DO NOT POUR SILICONE INTO YOUR BOOTS!

[Query]

In the Boot Rant thread, we entertained the possibility of pouring silicone or equivalent material into a boot to make it fit.

I mentioned I hadn't tried it. I hope no one else did.

Having experimented a bit with a different way of creating a form-fitting boot (tape wrap), I can now say this would be a very bad idea.

If a stiff boot fits your foot too well, you can not get the foot in and out of the boot.

The only way to get your foot back out would be to cut the boot.

It is perhaps remarkable that current generation low tech boots have been able to provide adequate stiffness, yet are possible to put on and take off. This is one of the central problems of boot and shoe making.

It is probably a good part of the reason that current generation skate boots don't fit better than they do.

We can imagine form fitting boot technologies that might work - e.g., use a material which stiffens the boot when an electric current runs through it. Then you slip the boot on like a sock, it stretches to match your foot. You turn off the current, and you have an instant boot. Of course you also need to be able to flex your foot enough to move some, which adds a little complexity.

There are also ski boots which expand front, and to both sides, when the closure mechanism is released.

But for now: Do not pour silicone into your boots!

[katz in boots]

Aw!  I was hoping this would be one of those disaster stories, that someone had actually done this and the terrible ( & expensive) results.
Disappointed  :angel

[pikachu314]

Yeah, me too. I thought the same as katz..

Those electric skating boot/sock things would be so cool! You'd get a perfect fit each time as well, which would be so amazing.
Query, when you invent them can you let me have a pair, pretty please?  :angel

[Skate@Delaware]

I think a good adaptation from the sporting shoe world would be those "pump" type shoes...a skate boot with a pump in the tongue so you could pump it up when needed (instead of re-tying).

[Query]

I think a good adaptation from the sporting shoe world would be those "pump" type shoes, a skate boot with a pump in the tongue so you could pump it up when needed (instead of re-tying).

A hockey coach tells me the Reebok hockey skates like that are very comfortable.

http://www.reebokhockey.com/gear/products/player/skates/

Might be interesting if Reebok got more seriously into the figure skate business. Right now they make some low end Figurobek skates.

---

Boy, what a bunch of ambulance chasers!

It is a disaster! I just wasted several hours creating boots out of socks and duct tape. I had to rip the tape off to get them off my feet, because they fit too well, and duct tape doesn't expand.

Isn't that good enough?

[katz in boots]

Boy, what a bunch of ambulance chasers!

It is a disaster! I just wasted several hours creating boots out of socks and duct tape. I had to rip the tape off to get them off my feet, because they fit too well, and duct tape doesn't expand.

Isn't that good enough?

No!     We want expensive, messy mistakes!  It helps us feel better about the dumb things we've done in the past.   

[Query]

No!    We want expensive, messy mistakes!

OK!

It isn't just the hours of time I wasted making the duct tape boots. I also wasted part of a $3.50 roll of duct tape! OMG!



So have you made any big messy mistakes?

[katz in boots]

So have you made any big messy mistakes?

No, actually, since you asked 

Well, unless you count the cutting holes in the side of boots to accommodate bunions. 
Or switching to a boot & blade combo that really has never worked for me.
Or the $$$ spent changing blades to something I thought would work better for me but didn't. 
Or the purchases of various items in possible ways to fix my boots so my heels don't slip - all to no avail.
Nope, nothing messy or expensive here

[Isk8NYC]

I meant to tell you something, katz in boots: there's a woman at my rink who wears custom skates.  (Fantastic skater and coach)  She also has a bunion star cut into her boots because she just couldn't take it anymore.  So, don't feel that you're alone in making that adjustment.

I had to laugh at myself last week - I own no less than six pairs of insoles for one pair of skates.  I just switched back to the original leather ones that came with the skates.  (With a little extra arch cushioning.  And a filler insole under the right one.)  I did repurpose one pair, putting them into my spare sneakers so I didn't have to keep switching the orthotics back and forth.

[Query]

Congratulations, Kitty Cat Puss in Boots!

People learn best from their own mistakes.

So the mistakes you made were just part of your self-education.

I have made a few expensive mistakes in the past. Like with my 11 or 12 year old "custom" boots, that never fit. I didn't have the common sense to call the boot maker, and get them replaced. And when Ultima discontinued the old Matrix removable blade runner system shortly after I bought mine - I bought enough blade runners to last me a lifetime, for fear I wouldn't be able to buy any more. Only then did I discover I hate Ultima's 8' rockers.

And then there are the injuries that were the result of doing really dumb things.

I posted this thread because I was concerned someone would destroy their boots because of the discussion about Silicone in which I participated, not because this was one of my worst mistakes. If I ever figure out how to make a good boot, this will have been part of the learning process.

[katz in boots]

Only then did I discover I hate Ultima's 8' rockers.

Ah yes, Ultima Freestyle Matrix 1 blades were the ones I was talking about: 

Or switching to a boot & blade combo that really has never worked for me. 

so I bought Phantoms, but it was too late, I'd become addicted to the whopping bottom pick on the Ultimas.