room for end of big toe?

[1xsculler]

I have determined beyond any reasonable doubt that my shell size is 28.  My professionally molded Intuition liners and self molded Thermoflex 131 liners fit great everywhere except for allowing enough room for the end of my big toe on my right (rear) foot.  It's driving me nuts.  I'm about ready to do surgery on the offending liner by cutting off the pressure point area and seeing if it solves the problem.  If it does I would place a piece of Gorilla tape over the open area.  I guess I could also have the shell punched out in the appropriate area.

Edited March 15, 2017 by 1xsculler

[dingbat]

That all works. Don't forget to file your big toenails down until they are permanently deformed too.

[Eric Brammer aka PSR]

Do a re-mold of the offending liner, BUT, in putting on the toe-cap, ALSO ADD FOAM to the top of, and around the toe. Wear as thin a sock as you can (having already 'indented' the line with your foot,  but know that a ever-so-slightly thicker sock may be needed in riding. I know, you'll worry at the 'remold', and the process isn't always comfy, but,you needing to Change one aspect of the mold, so, be fairly still in this mold-up, only working on giving that toe more 'wiggle room' by flexing it during the cool-down. We are talking about a few millimeters between you being in pain, or having a few good years of riding...Take advil B4 you mold this one...

[b0ardski]

I would always get a shell punch before any carving/cutting of the liner. Look at the overall shape of your forefoot/toes if the outline of the boot shell is noticeably off of the out line of the foot a small punch (by a trusted boot fitter) will let the liner stretch into the void maybe w/out remolding and make for happy feet.

worked for me

[teach]

The question is how thick is the liner in that area? If it's already squeezed to the max, you'll need to thin the heel area to bring your foot back in the boot. Unless your big toe is being squeezed from above, in which case a thinner footbed might help. Or compress the sole of the liner more, or get liners with thin soles (not foam).

If none of that works, you've got a very close fit of your bare foot in the shell, and maybe punching is in order. Are there spots where your bare foot cannot avoid touching the shell?

[queequeg]

Do you have an egyptian foot (or roman, or germanic)? What boot are you in -- UPZ? Have you had the shell punched for more room around the big toe? I assume this problem is happenningon your front foot yes?

If you have an egyptian foot in UPZ (just guessing here) you may need to do two things:

-punch the shell around your big toe

-fill in the gap between the rest of your toes and the shell (this is crucial).

the toe box in UPZ is not a good fit for egyptian feet. The big toe tends to crash against the shell and the rest of the toes do not share the load: so you end up having to make sure there is more room for the big toe, and less room for the rest of the toes: such that any pressure is distributed across all toes and not just the big toe.

Based upon what you are describing, it sounds like this could be your issue.

Otherwise: I assume you have custom footbeds to stabilize your foot yes?

Edited March 11, 2017 by queequeg

[1xsculler]

Thanks for all of the helpful comments. I will get it figured out.

Actually, my front foot is fine. It''s only my back foot that is the problem.

No, there are no spots where my bare foot cannot avoid touching the shell. With a sock on my foot in the bare shell I have quit a lot of room to move my foot forwards and back wards. When I move my foot forwards so my toes touch the inside of the shell it is my big toe that touches first but I  have plenty of room in the shell.

I  may get the boot punched as a last resort but I think I can solve the problem without doing that.

Edited March 15, 2017 by 1xsculler

[1xsculler]

I think, I hope, I have solved my problem.  Big toe feels good in my boot in my shop.

I used 1/2" galvanized steel plumbing fixtures from Home Depot, i.e.  pipe cap, 6" section of pipe threaded on both ends, 90* elbow and a 12" section of pipe.  I clamped one end of the 12" pipe in my vice, attached the 90*, then the 6" and then the cap.  I placed the offending liner so the pipe cap put pressure on the inside where my big toe had no room, heated the outside of that area with a heat gun so it felt quite hot to the touch and then forced and worked the capped end of the pipe to stretch the liner as it cooled.  Total time only a few minutes and I completely reshaped the toe box of my liner.  I am pretty excited to, hopefully, have solved this problem which has plagued me all season.

I now feel confident that whether I heat mold a liner at home or have it done professionally I can solve the one single problem of my right big toe.  No amount of extra padding or toe cap would do it during a conventional molding and it was very painful.besides. Part of the problem is the offending toe does have some inflammation from a weird toe nail. It's not ingrown but due to a misshapen toe next to it I experience some discomfort occasionally which is exacerbated by my liner.

Edited March 20, 2017 by 1xsculler