I just bought electric boot warmers. That makes me ________.

**bigtrubs** · 03-13-2007, 04:28 PM

A pansy? I used to make fun of my mum for having them in her boots. It's March and after 2 runs I pull off my ski boots to see that both my big toes are completely white and have this creepy putty-like consistency. Since January my toes have basically been in excruciating pain every single day skiing, even on warm days, so today I decided to pull the trigger and save my toesies. How many other people use these?

**shirk** · 03-13-2007, 04:35 PM

WIMP

You are getting soft living out here. Being from Alberta aren't you supposed to be able to handle the cold?

**Van_skier** · 03-13-2007, 04:35 PM

Originally Posted by bigtrubs

Since January my toes have basically been in excruciating pain every single day skiing, even on warm days

Could this be a boot fit issue?
I had issues with my toes being frozen and in pain until I got proper boot fitting. At the end of the day, I would suffer through about 10-15min burning, stabbing pain in the toes when the blood would rush back... On top of that, both my big toes were pretty much always bruised up...

Never used electric boot warmers, wished I had them back east on the many cold days...

**bigtrubs** · 03-13-2007, 04:54 PM

The problem is that the boots DO fit how they're supposed to, therefore my toes can't wiggle around and I've just frozen them too many times since I broke my pinky toe that they have pretty much no circulation now. I think I'll be a happy little clam with these warmers though.

**mntlion** · 03-13-2007, 05:34 PM

cold feet in whistler???? not possible

maybe it is from the rain, and moisture in the snow

I have sold a bunch this winter to patrol and instructors. they work well if you need them

**Phill** · 03-13-2007, 05:35 PM

my toes would go numb after 10 min in all weather and temps with my old boots. New boots + Intuitions = No numbness on even cold days.

**Deep Days** · 03-13-2007, 05:38 PM

Makes you dumb. Mine broke the first day I used them, and the second pair I got never worked at all.

Maybe I just suck, but I was EXTREMELY underwhelmed with the performance.

(If they work, though, that makes you smart. I got mine for the exact same reason you got yours--my boots fit better when they [and my feet] are warm).

**trouble** · 03-14-2007, 10:29 AM

My feet would get cold, then I got intuitions. Problem solved.

**bklyn** · 03-14-2007, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by bigtrubs

I just bought electric boot warmers. That makes me ________.

Possibly conned out of a whole bunch of hard earned money. Of the people I know who have them, less than 10% are satisfied with their performance, how easily the battery packs are lost, or how quickly they break.

Good luck. YMMV.

**hop** · 03-14-2007, 11:05 AM

Yeah, ummm... I think you need to visit a bootfitter and take care of the real problem.

**matanuskaski** · 03-14-2007, 11:10 AM

I wear boot heaters when I am coaching but that's mainly because of all the standing around... other than that they mostly stay in my bag..

**ptavv** · 03-14-2007, 11:46 AM

my girlfriend has electric boot warmers

i make fun of her for it a lot, but i use them when she's not around/looking

**runethechamp** · 03-14-2007, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by bigtrubs

The problem is that the boots DO fit how they're supposed to, therefore my toes can't wiggle around

Maybe some bootfitterpeople can confirm this, but I think unless you are racing, you should be able to move your toes around in your boots.

**mrw** · 03-14-2007, 01:50 PM

My wife is the kind of chick that gets cold in July. We routinely ski the EC in
-15 and below temps. I had boot heaters installed in her boots 4 years ago.She has never complained about cold feet from that day forward. So impressed was I that I installed a pair in mine. This year at Whiteface it was
-25 on 2 of the 3 days I was there. My feet were not cold at all.

The secret is to keep them on the lowest setting that keeps your feet from getting cold. Do not crank them up and leave them there or you will see short battery life and sweaty feet. They really are not boot heaters. They are feet not get colders.

Oh and if you are not already doing this....thin socks.

**iceman** · 03-14-2007, 02:23 PM

My cousin had some of those. They had 4 heat levels. The instructions said DO NOT TURN TO LEVEL 4 SEVERE BURNS MAY RESULT!

So why the fuck did they have a level 4?

**bossass** · 03-14-2007, 04:01 PM

I have really expensive, properly fit boots, and my feet still get cold. I have custom foam liners, which after years of messing with thermoflex liners, insoles, punching, etc--I found was the only thing that made ski boots bearable for me. My big toe got so cold one day this winter it was numb for a week afterwards.

So, proper bootfitting may not be the answer, unless you can accomplish proper fit with intuitions. Then you are stoked. When I had thermoflexs my feet were always fine.

Anybody ever use The Boot Glove? Do those things actually work? Not super macho, but better than messing with heaters (if they work).

**skimasterflex** · 03-14-2007, 05:53 PM

As far as I am concerned (as a boot fitter) if you have room in your boots for warming devices you:

a) don't have tight enough boots
b) aren't wearing socks
c) don't have good footbeds
or
d) if you feel like your boots Are tight enough and you have room for those doohickies then you probably aren't as good at skiing as most of the people on these boards.

I never feel my toes AND I ski barefoot, that is how tight I like my boots. In fact I can't feel my toes right now and it has been over a week since I skied last.... hmm....

**'ofeina** · 03-14-2007, 05:54 PM

Originally Posted by ptavv

my girlfriend has electric boot warmers

i make fun of her for it a lot, but i use them when she's not around/looking

I do NOT have that kind of electric boot warmers. Thanks for the call out, thogh, Matt. So much for Steak & BJ day for you...

I simply have sticks that heat up to put in my boots at night to dry them out. Thats smart, not wimpy.

And, no, you couldn't pay me money to put electric warmers in my boots when I am skiing. Jerk.

**DownhillRider** · 03-14-2007, 05:57 PM

Originally Posted by 'ofeina

I do NOT have that kind of electric boot warmers. Thanks for the call out, thogh, Matt. So much for Steak & BJ day for you...

I simply have sticks that heat up to put in my boots at night to dry them out. Thats smart, not wimpy.

And, no, you couldn't pay me money to put electric warmers in my boots when I am skiing. Jerk.

SNAP! The overnight warmers kick ass, i have one and most people i know here have one in their house as well..

**mtnbikerskierchick** · 03-14-2007, 06:02 PM

That makes you a GAAAAAAAPER!

I bought a pair years ago, but they broke probably after 5 times of using them. Frankly, I like it when my toes are frozen. It makes it so I can't feel how much pain they are in! I loved it when I was competing- I would lose feeling in my toes for the entire season. It would come back sometime in June usually....

**upallnight** · 03-14-2007, 06:05 PM

Originally Posted by bigtrubs

The problem is that the boots DO fit how they're supposed to, therefore my toes can't wiggle around and I've just frozen them too many times since I broke my pinky toe that they have pretty much no circulation now. I think I'll be a happy little clam with these warmers though.

i'm not too sure that's true. why do you think that? (maybe i'm wrong.)

not being able to move is a likely sign that the fit may be a hare too tight and cutting off circulation. this certainly doesn't help.

i think your ankle and the sole of your foot should be stable, but wiggling your toes is an OK thing -- there's no harm in it. you're using the ball of your foot to steer (ideally), not your toes. in fact, if your toes are gripped, there's something wrong.

**shirk** · 03-14-2007, 06:21 PM

Originally Posted by skimasterflex

d) if you feel like your boots Are tight enough and you have room for those doohickies then you probably aren't as good at skiing as most of the people on these boards.

ouch

The type of boot heaters that are just a wire that runs under your foot won't be affecting the fit that much.

Remind me not to go see you for my next boot fitting.

**davep** · 03-14-2007, 06:35 PM

Originally Posted by upallnight

i'm not too sure that's true. why do you think that? (maybe i'm wrong.)

not being able to move is a likely sign that the fit may be a hare too tight and cutting off circulation. this certainly doesn't help.

i think your ankle and the sole of your foot should be stable, but wiggling your toes is an OK thing -- there's no harm in it. you're using the ball of your foot to steer (ideally), not your toes. in fact, if your toes are gripped, there's something wrong.

My boots used to be tight in the toes so that I couldn't wiggle them - had all sorts of toe bang problems, numb toes for weeks, etc. I went to 2 bootfitters (didn't really trust the first guy) and they both said that toe wiggle room is fine, you just need a tight fit across the top of the foot and under the ball of the foot.

I had a ton of plastic ground out of the toe boxes, and cut down the bootboards under the toes. Now I can wiggle a bit, the toes stay warm, and I didn't notice any loss in performance. In fact, I'd say it helped my boot control since my toes don't ache anymore...

**Patches** · 03-14-2007, 07:34 PM

My wife had the junk ones so I made some for her. Here's my beta... these work GREAT. In fact maybe too great, I could see burning yourself or setting your boots on fire. But cold feet are a thing of the past, and this setup was CHEAP.

Keep in mind this is what I did, I'm not syaing its a good idea, in fact its probably a terrible idea. There is no on/off switch, I plug and unplug the batteries. There is also no temperature cutoff to keep us from making s'mores out of our feet. Perhaps someone who know about this electricity stuff can provide input on adding these features.

Anyway... I bought two flexible heaters from Minco.com. I got part number HR5390R3.5L12A Silicone Rubber Heater $21.00/each

If I could do it again, I would spend extra and get leads longer than the 12" standard... to have more room to work with.

Then I went to radio Shack and bought some 9.6V battery packs for remote control cars. They look like 8 AA batteries all shrink-wrapped together. I bought a dozen or so expired battery packs for $1 each, normal price is $12ish.

I also bought a charger for the battery packs, and connectors to crimp onto the heater leads to plug in the batteries, one battery pack into each foot. My wife snowboards and the battery packs tucked in somewhere on the outside of her boot in the laces, I didn't need to rig up a carrier.

Put one heater under each footbed... not next to the skin but underneath the footbed, inside the liner.

These heaters burn through a fully charged 8-cell pack in 30 minutes or so, so there is a lot of heat output. If you are dumb enough to try this be careful!

Its pretty dumb I didn't add switches... I was kind of rushing. The whole project took 10 minutes.

Edit- seriously, if anyone knows what they are doing with this stuff, would love to know what kind of on/off switch you would use, and how you could add in a temperature sensor/safety device. Seriously, the heat output on these is out of sight. You just need to turn them on for a couple of minutes.

**StormDay** · 03-14-2007, 07:44 PM

Originally Posted by bigtrubs

A pansy? I used to make fun of my mum for having them in her boots. It's March and after 2 runs I pull off my ski boots to see that both my big toes are completely white and have this creepy putty-like consistency. Since January my toes have basically been in excruciating pain every single day skiing, even on warm days, so today I decided to pull the trigger and save my toesies. How many other people use these?

Like Str8line.

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...7&postcount=35