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Drying boots: liners out or in?

Noodler

Sir Turn-a-lot
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Denver, CO
Out. Replace liners using The Boot Horn and they slide right in.

There's an "art" to putting liners back in the shells. Of course it varies depending on the liners and the shells involved, but with my ZipFits I don't have to bend or fold any part of the liner. The "secret" (if you want to call it that) is to push only on the heel with one hand while collapsing the instep/upper cuff with the other. The necessary ingredient is some silicone spray (that is refreshed every couple of weeks). My liners pop right in with fairly low effort.
 

James

Out There
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Yeah the Head race liners (2yrs ago) almost always fold/wrinkle at the heel when reinserting. Have to be quite deliberate. Mostly because they're less than substantial. :ogcool:
Usually they're on my foot, but for travel they have to go back in.

I've never done this guy's technique. Well, sort of. Certainly don't take the footbed out.
 

Doug Briggs

"Douche Bag Local"
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My liners are typically pretty dry on the outside. The inside is a different matter. My liners come out on my foot and go back in on my foot, racer style. They go in the heated boot bag separately as well. I will often put the liners in front of/over the hot air duct in my house to air them out and let them dry unfettered. So far all three pairs of boots/liners are stink free. At least I can't smell 'em.

I'd say that if you pull you liners out of the boots and they are wet on the outside, they should be dried outside the boot. No amount of heat from a forced air system inside the liner is going to reliably dry the outside of the liner. Neither will a heated boot bag. You just end up with warm moisture between the shell and liner.
 
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Doug Briggs

"Douche Bag Local"
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There's an "art" to putting liners back in the shells. Of course it varies depending on the liners and the shells involved, but with my ZipFits I don't have to bend or fold any part of the liner. The "secret" (if you want to call it that) is to push only on the heel with one hand while collapsing the instep/upper cuff with the other. The necessary ingredient is some silicone spray (that is refreshed every couple of weeks). My liners pop right in with fairly low effort.

QFT. Silicone is especially useful when you do the liner on the foot insertion and extraction.
 

PNWRod

Getting off the lift
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Crystal Mtn
Man! You all got some sweaty feet.

Mine goes on the boot dryer liners in the boot. My boots are transparent so I can see if there is any moisture buildup. Usually none.
 

James

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I'd say that if you pull you liners out of the boots and they are wet on the outside, they should be dried outside the boot. No amount of heat from a forced air system inside the liner is going to reliably dry the outside of the liner. Neither will a heated boot bag. You just end up with warm moisture between the shell and liner.
Yep. Standby for a dozen rebuttals though.
 
Thread Starter
TS
asolo

asolo

Booting up
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In summary, I am inclined to pull the liners out for drying. I live in Colorado and the humidity in winter inside the house is very low, but with boots standing on a house heating vent it still takes hours for the liners to fully dry out. This in turn leads to stinky liners, eventually. I never (so far) got any leaks, but in a full day feet sweat enough for liners to get get noticeably wet. Must be dried.

If I am on a hut trip or dirtbagging in a car at a resort, liners would never dry out inside the boot.
 

trailtrimmer

Stuck in the Flatlands
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Michigan
RS130’s with heaters go in front of a fan. The cables take a beating going in and out and I like to get a couple years out of them.

RX 130’s or speed machines get pulled and fan treatment. No mildew or funk in any, bike shoes are a different story. ogsmile

Liner in or out, drying religiously either way is the biggest key to happy liner life.
 

Fuller

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Whitefish or Florida
I've been leaving the bottom two buckles loose on my Tecnica Mach 1's which allows a prodigious amount of snow to get wedged in there. My solution was to buy a pair of the Dry Guy Boot Gloves which does a great job of keeping my boots dry as well as much warmer. A good solution for $30.00 bucks. Once I solved that issue the Hotronic dryers were all I needed so no liner removal necessary.
 

Johnny V.

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Not to restate the obvious, but when I ski harder my feet sweat more and the liners get wetter. Makes sense to pull them out and give them a good drying especially if the plan is to ski the next day. I really noticed this on our recent trip out west-with traverses, moguls, trees and hikes, they were soaked at the end of the ski day.
 

trailtrimmer

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I've been leaving the bottom two buckles loose on my Tecnica Mach 1's which allows a prodigious amount of snow to get wedged in there. My solution was to buy a pair of the Dry Guy Boot Gloves which does a great job of keeping my boots dry as well as much warmer. A good solution for $30.00 bucks. Once I solved that issue the Hotronic dryers were all I needed so no liner removal necessary.

The lack of love for boot gloves is crazy. They work extremely well, easily feels five to ten degrees warmer with them. The only downside is if you are off piste all day they pack up with snow underneath. On piste they rock.
 
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Doug Briggs

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The lack of live for boot gloves is crazy. They work extremely well, easily feels five to ten degrees warmer with them. The only downside is if you are off piste all day they pack up with snow underneath. On piste they rock.

That is good to know. Thanks.
 

James

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The lack of live for boot gloves is crazy. They work extremely well, easily feels five to ten degrees warmer with them. The only downside is if you are off piste all day they pack up with snow underneath. On piste they rock.
Well there's lots not to love about them. The toes jam into the binding, the strap underneath is in the wrong spot, wears out and breaks, the velcro strap on the back sticks out too much, they're pretty ugly. Otherwise, it's ok.
These keep me from using more often.
 

Brad J

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Newbury, Ma.
I have Zipfits , so I take them out when I take my boots off, I think with most of the materials being plastic and foam it is tough to dry liner in shell, especially when skiing multiple days.
 

Johnny V.

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The lack of love for boot gloves is crazy. They work extremely well, easily feels five to ten degrees warmer with them.

Yeah, I borrowed my wife's pair on a 0 F degree day and bought a pair on the way home. Yes, you have to position them properly but they do work. Biggest drawback is not being able to mess with the boot buckles-when wearing them I constantly reach down to rebuckle at the top of the lift and realize that they are already buckled.
 

Sibhusky

Whitefish, MT
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When I used to need them, I just rolled a bit of the toe under and eventually it stayed folded so it didn't interfere with the ski binding. But they do interfere with getting to your buckles. I haven't needed them in years since I discovered that wearing more layers on my legs kept my feet warm. We had about five weeks of single digit and below weather this year and I didn't have any numb toes. Sometimes they were a bit cold but that's it. But for the price, Boot Gloves work really well. I keep them in my locker, but they haven't been used in years. I put on warm boots in a warm locker room. The boots have heaters in them until they have feet in them.
 

BoofHead

Getting on the lift
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Out for me.
I’ve recently just started putting my liners on before my boots as well.
They are touring/crossover boots though so it just seems to work better.
 

trouts2

All camber, on edge, all day.
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Never keep boot bag in trunk or car top carrier. Never leave boot in boot bag at home. When home remove boots and place by heat source.

For liner damp from feet not leak.

By the time you dress, eat and drive ½ to 1 hour to a mountain your feet will likely be damp esp toes. Antiperspirant works on feet, not just underarms.

1. Put cornstarch on feet and in socks at boot on time, not at home.

2. Bring fresh sock to mountain and put on at bootup.

3. Apply antiperspirant on toes at home or mountain.
 

Andy Mink

Everyone loves spring skiing but not in January
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I leave them in and dry on a Peet dryer. All good. See review here.
 

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