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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
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    1

    Prevent toe bang?

    Besides the obvious answer of "don't ski backseat," does anybody have some good tips and tricks to prevent toe bang. Correct boot fit is important, but what else? thanks.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    the gach
    Posts
    5,661
    lean forward. Keep your shins against the boots. You'll have more control and your toes will be happy.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Bravo Delta.
    Posts
    6,135

    Prevent toe bang...

    use your fingers instead.
    Quote Originally Posted by Socialist View Post
    They have socalized healthcare up in canada. The whole country is 100% full of pot smoking pro-athlete alcoholics.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Posts
    354
    Greg Hoffman at Vail did the following (he knows his stuff if you check around)

    1) Cut vertical gills in the outer most layer of the liner. This provides a little more flexibility in the front (reduces the rigidness of the liner).
    2) Placed a small foam "speed bump" on my orthotic under the joint of my big toe. Makes a little harder to get into the boot. If you big toe points slightly up (as mine does), this helps to angle it down and also provides something to "grip" onto.
    3) Cut a slit in the top seam of my liner right on the big toe. Yes, the toe is slightly exposed, but you can seal it a little with duct tape. My foot hasnt gotten cold since doing this.

    I am in Agent 130s. I had a perfect shell fit, but was still getting black toe. I have a week on the boots since and I believe the problem has been solved. Basically, the issue was not that I was hitting the plastic shell, but having problems with the rigidness of the liner.

    Do these all incrementally rather than all at once to solve the problem.
    Last edited by Maker; 01-27-2010 at 09:26 PM.
    60% of the time, it works every time.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    MT
    Posts
    4,022
    Quote Originally Posted by Chugachjed View Post
    lean forward. Keep your shins against the boots. You'll have more control and your toes will be happy.
    This advice would work if you never jump off anything, and never get thrown backseat.

    Your boots are likely too big. Take them to a decent shop for a fitting.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    BKLYN
    Posts
    850
    this is going to sound hack; but it worked- go figure.

    i had some boots that were a perfect shell fit but would kill my toes when i would land jumps. was working with some great fitters and had access to equipment and supplies to do whatever.

    i ground a little bit down around the toe box. not a lot though. then i cut strips off of the neoprene flaps that were used to take up volume in the tounge of the liner for skinny ass lower legs. i glued these strips to the outside of the toe box of my liner.

    When I put my feet in my boots the neoprene would compress just a little, and it would feel snug. However, with extra room from grinding the toe box and the neoprene, it provide enough shock absorption not to destroy my toes.

    This was around the same time when all zeppas were hard foam/plastic and you would grind the zeppa in the heel and replace it with layers of rubber/neoprene to get some absorption in there so you wouldn't bruiser your heels. I <3 rubber zeppas that come with boots now a days.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    MT
    Posts
    4,022
    Thats a good idea s.p.c.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Posts
    2,931
    Booster straps.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Park City
    Posts
    5,013
    A heel wedge will pull your toes away a few millimeters, might just be enough and easy to try without modifying anything.
    I rip the groomed on tele gear

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Golden, CO
    Posts
    636
    i used to get bad toe bang because my big toes are longer than the others, I got better-fitting boots and kept out of the back seat.

    problem solved.

    go over to epicski and ask the bootfitters, jong.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Near Perimetr.
    Posts
    3,857
    Quote Originally Posted by EVC_CO View Post
    i used to get bad toe bang because my big toes are longer than the others.

    As well. It was exagarated by round tipped boots (radiums). It was pure hell to walk downhill,let alone crampon stuff up. Tailgunning was a no-no as well.

    I went the ghetto way : Took a broomstick,cut a 25cm piece of it,clamped in the binding (dynafit) and let the heatgun sing. Voila!

    Took about 10mins per boot and I punched extra 5-7mm to the toes. Way,way better now. I might have to cut a slice of the new liners (toe) as I again feel a tad cramped with them.

    Cost : 0$

    The floggings will continue until morale improves.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Denver, CO
    Posts
    4,321
    good info, I almost got full on black toe after 2 days of skiing - think they'll end up surviving but they still ACHE a week later.

    I think leaving my intuitions in the garage all summer might have un-molded them to a point. I am going to remold with a bigger toe cap. I have been in these boots for 2 seasons and this was the first time the toe bang got horrible.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Sandy, Utah
    Posts
    14,410
    Quote Originally Posted by Poop*Ghost View Post
    good info, I almost got full on black toe after 2 days of skiing - think they'll end up surviving but they still ACHE a week later.

    I think leaving my intuitions in the garage all summer might have un-molded them to a point. I am going to remold with a bigger toe cap. I have been in these boots for 2 seasons and this was the first time the toe bang got horrible.
    Backseat driver...

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    tashigang
    Posts
    1,564
    a shaped piece of foam pad along the instep (or added as tongue pad when you know the size,location,and effect) kept my foot from moving forward in the boot and kept the toe from contacting the boot

    Hayduke Aug 7,1996 GS-Aug 26 2010
    HunterS March 17 09-Oct 24 14

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Where the Butte is Crested
    Posts
    3,338
    For 4 years I had a slightly softer boot than usual, but the same overall cut to the shell that I had been using for years. I got toe bang all the time and it sucked. I went back to a stiffer boot, and then I didn't have toe bang anymore. Kinda strange, but that's what worked for me!
    -
    14erskiers.com

    "Don't be afraid of the spaces between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so." - Belva Davis

    "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle"--Albert Einstein

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Bozeman, MT
    Posts
    2,405
    Keep them toenails trimmed. I'm really flexible in the hips, so I like to bite mine.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Ventura Highway in the Sunshine
    Posts
    22,431
    Quote Originally Posted by Big E View Post
    Booster straps.
    We have a winner!

    Just got a pair and skied them for three days. First time I didn't have a sore big toe after skiing (I send too much time skiing in the backseat)

    I agree it is a constitutional right for Americans to be assholes...its just too bad that so many take the opportunity...
    iscariot

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    The Ice Coast
    Posts
    945
    Just had some work done on my boots at Footloose in Mammoth. Good place. Guy next to me had toe bang. As in, several black nails. They put a pad under tongue, rest of lower front, to keep his shin back, heel in pocket. Saw him two days later, he said it worked. Don't know if this generalizes, but makes sense since toes can't jam unless foot is driven forward and up inside shell. Booster might help for same reasons, although since it's higher up, unclear if it keeps heel locked down as efficiently.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Near Perimetr.
    Posts
    3,857
    Well, I radiums for sale now...


    Shit.
    Epic roadtrip in the alps, black toes after the first skiing day. The End.

    Punching didn to the thing,especially when driving bigger skis in shitty snow, wich we had ample of.The fucking rivets in the toebox ate out my big toe nails. Tried to ski on the second day,couldnt, and took a flight home.
    Well,not before going to cham and getting a new pair of BD Quadrants!

    It was intresting to hear in chamonix biggest shop that they had decided to return all their Radiums: Garmont had promised that they had remade the toebox of the 10/11s to get rid of the fit issues. The shop had noticed that this was a lie,with the issues still present...
    So,they called garmont and returned all their stock,refusing to sell them anymore.
    Way to go,Garmont!!!!


    Ended up with Quadrants as they seemed the best fit/Stiffness/weight ratio for me.
    Wonder when my toes will be back in shape for trying the new boots out..

    The floggings will continue until morale improves.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Posts
    156
    I don't know much about preventing it but after it happens I take a small bit of adhesive foam and stick it on my toe (over the sock) where the nail meets the foot and it helps with pain.

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Revelstoke
    Posts
    431
    Has BD fixed their cold ass boot problem? Hope so, or you are doomed.

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    'Merica
    Posts
    2,159
    get your big toenails removed. (I'm mostly somewhat joking here)
    Quote Originally Posted by Smoke
    Cell phones are great in the backcountry. If you're injured, you can use them to play Tetris, which helps pass the time while waiting for cold embrace of Death to envelop you.

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Posts
    6,097
    Quote Originally Posted by haydukelives View Post
    a shaped piece of foam pad along the instep (or added as tongue pad when you know the size,location,and effect) kept my foot from moving forward in the boot and kept the toe from contacting the boot
    This man speaks the truth and understands the problem.

    If you are getting black toe it is because your foot is sliding forward, and if your foot is sliding forward it is because there is space at the junction of your foot and lower leg.

    Sizing down your shell will not fix the problem. Booster straps will not fix the problem, and "don't ski backseat" will not fix the problem. Most bootfitters do not understand any of this. See my thread on "Heretical Bootfitting Theory":
    [ame="http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107763"]Heretical Bootfitting Theory - Teton Gravity Research Forums[/ame]

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    the Low Sierra
    Posts
    17,818
    my whiney toes thanks y'all for the advice
    I didn't believe in reincarnation when I was your age either.

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    the Low Sierra
    Posts
    17,818
    credit to Spats and hayduke lives for reminding me of what I already knew

    I had some foam glued into the instep & tongue of my T Races, and it's made a hudge difference - eventually I am going to need some new liners or maybe even some new boots, but this will work for for a while

    I'm the guy that can usually spend 1/2 the year in ski boots and never have a problem, but I started out this season with very whiney toes - I have Booster Straps, and I try to stay out of the back seat, but my big toes hurt like hell every day

    things seem to be getting better
    I didn't believe in reincarnation when I was your age either.

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