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- Nov 12, 2015
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- 6,304
Yesterday I drove from Stowe, VT down to Ludlow, VT to get my new Podium GT boots vacuum molded. This is a new boot for 2019-2020, and it is the first time I will have tried a vacuum boot. I think this is the 4th or 5th generation of vacuum boot. I drove down to the Totem Pole because Torin has been doing these boots for as long as Fischer has so he must know what he is doing. I decided to try to downsize from the 27.5 I have in the Podium 150 to a 26.5 in this boot. I have always felt that the Podium was a tiny bit too big for me, but I just didn't think that I could make a 26.5 work and neither did my fitter. I figured if I am going to try a vacuum boot, might as well test it's ability to stretch and see how far I can take it.
The first step was to have Torin make a new footbed. I assumed my current ones would be a bit long, and I didn't want to decommission a pair of boots that I am really happy with either. I thought it safe to assume that the molding process would go better with a footed in the liner and Torin says it does make a difference. Once the footbeds were done, it was time to heat up the boots in the little Fischer oven. I think the temp was 160 degrees. This lead to a conversation about which shop appliances are best for warming food. The Fischer oven is good for sandwiches, Salomon's oven is hotter, apparently the Infrared Wax machine is great for warming Poptarts!
Once the boots came out of the oven they were so soft and floppy that you had to be a little afraid you could rip them. That's where an experienced practitioner comes in. I already had the liners laced on, and slid into the shells. That's when we realized we had a little problem. I have a pretty high instep and just generally big bony feet. The shell wasn't even close to being able to close over the instep. Just... no way, and we needed to do something while the boots were hot. So I took off the liners and went into a pair of thin liners that they have just for this purpose (with the new footbeds too). Next the boots are covered with ice packs, and then you step into these inflatable boot shaped bags. I stepped onto a machine and they plugged in the hoses from the bags and turned on the machine. Totem Pole has a 2-zone machine, so you can have higher pressure between front and rear. Front was at 90 psi which is not much. Tori had the rear zone on 150 psi which he said would be uncomfortable, but I wasn't really feeling anything so we turned it all the way up to 210 psi which is as high as it would go. Should give a nice fit around the ankle and heel.
After 6 minutes it was off the machine and another icepack was added to cool it more. and a pair of Heady Toppers were thrown in for good measure. When the boot was cooled more I tried it with the stock liner. It was pretty clear this was still not going to work for me. So... I reached into my bad and pulled out the Fischer plug liners from my 150s. They are much thinner than the stock liner - especially in the tongue and somehow the 27.5 plug liner is exactly the same length as the 26.5 stock liner. With these bad boys, it was problem solved. We then did a traditional punch with heathen for the 5th metatarsal area on both boots. Job done. I'm going to ski them tomorrow with my plug liners. I just happen to have a spare set of 27.5 plug liners, so I'll still have two pairs of boots. I might try a few combos of stock liner with plug tongue or plug liner with stock tongue and see if there is a way to get them broken in and be usable.
One last note about liners. In the old days, Fischer boots were known for having some real junk liners. I included the pictures of the stock liner and plug liner because they have really stepped up the game. My current liners have about 200 days on them and are still in use though I do consider them to be a bit ling in the tooth with some wear from going in and out so many times.
The first step was to have Torin make a new footbed. I assumed my current ones would be a bit long, and I didn't want to decommission a pair of boots that I am really happy with either. I thought it safe to assume that the molding process would go better with a footed in the liner and Torin says it does make a difference. Once the footbeds were done, it was time to heat up the boots in the little Fischer oven. I think the temp was 160 degrees. This lead to a conversation about which shop appliances are best for warming food. The Fischer oven is good for sandwiches, Salomon's oven is hotter, apparently the Infrared Wax machine is great for warming Poptarts!
Once the boots came out of the oven they were so soft and floppy that you had to be a little afraid you could rip them. That's where an experienced practitioner comes in. I already had the liners laced on, and slid into the shells. That's when we realized we had a little problem. I have a pretty high instep and just generally big bony feet. The shell wasn't even close to being able to close over the instep. Just... no way, and we needed to do something while the boots were hot. So I took off the liners and went into a pair of thin liners that they have just for this purpose (with the new footbeds too). Next the boots are covered with ice packs, and then you step into these inflatable boot shaped bags. I stepped onto a machine and they plugged in the hoses from the bags and turned on the machine. Totem Pole has a 2-zone machine, so you can have higher pressure between front and rear. Front was at 90 psi which is not much. Tori had the rear zone on 150 psi which he said would be uncomfortable, but I wasn't really feeling anything so we turned it all the way up to 210 psi which is as high as it would go. Should give a nice fit around the ankle and heel.
After 6 minutes it was off the machine and another icepack was added to cool it more. and a pair of Heady Toppers were thrown in for good measure. When the boot was cooled more I tried it with the stock liner. It was pretty clear this was still not going to work for me. So... I reached into my bad and pulled out the Fischer plug liners from my 150s. They are much thinner than the stock liner - especially in the tongue and somehow the 27.5 plug liner is exactly the same length as the 26.5 stock liner. With these bad boys, it was problem solved. We then did a traditional punch with heathen for the 5th metatarsal area on both boots. Job done. I'm going to ski them tomorrow with my plug liners. I just happen to have a spare set of 27.5 plug liners, so I'll still have two pairs of boots. I might try a few combos of stock liner with plug tongue or plug liner with stock tongue and see if there is a way to get them broken in and be usable.
One last note about liners. In the old days, Fischer boots were known for having some real junk liners. I included the pictures of the stock liner and plug liner because they have really stepped up the game. My current liners have about 200 days on them and are still in use though I do consider them to be a bit ling in the tooth with some wear from going in and out so many times.
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