Hard soft boots

[jtslalom]

I bought a pair of Burton soft boots about two weeks ago. They are the "Ruler" boots. I can not believe how stiff these boots are. I'm used to Burton wind hard shell boots which are medium as far as stiffness is concerned. I think these soft boots are as stiff as the winds. I put them on today and walked around in them trying to break them in. My ankle flex was very limited. I just can't believe how stiff they are and they aren't even the stiffest Burton makes. I already have a pair of snowjam soft boots. I might as well throw them out. Back when I bought them in 2001, I thought they were fairly stiff for a soft boot. By comparison to the Burtons, they are like wet noodles. I was wondering if any one knows of any other stiffer soft boots?

[bobdea]

calling the ruler stiff?

IMHO they're super soft, I won't ride in them in fact

the Ion and Driver X are both WAY stiffer than the Ruler

Salomon Malamute is stiff too, maaybe a tad stiffer than the driver

vans and DC make some rigid boots as well but I don't like them as much as the stuff I already mentioned

of the group the Ion is probably all around the best boot, malamute the stiffest and the driver is my preferance because it's cheaper and slightly stiffer than the ion.

[D-Sub]

I have rulers from a couple seasons ago and theyre plenty stiff for me

there are folks here (ahem) that buy into the stiff/long is always better. Softboots are about feel and flow to me, so medium stiff feels plenty. This coming from riding Burton Freestyles with the brown leather upper for YEARS. Mostly duct tape at that point. I must have strong ankles.

[bobdea]

a key factor with me that is worth noting is I do ride big wide boards and am 250 pounds

if I were only gonna be riding pow all that time I would go a little softer and one other thing is that I like a stiff boot because they are still stiff enough for years where softer boots get really flimsy

[ASU_snowdevil]

I ride last years rossignol RS "soft" boots, and they are the stiffest soft boots I have ever had the pleasure of flexing. They have a molded plastic/rubbery shell that is like a hard boot (except laces and all the other differences :) ). They must not have been popular b/c they only made them for 05/06, but if you can get your hands on some I would recommend them. They are what made me realize I would probably like hard boot carving.

[jtslalom]

You see the fact of the matter is that I just don't know. I have been riding plates since 1991. About 2 years ago I started riding soft boots again. I just didn't realize how much better the soft stuff has gotten. It certainly is better than the crap I used back in the 80's. Compared to my other soft boots the Burton Ruler is much stiffer. I rode the other less stiff Snowjam boots with a 2001 K2 FatBob. The board is about 27 cm at the waist. I thought that was heaven compared to the stuff I was using in the 80's. I can turn the hell out of that board. Now that I bought new stuff, I have no idea what's stiff and what isn't. All I know is that my soft board, boots and bindings were getting old and I sold all my hard stuff because I really started getting back into riding soft. Hopefully the new setup I have will turn as well as the K2. I have a brand new Ride Timeless with soft Burton bindings and the ruler boots. I'm sure it's better than the K2 with the softer snowjam boots.

[Michael_A]

Hi,

I was riding the Burton Ruler last year (I am 165#) on a all-mtn board; and got into a "soft" hardboot setup in the spring (SB413) on a BX board. The SB413 is quite soft for a hard boot, but is still a lot stiffer than the Ruler.... I for one wouldn't call the Ruler "stiff".

Michael

[bobdea]

is a good board, I have put in allot of time on ride Yukons and they are quite similar to the timeless just wide

you'll have a good time on that setup

[jdgang]

I got a pair of Rulers from a while back maybe 2002...cant compare to the new ones..but these have a hard "plastic" tongue and a power strap...very stiff for a soft boot....but if i ever buy a softboot again it would be the driver x

[bobdea]

the ruler was pretty rugged, then that shell became the driver while the boot called the ruler got downgraded and more of a entry level boot, next up after the burton freestyle

[Carp]

After seeing my wife improve dramatically riding the Flow binding and looking them over I was actually thinking of picking up a pair with a new board and boots. I haven't ridden soft boots since '90 so it would be a major shift for me but some of the companies seem to be making some pretty good gear now a days. Any recommendations for board and boots? There might be a some hard boot gear available?

I like this thread.

[Skwalleur]

Salomon Malamute is stiff too, maaybe a tad stiffer than the driver

vans and DC make some rigid boots as well but I don't like them as much as the stuff I already mentioned

of the group the Ion is probably all around the best boot, malamute the stiffest and the driver is my preferance because it's cheaper and slightly stiffer than the ion.

I'm confused. The starter of this thread stated that the soft boots were just as stiff as a pair of winds... Having riden Winds and Head Stratus Pro over the last 5 years I got a pair of Malamutes to use in some off-piste applications last year. And having been in hard-boots for such a long time the Malamutes felt like a pair of sneakers in comparison. Is there some way of measuring stiffness I'm not aware of?