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‘Tis of snowboard boots I sing,

For such a simple thing,

What joy they did’st me bring,

Actually, I couldn’t wait to get rid of them.

 

I’m giving my old boots back to my friend, having borrowed them for three years. He says he’s going to use them for snowshoeing.

 

When I first put them on three year ago, I thought, "These are great! Supportive and yet comfortable! I can walk with none of the unnatural movements of a skier!" I heard a few stories about how comfortable they were and also how my mate had unfortunately broken his foot wearing them.

 

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Old-style boots

 

The first season I was glad to have any snowboard kit, whatever its vintage. I didn't even have a proper jacket, so having boots was at least a start. Anyway, I had enough to think about trying to ride properly without worrying about my boots.

 

By the second season when I had a new board, and nearly all the other kit, I began to notice that boot design had moved on - actually rather far I thought, when I compared what other people were wearing to my ‘new’ boots. I noticed how other people just casually lent over to carve rather than bending right down and driving the board round with their ankles which is what I had to do. I started doing up my laces super tight, lacerating my fingers on the laces and squeezing my ankles to get a tighter fit. I began to hang around Alpen and other snowboard stores desperately hoping that I might find just one pair of boots that fit. I would have been happy with pink boots even, if they fitted.

 

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Squish

 

Come the third season, I hated the damn boots. As my riding progressed, it was all in spite of my boots, and I left the slopes with aching ankles each time. I began to tighten them so far that the leather sides overlapped the tongue. And being leather, the boots had to be oiled after every outing to stop them drying out and cracking. Walking up to the first lift in my soft boots, knowing how primitive and totally inadequate they were, threw a pall over the whole day, and I hoped nobody would notice my squishy boots.

 

At last I managed to get some new boots that fit. It took two years and a trip to England, but I suppose it was worth it. My new Burton boots are very supportive yet moderately comfortable, and they perform! They don’t let my ankles bend to 45 degrees and beyond, so I can control my board casually on the groomers.

 

When Kim isn’t using the boots for snowshoeing, they’ll go into the stockpile of miscellaneous snowboarding gear kept by the Suwa boys. This comes in handy when somebody or other’s strange friend comes to stay, and the laws of hospitality demand that they be taken snowboarding. Fortunately the laws of hospitality are quite flexible when it comes to the quality of gear they’ll be provided with.

 

Thank you boots, and goodbye.

 

----------------------

Anybody got any true tales of extraordinarily faithful gear that simply refused to go to the knacker's yard quietly?

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My boots are also dead - after 73 uses, they are alas junk. The soles are fraying, one of the air support inners has popped, there is heel lift, the yellow laces on the inners don't stay tight. It is just all a damn shame.

 

I keep a yearly stockpile of the gear that I go through. Same as you, I lend it to my friends when they come to visit - I had a whole group outfitted in some way or another in late January, and there were a bunch of them.

 

I usually sell most of it, becuase every year in Madison, Wisconsin, the University does a second-hand type sale, where you can get rid of all of your gear to eager buyers, and it just goes - last year I sold maybe 11 out of 13 items. Made a killing.

 

But I screwed up. Desperate for cash, I sold y first snowboard - it was a burton air circa 1993 or 1994. Pointed and squared nose - flat back. It really was a piece of junk, but it was also a part of snowboarding's evolutionary history.

 

Curse the need for money for new gear.

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Remind me NOT to purchase any gear from barok. That stuff is USED goods.

 

With the first snowboard I had, the metal edge didn't even go all the way round the nose. Less metal to rust...

 

scouser, shots of my new boots coming up.

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I've only been snowboarding for one year, so I dont' have any old snowboarding stuff to chat about but I do have a 1995 SeaDoo XP jet ski that I have modified over the years and become very attached too. I want to sell it this spring cause I don't need it, barely ride it any more, and could use the money to mod my other skis.

 

But everytime I put eyes on it with the intention of selling it, the eyes well up and I go back into the house...lots of good memories, and its how I met my wife. (they are babe magnets these things are...)

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like ray dont have any vintage gear. but i have been wearing the same football boots for about 3 years, and im not throwing those babies out. at the present moment they are being held together by duct/mechanical tape. oh so very comfy though.

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good story!!

 

Personally for me, I much rather see a dedicated person at the sport with crappy gear then all those posers out there with top of the line gear just sitting on the slopes too scared to go down. Oops,.. went way off topic.

 

Definitely reminds me of a chain book store in Japan. Anyone heard of "BOOK OFF"? They have a branch company for selling used electronics and used gaming consoles & games. To identify the used merchanised from the new, the used stock all have a sticker on them saying "USED HARD"....hahah I bursted out laughing everytime I see old used stock lying around with no one buying them.... \:D

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In an interview, JP Walker said he likes really soft boots and will drive over a new pair with Jeremy Jones' truck. In the same mag, some other pros said they won't change boots (or boot liners at least) for two or three seasons coz they like them soft and worn in.

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What do you think NoFakie? You've got the stiffest boots on the market. Could you go back to soft boots? I know once I got used to the stiffness of Malamutes, almost everything else felt unresponsive. But alas, my boots have reached the age of Barok's and the death rattle is a shakin'.

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