipfits.
I have used too much silicone previously and was slipping inside my shell for a day.
Have you always used the the single 1” strip or added additional strips?
 

James

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Whatever you do, don’t buy Liquid Wrench brand Silicone spray. Stuff smells so awful it isn’t good for anything. It was the only brand the store had at the time. How bad could it be? Bad enough to never want to use it.

Anyone tried any of the PTFE tapes?

This one looked good in acrylic adhesive-
 

Noodler

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Whatever you do, don’t buy Liquid Wrench brand Silicone spray. Stuff smells so awful it isn’t good for anything. It was the only brand the store had at the time. How bad could it be? Bad enough to never want to use it.

Anyone tried any of the PTFE tapes?

This one looked good in acrylic adhesive-

The 3M UHMW is a PTFE-based tape.
 

Noodler

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Stepping into my shell isn’t as much a problem for me, my concern is the wear on my Zipfits.
I have used too much silicone previously and was slipping inside my shell for a day.
Have you always used the the single 1” strip or added additional strips?

1" strip down the back boot spines and a shorter length just covering the heel of the liners.
 

Tony Storaro

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Stepping into my shell isn’t as much a problem for me, my concern is the wear on my Zipfits.

In addition to what @Noodler said already and which works beautifully, you can apply a thin layer of liquid rubber type of glue to the seams of the liner. In time it wears off but the seams underneath remain intact.
 

Nobody

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Is it a good idea to put the liner on first and then put foot into the shell? It seems to work at room temp. My boots are super hard to put on and even harder to take off when they are cold. The shell edges dig into the top of the foot, having the liner on helps.

The liner actually has holes for laces, so it looks like it is designed to be put on first. Do I get it right?

Definitely.
After discovering lace up liners, I liked it so much that have now had a shoemaker to sew laceholes to my everyday boots' liners (Old Tecnica 9.8R boots, should decommission them but are so comfy and feel like more balanced in the Tecnica that last year I took them out of retirement, as soon as I had put them into it, and skied in them with a Dalbello -partial - lace up liner instead of the orginal one. Still undecided wether to go all-in and use only Dalbellos - boots and liners - or keep experimenting). Just on the upper part (not on the whole liners down to the toes like race boots liners), but now all my boots have lace up liners to some extents.
 

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