Worst gear purchase?

[Philpug]

OK, don't be shy, we all have had them. Was is a boot 3 sizes too big because your mom wanted your to grow into them..even at 17? A ski based on a review or a buddy's recommendation because they were so cool? The latest and greatest peice of technology that was going to revolutionize skiing, only to be gone the following season?

 

[Jilly]

Rossi "soft" boots. Didn't make a month in those suckers!

 

[cantunamunch]

Rossi "soft" boots. Didn't make a month in those suckers!

Aw, c'mon, tell us the full story. Why'd you get 'em? How did you first know they were going to be baa baa baaad? How did you try to 'fix' them?

 

[Jilly]

Have you ever tried skiing in high heels? That's what it felt like. Great to slide into though!

 

[cantunamunch]

Mine were second generation (sorbet orange not the traffic cone orange with indigo) Tecnica TNTs. Yep, there I was, grabbed them at full list, proud as can be. By the time they were ground and punched enough to be wearable all day, it was midwinter. There I am, coming out of the 840m hut at Sutton, full of Brador and old man Hans' apple pie - and my toes are cold again. Yep, the boots had cracked from just behind the toe lug, through the medial wall, back up to up the spine. I managed to wrestle them into the bindings - they were still sort of held together by the cuff pivots - and power wedge my way down Appalaches to 400m. The worst part was that Tecnica never did *jack* to make good on this pair "oh they've been ground too much" was the response.

That's what I get for being an early adopter. Cracked boots and a $100 shop discount. Yay.

Have you ever tried skiing in high heels? That's what it felt like. Great to slide into though!

I'm just surprised that wasn't apparent on the shop floor.

 

[Jilly]

Not until I got to ski. Pro deal also...not a shop. I gave them back to the rep.

 

[Jersey Skier]

Scott Superhots. So cool, yet so much pain. My shins still hurt just thinking about them.

 

[Freaq]

Scott Superhots. So cool, yet so much pain. My shins still hurt just thinking about them.

Oh, yeah. Mine were Super Lights and I still have the bump on my instep that every subsequent fitter has had to account for.

 

[oldschoolskier]

Two:

Rachel (hope I spelled it correctly as I've tried to erase the memory) boots (even though they race) way to soft for me, but worked great for my wife to be.

Nordica rear entry, just say foot pain.

 

[Jilly]

Raichle...they look like today's full tilt's or dabello's??

 

[AmyPJ]

4 or 5 pair of boots that were too big, the worst being some Nordicas that were maybe a 102 last, then Atomic Hawx that were a 100 last in a 24.5. I'm best suited to be in a race plug boot in a 22.5. I ended up returning both pair of boots to the respective retailers. The Nordicas I bought at REI and returned a year later. I kind of chewed them out for putting me in such a ridiculously large/wide boot when I have the lowest volume feet ever.
Worst skis (boring, planky) were Salomon Bamboos I picked up for last season as a "frontside" ski. I dumped them a few days later.

 

[James]

I'm beginning to think my Smith Vantage helmet, current year, is the worst. Incredibly cold. Now I need a plug boot on my head??

Poor thermal sealing, almost no fabric inside, and that stupid Koroyd core. It's plastic honeycomb instead of foam. Negative insulative value since it somehow fills with cold air.

Makes my old Smith Variant brim seem like a toaster and that was not particularly warm.

 

[cantunamunch]

You're making me want a Smith road helmet, ya know.

 

[Uncle-A]

Many years ago I purchased a set of BURT Bindings and mounted them on a pair of Olin Mark IV's . I hated them, they were so heavy, I never got to ski the Mark IV's with a different binding but I am willing to give them a pass just based on what so many have shared with me about the ski. The bindings I sold at a ski swap only a few months later and was happy to get rid of them. The skis I sold a short time later and never remounted them. Recommendation is do not buy a binding the works like a yoyo.

 

[Jeff N]

I had a devastating knee injury in 2001. This incidentally was what it took to finally push me off straight skis and those hot pink Salomon Equipe mid entry boots.

Not sure I would ever be able to ski anything off groom again, in 2002 I purchased new gear. For boots, I went with a 45 flex beginner boot for $99 at Gart Brothers.

I was aiming for a comfort fit I now know that I CANNOT ski boots off the shelf. I have a high instep, wide feet, and am very overcanted off the shelf where I need to ski with weight on the outside of my foot to get a flat ski.

Anyways, I was shopping on price for ski boots. Terrible idea. The $99 boots didn't fit my foot at all, but instead of pricing up (and going to a bootfitter) I just kept sizing up until I could get them on my feet.

By the time I could fit my wide feet and my instep, the result was a boot 4 sizes too large. A shell fit showed I had about 2" behind my heel. The low instep of the boot still made for an enormous PITA getting them on and off, so bad that two separate bootfitters gave me their cards when they witnessed me contorting my foot in the lodge to get the boot on.

Trying to ski in those boots was hugely painful. I would curl up my toes to keep the loose heel in place, and skiing on the outside of my foot coupled with toe curl meant CRAMPS. LOTS AND LOTS OF CRAMPS. I wasted a season and a half trying to ski those. I remember lying on the side of Spar Gulch on Aspen in agony with double foot cramps, frantically clawing at both boots to get them off. 10 minutes in socks on the side of a run sucks- and they were cramping again by the time I got to the bottom. Many ski days wrecked not by a bum knee, but terrible boots.

When I actually went to a bootfitter, he told me he had never seen somebody so poorly fit. Getting into a better fitting boot was huge, but the overcant, and some degree of pain remained until this year when I got vacuum boots. Now I can be in my boots bell to bell with no pain, and it is amazing.

 

[givethepigeye]

Worst purchase = most boots - Falcons - too low of instep, even unbuckled. Surefoot - ice cubes, Went to Lange RX130 Pros (the orange, solid toe/heel block "97" last) too much volume, as shown below. I've never found a boot that was "just right". Patron Pros have been the best so far but are getting beat.

Interesting - All from boot fitters BTW.

 

[Tom K.]

Cubco bindings.

Just try and compete with that!

 

[oldschoolskier]

Raichle...they look like today's full tilt's or dabello's??

No, 4 buckle boot with a sliding micro ratchet on the buckle, just a soft plastic about 30+ years ago.

 

[Tom K.]

Flame suit on, but Nordica Fire Arrow 84s in the 180-something length.

Good hardpack ski above 35 or so, but kind of planky feeling below that, not any fun at all off piste, and not REALLY fun until well above at least 40. It seemed like every time I really started having fun on this ski, I was pi$$ing other skiers off, including the ski patrol on a couple of occasions.

And who wants a dedicated hardpack ripping tool that is 84 mm wide?!

I've loved every Nordica ski I owned except this one and the Steadfast (which I still like quite a bit, just didn't love).

 

[crgildart]

My first NEW, store bought hart Gremlin skis were WAY too big for me. I had a tough time on them all season long. Next season I went 10 cm shorter on a Dynastar tempest and did a lot better.. The following season I went 10 cm shorter than that (short was in that year) and was actually on a 140 cm hart Freestyle that I ROCKED on the little hills, bumps and jumps in Minnesota. Went back up to 160 cm K2 233 mids after that season... same length as the hart Gremlin mistake three years earlier. I was pretty little back then... If you've met my kid you will get it. He's still on 120s at age 13 but should probably be on 130s now, type II skier at present.. Next season he'll probably start on 129s and move up to 139s if we get out enough.. When you're new, a little too short is better than a LOT too big hahaha