Ski boot heaters

Hi

I bought a pair of ski boots last year and although did a brilliant job I still began getting cold feet (a problem i had with hired boots). I bought some heating insoles which you cut to size however they didnt seem to have much affect. I have tried numerous different socks which also have made no difference.

I had a look around and saw the HOTRONIC E3 footwarmer power plus and wondered if anyone had used it. I am concerned that it is just an expensive version of what i have and don't want to spend the money if its rubbish.

Any advice would be greatly welcomed. I am skiing in 3weeks so cutting a bit fine (I have waiting for the people i bought my boots from to get back to me but heard nothing!).

Many Thanks!!!

Hi PT, some people swear by hotronics. They won't solve the problem if your boots don't fit or if you need but have not got custom footbeds or if your wearing silly socks.
Are you over tightening your boots which might cut off circulation?
Are you warming your boots and ski socks before you put them on? Far easier to stay warm than get warm, I either blast my boots with a hairdryer before putting them on or transport them to the hill with a heater inside (a bottle half filled with hot water will do the trick).
A cheaper alternative is boot gloves, which are neoprene covers that go over your boots, they stop snow getting in your boot and help reflect heat back toward your foot. They really work, I got mine in canada but if you google boot glove or kosy boot you will find them easily. :)

Thanks for your feedback! I had my ski boots fitted ect and they put in insoles for me and my feet have not been as cold as when i had hired boots previously but i was skiing in april as opposed to december lol! I have various ski socks of different thicknesses and make up but non really seem to make much difference but maybe sitting them on the radiator for a bit in the morning would be a good idea!

The boot cover though does sound like a good idea so I will definitely have look into that as well :)

Thanks!

My girlfriend got cold feet walking to work and generally feels the cold, but we both used Boot gloves last year and thought they were amazing.

The hotel we were staying in had a boot heat where we stored our boots over night, We would put our boot on and do them stright up and put the boot glove on and my feet would actually feel warm untill we stoped at dinner.

Really simple but affective.

Ive never had cold feet when skiing or heard my friends complain of this I use normal ski socks nothing fancy, is there a possibility of thin blood or you are on medication or possibly been in extremely low temperatures interesting ,,,or have i just been lucky not to have experienced this problem ???

jim preston wrote:Ive never had cold feet when skiing or heard my friends complain of this I use normal ski socks nothing fancy, is there a possibility of thin blood or you are on medication or possibly been in extremely low temperatures interesting ,,,or have i just been lucky not to have experienced this problem ???

Hi Jim, in Banff one Jan the thermometer was showing minus 38c with the wind as well, you can imagine how cold it was! Sweden in Jan has meant temps in the minus 20's. When it's that cold I struggle to even get my feet in the boots if they are not warm, it feels like the plastic stiffens up. I have no trouble once you get minus 15c and up.
You are right about circulation being a possible contributor or something like Raynauds being a factor.

Assuming that you have boots that fit properly. these are the common rules for keeping your boots warm:

The main thing to keep in mind is that the plastic and linings out of which your boots are made, have thermal and mechanical properties that vary enormously with temperature, and in the case of your liners, moisture content. When skiing somewhere like Banff, you may put your boots through temperature differences of up to 20-40 degrees. So it is not surprising that your boots will behave and feel differently in these different temperatures.

0-An object, your foot in this instance, cools at a rate that is proportional to the difference in temperature between itself and it's surroundings. The blood circulating to your foot at 37 degrees Celsius is far warmer than the snow which could easily be as cold as -20 and below. Blood flow to your foot supplies the heat lost to the surroundings through the liner and shell of your foot. So it's a battle between the rate at which heat is lost from your foot and the rate at which heat can be supplied to your foot by blood flow. Restricting that blood flow by over tightening your boots, will upset the balance so that your foot cools more rapidly.

1- Your feet change during the course of a season. The boots you may have had fitted perfectly at the end of last season will be very different at the beginning of this season. The settings you found comfortable last season may not be appropriate for the start of this season. During the first couple of weeks you should find that you need to tighten and adjust the buckles to accommodate the changes in your foot.

2-Your feet change over the course of a ski day - Don't over tighten your boots. Especially in the morning.
Related to point 1. tighten your boots by how they feel, not how many notches on the buckles you did at the end of the previous day. Start off with your buckles closed but relatively loose in the morning and do a few practice drills on moderate terrain. This is a good time to practice technique anyway. As the day progresses, tighten up your boots as necessary.

3-Never leave your boots in the trunk of the car. if your boots are -20 at the beginning of the day, you are never going to have warm feet.

4-Keep your liners dry.
At the end of the day, your liners will have a high moisture content even if they feel dry. This will dramatically increase the thermal conductivity of your liners. If you let this moisture remain. Your feet will cool rapidly during skiing the following morning. To avoid this, always remove the liners and leave them in your room so that the moisture can evaporate naturally.

Boot gloves really help. I have found them to be far more effective than boot warmers. What boot gloves do is place an thick extra layer of highly insulating neoprene between the shell of your boot and the cold exterior (the glove goes over the shell). Remember again that the blood circulating to your foot is at 37 degrees, so you already have a highly effective boot warmer in the blood circulating to your foot, the key is retain the heat for as long as possible and slow down loss to the environment. Boot gloves reduce the rate at which your foot and boots conduct heat to their surroundings.

I really enjoy the enthusiasm of fellow skiers on this forum the advice and concern is pricelees ski on,,,,,, snows arriving eveywhere spoiled for choice now and cant wait till Jan,Tignes Avoriaz Tignes Avoriaz Tignes Avoriaz????? heads or tails any thoughts?