Molding Thermo's

[Bobby Buggs]

During the molding process do you buckle tight or not, Discuss

[pebu]

Buckle to mid, or maybe a little less. They'll feel tight at the loosest settings but that's because the liners are like a marshmallow. If you crank them tight while setting up then you'll have to crank them tight when boarding. And if they pack out a little bit, say towards the end of the day, you'll run out of settings to tighten to. It also goes the other way. If you tighten to the normal tightness, but it's a warm day or for some reason your foot is a little bigger than normal, anyway the boot feels a little tight, you can loosen it up a click or two. If you only leave it loose while setting up, you'll run out of room to loosen... So mid to maybe a little bit less than mid tight.

[D.T.]

My answer is crank them tight. My comment is based on experience and not interweb experts (no offense intended). The two times that Larry from Bootfitting by Larry has molded my liners (if you search, his name has popped up many, many times as, arguably, one of the best bootfitters in the country), he has cranked the buckles.

One guess would be, the tighter the buckles, the more exact the impression of the leg/foot; hence, decreasing the likelihood of pressure points. Eliminating pressure points being part of the reason for getting moldable liners in the first place.

[b0ardski]

when I remolded my barely used Raichle thermo's I clamped down hard at 1st to get the shape, and stood on 1 foot to pronate the arch & ball without moving. as it cooled somewhat I loosened the buckles just enough to let me wiggle the foot around and walked & flexed a little bit to make sure it moved OK.

I used a foot bed & toe cap inside a thin sock to give the toe box some wiggle room. I wish I had also used a small pad on my very bony ankle knobs But over all the process worked out well.

I also have a question; has anyone ever done a spot mold with a hair drier on a hot spot, say ball of the foot or heel pocket?

I also have reservations on using a Peet boot drier, will that amount of heat reduce the remoldability?

[Hugh]

My best Thermo-liner cookings have been in the Factory oven, hot (almost too hot) liners, buckles set where I would usually ride them (very snug, not medium tight) and neoprene toe caps.

My failures with cookings have included - not hot enough, no heat discomfort at all. Not tight enough, no tightness discomfort at all.

My advice: Cook em hot, use neoprene toe caps and buckle them tight, but not over tight and get your heals back in the heal pocket.

--Hugh

[D.T.]

use neoprene toe caps

Great point Hugh , I forgot about that part. You definitely need something to create some space during the molding process so that you can wiggle your toes inside the boot while on the mountain.

[bobdea]

if you have a shell on the big side or you have low volume feet.

super tight if you want the liner packed out from day one.

I've molded lots of these for myself and for other people when I was selling boots.........

I tend to think the least amount of compression is best because you'll wear in the tight spots in a couple days and slap a c-clamp in troubled spots later if need be.

yes, toecaps are essential as well as taping some foam in spots that you know you'll have pressure.

[bobdea]

I also have a question; has anyone ever done a spot mold with a hair drier on a hot spot, say ball of the foot or heel pocket?

I also have reservations on using a Peet boot drier, will that amount of heat reduce the remoldability?

use a c-clamp and compress it over night, it works WAY better than attempting to heat a small area

[Mike T]

What's worked best for me: double neoprene toe caps, tight to the point of excruciating pain in the toes, where I would ride on the ankle buckle, and then as loose as possible without slopping around on the two lower leg ones. I'm using Deeluxe, if you're using Head keep in mind there are two on the foot, one on the ankle and one on the lower leg.

I like a nice roomy toe box and my lower legs are rather bony thogh soe this accomodates for both things. My fitter has never seen someone in as much pain as I was during my last fitting, but I have been in total bliss riding in them.

[SEJ]

I agree with bobdea. When I did my Indies last year I had the buckles sort of in the middle and I have already packed them to where I'm almost bottoming the buckles out. Can't help but think that if I had the buckles a little looser when I molded them, they would fit better now.