Cold Feet and Hotronics Questions

[Ty Webb]

Boot- Atomic Sx:9

I've had many problems w/ cold feet this year including a recent (last night) frostbite experience. Big toes are still lacking a lot of sensation although the coloration is getting back to normal. Already own custom footbeds, boot fits well (on their second season), and have done the thin sock thing. Seems to keep getting worse. I'd prefer to not kill more skin on my toes or risk it-- are hotronics the way to go... even though that means dropping some big $$$s? Are hotronics the end of the line for boot warmth problems?


also... in the meantime, is there any way to beef up the insulation around the toe area while my toes are still coming back to life this week. I was planning on just getting creative with a little duct tape and fleece-- anything to buy me some warmth until a more permanent solution arises. stupid idea?

[seldon]

I gave my sister the Hotronics for Xmas - she's complained about cold feet while skiing ever since I can remember. She says they work great - she always used to use chemical toe warmers (you can look into those - they're about $3 for a pair, which lasts a day)... In temps down to around 0 degrees F, she's had no problems with cold feet at all.

I would recommend not jamming crap that will cut your blood flow down into your boots, even if it is insulating. Try toewarmers or strap handwarmers to your calves where your arteries run (it's worked for me in the past).

[cj001f]

Unless it's really brutal cold, if your feet are getting frostbite it's because you aren't keeping your core warm enough. Buy a puffy jacket.

[Ski Beaver]

Bootgloves

Caution: I don't know if these add or subtract to your gnar points. Probably subtract.

They do work!

[seldon]

Bootgloves

Caution: I don't know if these add or subtract to your gnar points. Probably subtract.

They do work!

My dad has these. They look fucking retarded. But I was the one with minor frostbite on my toes.

[crashnburn'd]

c'mon, this screams gnar...

[steved]

I'd go with the Hotronics....and make sure that liner's toe area is wide enough 4ya'. I know, before the extra-width models came out, I had to have the toebox blown out a bit for more width...and the liner worked on...and oh yeah, they're just plain cold boots...not a lot of plastic underneath. I couldn't deal with that lack of plastic for insulation, here in NewEngland. Maybe my feet get cold easily...

Steve

[LimesC1]

Try a boot that actually is worth the money you spent. Hotronics do work... for about a season. I have spent more time trying to repair peoples hotronics than I have actually seen them last on a boot.

Oh yeah, if you do get the hotronics watch out for where you get them mounted. The lifts like to shear them off the back of your boots.

[Ty Webb]

ski beav and crash-- this qualify as gnar??





top half of a tube sock and some electical tape

[Ski Beaver]

+500 for that.

[freshie247]

Atomics are the coldest boot around.Hotronics work,this is my second season with them.You can also buy some ginger/pepper syrup & pills that boost your circultion.

[Meathelmet]

Get some Conformable heatmoldable and heatable footbed.

They are very much like the red conformables in stiffness ,cost about 80euros, and seems to work.

Friend of mine is a real cold-footer, and he got those.
There is a insert cable on the rear of the footbed, that you route through the innerboot at the heel level and route it upward to the batteries, that attaches to the back of the boot.The batteries costs an extra 80 euros (..douh..) and are good for 1000 reloads.You can get a version that works on AA batteries.
On the batteries you have 3 different heating options,the warmes promises to heat the sole up to 60´c (wich the shop tech said is unneccessary unless you
tend to ski in >30c´ weather )

I was allmost ready to by him the goddammed thingies, i was so tired to listen to the constant whinge about dem white toes...

[Free Range Lobster]

Try chowing vitamins and crap to jack your circulation up a bit first.
It might help you out. (during the winter I have to do this, I have shitty circulation)

[mildbill.]

having had some previous frostbite, i rock the hotronics for peace of mind as much as anything, and they are totally worth it for that alone. they work well, i have not found them to be excessively fragile, they have a negligible effect on boot fit, run them on the lowest setting with occasional bumps up to #2, and you will be happy, put them on the outside front of your boot cuff and they will only get caught on stuff while postholing, just make sure that if it's below freezing you have charged batteries, or you've got a metal surface sucking heat away from your foot.

they are enough of a hassle that i would only recommend them to people that have had frostbite before, but for those people they are some good shit mang.

[SkiJunky05]

Try chowing vitamins and crap to jack your circulation up a bit first.
It might help you out. (during the winter I have to do this, I have shitty circulation)

Any particular ones you recommend?

And maybe I'm being a joey w/ this...but with the sock/tape job, did you just lock the toe buckle in place? Do you just jam your foot into it?

[Free Range Lobster]

Iron, like someone else said, take some ginger, regular multivitamins (i love centrum).

I forgot what else I have, I'll look later and edit this.

[Shredhead]

I don't use mine that much. But when you need them, they are great. I've had the same pair in two different boots about 5-6 seasons. I didn't like them mounted on the back of the boots. I just hang them on my booster straps on the outside of each boot.

My wife won't ski without them, and they cut down the wine factor to a tolerable amount.

[Ty Webb]

Thanks to all for the input. Its been close to 36hrs and still no complete restoration of feeling in the big toes. I'm on the ski team here at school as a means of transportation to the hill-- once there i ditch the race scene. Practice is scheduled for tonight (low of -9, windchill in the - teens) and i'd still like to tag along. i did some boot mods as pictured above-- the knock-off boot glove on the outside and then a modified sock over the liner to give a little more insulation between liner and shell (no pressure points or associated fit problems).

Mildbill-- having done the frostbite thing would you not recommend taking the risk of skiing before full recovery, or can i just be careful and go in if i start to feel coldness (as sensed by my other 4 toes... i guess)?

Instead of dropping $$'s on hotronics should i stick out the season with more ghetto mods and consider getting into a warmer boot next season? I liked this boot b/c its light, inexpensive, and low-frills, but is it really as much of a piece of shit as most are suggensting? or with the known history of cold problems and the recent frostbite issue, would it be just as smart to invest in hotron regardless of boot?

[mildbill.]

Mildbill-- having done the frostbite thing would you not recommend taking the risk of skiing before full recovery, or can i just be careful and go in if i start to feel coldness (as sensed by my other 4 toes... i guess)?

i went out and skied a few days after getting some heinous blistering frostbite--jammed my feet into the boots (the pressure caused teh blisters on my big toes to drain). i can't say if it was smart or not, but i seem to have ended up only slightly worse for the wear from the whole event (initial frostbite and subsequent return to skiing). now, granted, it wasn't -9 degrees out.

do you really want to go night skiing when it is -9 degrees? i'm no medical expert or intelligent person, so i'm not going to tell you what to do with your feet.

[freshie247]

You're not being the ball Danny! Spend the money & do your rehab time.You can always make more money,you can't get new toes!

[Arty50]

I liked my Atomic boots, until I got my Rossis. Then I realized Atomics suck. The flex is terrible. It's not progressive, so they bottom out really easily. My Rossis do seem a touch warmer too. I didn't really have problems with that on my Atomics though.

[shadow]

I have the Atomic R11 boots and whenever the temps got much below 25F my toes would start to go numb. Had a couple of days when the temps got to be in the negatives and I could only last a hour or so. I finally broke down and got some Hottronics boot warmers a month ago. Seem to be working so far. They are a bit expensive but they have made it so I can go all day without risking frostbite.

[Spats]

If the liners from my Daleboots are anything to go by, getting Thermoflex/Thermofit liners will keep your feet toasty warm and make your boots fit much better as a bonus.

[Ty Webb]

developing a big blister on the tip of my big toe-- bottom is discolored-- feeling a bit more uncomfortable than usual today. Healing process?

i hope

taking the weekend off and further contemplating the hotronics plunge....

[Meathelmet]

developing a big blister on the tip of my big toe-- bottom is discolored-- feeling a bit more uncomfortable than usual today. Healing process?

i hope

taking the weekend off and further contemplating the hotronics plunge....

Gawd..

Lets put it this way.

Frien of mine is a doctor,and we discussed this subject last year when a anohter friend of mine froze his toes.Badly.Very badly.

In short.

He skied for about 2hrs without taking a longer break in -20C´, didnt notice anything weird after the first 1hr.
After getting back to the apartment, he noticed the pure white toes.
No sensation at all.Just white.When he sat around for half an hour, he begun to get the circulation flowing, he was lying around screaming in agony.Luckily he did not heat them up quickly. The end result was that he was walking around very carefully the next week. All other toes regained feeling and colour, the big toes got first some large blisters and then turned black.

He went to see a (young) doctor that got the freaks and seriously tried to suggest amputation.
The first rule for the dodtors are usually that never,NEVER,NEVER amputete anything unless it turns to gangretic(?).
After 6 weeks and loss of lot of skin and tissue, he regained some looks of the old toe.

Luckyly he didnt agree with the amputation and after awhile he got some medication that enchanded the circulation of extremities (atm i dont remember what,but low doses of aspirin,witch thins the blood and some other stuff) to get the recuperation speed up.

So.
Your toe(s) are affected permanetly. After this they are very suspectible to be frozen again,because the skin (the deeper parts) does not recuperate from this damage. Permanent loss of feeling (i have it)and soreness is usually the the norm.

Im not a doc, but a week or two could be good off from the cold weather and
yes, the heater stuff is expensive, but at least you get a new, non smelly pair of footbeds.



From preventing frostbites medicinally there is not that much to to.
Avoiding coffee and nicotine (both suppress the bloodflow in the small blood vessels) and using low doses of anti-clotting medicine(50mg asperine,disperin)
might help a bit. Which in it´s own terms is a bit dangerous if you are prone to injuries, those stuff prevent the blood clotting normally by inhibiting the fibrides(?) working so you might a bit more easily bleed to death...

**** Some arctic expeditionary people have used the "cold water treatment" to enchance their extremities to cold.
Bowl of icewater where you immerse your feet/hands untill they are numb an x times per day should help your body to strengthen your skins vaskular system.
It has something to do with some hormone that supports the growth/streching or something of the small blood veins in the extremities. Some arctic natives get it before the winter season starts.

****= i have absolutely no medical facts at hand to prove this, but thats
something someone said to me somewhere...


Ps. Mr.Two frostbitten toes,ears and cheecks.