Shaving Boot Board - Best Solution?

[Canada Guy]

I did some searches and didn't come up with much info with regard to shaving boot boards, but I'm not actually sure if this is the best method to solve my problem.

I have a pair of Scarpa Typhoons which I find fairly comfortable but I find that the boot is too tight across the top of my forefoot. To fit my foot relatively comfortably into the boot I have to close the forefoot buckle on the loosest possible notch. Even if I use the loosest setting on this buckle I find that throughout the day there is some pain due to too much pressure on the top of my forefoot.

I know I have pretty high arches so I have Surefoot footbeds to support my feet from below. I think that I should keep that support under my foot, so the only thing I can think of to relieve the pressure is to shave down the bottom of the footboard.

Would this be advisable, and if so what is the best method to do this? Should I take a grinder to it, or should I just pony up and go to a boot fitter?

On a similar note, the bootboard in the Typhoon is fairly hard plastic so would a boot fitter be able to replicate the bootboard made of a more cushioning material like rubber to absorb the force of impacts?

[Sinecure]

You paid good money for Surefoot footbeds. That should entitle you to go back there and get them to help you make those boots fit properly. If nothing else, they should be able to shave down the base of the footbeds.

[El Chupacabra]

PM Parvo for shaving advice.

[single]

A shop should do it for pretty cheap. I know we only charge a few bucks (maybe ten?).

But yeah, just belt sand it if you have access to one.

[Canada Guy]

You paid good money for Surefoot footbeds. That should entitle you to go back there and get them to help you make those boots fit properly. If nothing else, they should be able to shave down the base of the footbeds.

I should have been more specific they are not the custom made Surefoots. The ones I bought are the Surefoot Red Hots which I just picked up at MEC, they are pretty comfortable though.

[Caucasian Asian]

Where are you located?

Can you take the bootboard completely out?

[Canada Guy]

Where are you located?

Can you take the bootboard completely out?

I am located in Calgary.

Yep, the board comes out no problem. I thought about going without the board but it has kind of a hump under the heel that goes into a matching hole inside of the boot. I'm guessing that I would have to shave down the heel as well so that I don't change the ramp angle in my boot?

I took a pic of it to help explain what I am talking about.

[mntlion]

thin the front of the footbed: the only support is the heel, and arch, not from the midfoot to toes.

thinner socks

can you ski with the toe buckle OPEN? (not loose, but 100% off, flapping around)

how many days on them?

come see me in banff, $25 assessment that includes the first 30 minutes of work.

[Sinecure]

I should have been more specific they are not the custom made Surefoots. The ones I bought are the Surefoot Red Hots which I just picked up at MEC, they are pretty comfortable though.

That's Superfeet, not Surefoot. Sounds the same, big difference in $$.

[Canada Guy]

thin the front of the footbed: the only support is the heel, and arch, not from the midfoot to toes.

thinner socks

can you ski with the toe buckle OPEN? (not loose, but 100% off, flapping around)

how many days on them?

come see me in banff, $25 assessment that includes the first 30 minutes of work.

Mntlion: The boots have roughly 50-60 days on them and I am using the thinnest socks I have been able to find short of going bare foot.

The toe buckle isn't causing too much issue, its one up from that across the forefoot. I have tried skiing with it open but I find that the boot is too soft if it's not done up. The other problem is if I skin with the forefoot buckle open my heel starts to lift which eventually leads to blisters.

I'm thinking I might just take you up on your offer to get some work done. Where in Banff is your shop located, and what are your hours?

Sinecure: Good call, they are Superfeet and not Surefoots, my bad.

[ZomblibulaX]

I can't remember if the liner has a hard plastic tongue, but if it does you might consider a cutout over your instep. Just exacto-cise the plastic over the highest part of your instep and pull it out, duct-tape over it for maximum radness. Its an easy fix to relieve a little pressure over your intermediate/ medial cuneiform bones. With that foil in the toe area of your footbeds, grinding them isn't going to be an option, but if you go see mntlion I'm sure he'll get you rigged. $25 for assesment/ first half hour= sweet deal.

[mntlion]

www.fitcentre.ca

in the banff store, open 10-9 daily. call, or email for an appointment if you can

[s.p.c]

what type of liner is in there?

is there a sole, foam or ruberrized material on the liner bottom?

if so try removing this. it shouldn't expose your footbed, but give you a few xtra mms.

if it is intuition or something similar, this won't be possible as they don't have this sole.

[Canada Guy]

^^It's the stock Intuition Freeride liner, so unfortunately I don't think I will be able to remove any material from the sole.

[mwthomsen]

Post an update after you see mtnlion.

[Caucasian Asian]

Post an update after you see mtnlion.

x2. Mntlion did a few things to my boots and found me a bunch more instep height.

[mwthomsen]

x2. Mntlion did a few things to my boots and found me a bunch more instep height.

Can you elaborate?

[mntlion]

I think that we did this to CA's boots:

grind boot board

thinner socks

stretched liner upwards and compressed it

thinned tongue of the liner.

get heel back to the back of the boot

[Caucasian Asian]

Then we just got rid of the boot board. Much better without it.

[Wild4umlauts]

The Superfeet REDhot is a higher volume footbed and certainly isn't doing you any favors in regards to finding more instep room. IMO you need to ditch that footbed and go with something lower volume (like the SOLE Slim Sport).

This should be pretty easy to test - just put your boots on without your footbeds to test if that relieves the pressure from your instep. If that works then either get over to mntlion for some real bootfitter help or buy the SOLE footbed and give it a go without spending big $$$ for boot customizaton.

[Canada Guy]

Unfortunately I have super high arches and I found that the Redhots were the only footbed I could find that would support them. I did realize when I bought them that they were quite high volume.

I find that without that support underneath me foot was collapsing causing all kinds of arch pain. I'm thinking Mntlion will be my best bet here but it will probably be a week or two till I can make it to his shop.

I don't suppose anyone knows of a footbed that is lower volume but still has high arch support in the meantime?

[Wild4umlauts]

Re-read my post - I said to TEST whether the footbed was causing the problem. I wasn't suggesting that you don't use a footbed. My point was that there are better footbed solutions. Current trend is toward footbeds that aren't heavily posted and don't lock your foot/ankle into place so that the foot can still provide meaningful balancing movements while still maintaining needed support.

BTW - If the REDhot is working for you then you DON'T have a high arch. That footbed is around medium in arch support. So either the REDhot isn't fully doing the job or you really don't have high arches like you think you do. Sounding more and more like you should be visiting a real bootfitter.

[Canada Guy]

When I initially got the boots I did use them without footbeds and I had the same problems with pressure on the top my instep, so I don't think it is the problem of the footbed.

What I did with the Redhot to get higher arch support than usual is that I bought the footbed in the largest size which had higher arch support and cut it down in the toe area. Maybe you are right about me having lower arches than I think because the Redhots do work pretty well for me.

You are definitely right it is time for a bootfitter. I will just have to deal with the pain for a week or two until I can make it out to Banff and talk to Mntlion.