How To Choose Snowboard Boots

Choosing boots is the most important part of snowboard gear. Many people are crazy about buying a new snowboard, but the comfortable boots that suit you will help you improve your snowboarding. So we need to be the most careful in choosing boots.

Standard Lacing or Speed Lacing or Boa

There are three types of snowboard boots. BOA system that is easy to put on and take off, Traditional / Standard Lacing that is a little troublesome to tie a string, Speed Lacing with ease of tightening in the middle.

Traditional Standard lacing

It works like a shoelace.

It will take some time to close.

There is also an opinion that it is not possible to tighten tightly, especially for weak women.

Since the tightness can be adjusted finely, it tends to be used by good riders.

It also tends to be softer than BOA and Speed Lacing, and is popular with freestyle snowboarders.

Another advantage is If the Laces break they are easy/cheap to replace.

There used to be only this type of snowboard boots, but these days it has dropped considerably. Perhaps many beginners have chosen BOA and Speed Lacing.

Speed Lacing

You can tighten your snowboard boots much faster than laces.

Basically, if you pull strongly on the two straps, the lock will be applied and the snowboard boots will be tightened. It is as fast as the BOA type.

Since it is a "pulling" action that makes it easy to apply force, even women can tighten it firmly.

It is relatively lightweight and is preferred by many snowboarders. Probably the type most favored by many professional snowboarders.

BOA Systems

There are two main types of boa systems. Single Boa and Double Boa though each boot manufacturer’s boa systems are slightly different.

These systems often have an inner tightening system similar to traditional lacing systems but the outer boot is tightened using a knob that you twist to pull a system of wires tight across the boot.

Single boa systems have one knob for the whole boot.

Double Boa is more expensive than Single Boa. But I recommended Double Boa because it can be tightened more firmly.

Boa boots is really easy to get them tight just a matter of twisting the knob, especially good for those with weaker grip. If it breaks, it may not be possible to handle it at a nearby shop.

I used to hear that BOA boots were broken and they were in trouble, but recently I have hardly heard of them.

Perhaps the BOA boots you buy from now on will not break with a high probability.

It may feel a little heavier than Traditional Standard lacing and Speed Lacing.

Prices also tend to be higher.

In recent years, the number of snowboarders using BOA boots has increased significantly, and the tendency is only increasing.

Probably chosen by many beginners and intermediates.

Choose the boots that fit your foot size

Choosing boots that fit your foot size is very important. That's because when you snowboard, you'll be wearing boots for a long time.

Maybe you'll be wearing boots for more than 6 hours from 9am to 3pm. If your boots are too tight and your toes hurt, snowboarding can be hell. That's impossible! You might think, but I've seen a lot of snowboarders with sore feet.

When you buy boots at a snowboard shop, the clerk often recommends tight boots.

The reason is that while you are wearing boots, the room will expand, so when you buy it, you will be advised to tighten it.

If your foot size is US8.0, they may recommend a size of 7.5.

But the idea is dangerous.

Because, unlike in a warm shop, it's easier to feel the boots tighter in a cold ski area.

As a result, it often happens that the tip of the foot hurts.

Snowboard clerk are people who snowboarding for more than 60 days in the season.

They are good at snowboarding and prefer tight boots.

They can withstand the tightness of hell for the first 10 to 20 days.

However, the average snowboarder probably slips in the season for at most 20 days.

When those people buy tight boots, the room does not easily expand into the boots.

So choose boots that are the right size for your feet.

Many people don't know the size of their feet

Many people seem to know the size of their feet because they have never actually measured their feet.

If you go to a snowboard shop, be sure to measure your foot size with a measuring device.

Then you can see that the size of your feet is different on the right and left.

If your left and right foot sizes are different, choose the correct boot size for the larger foot.

At the shop, try at least three types of boots.

If you try some of brands boots, you'll find out if they suit you or not. If you find a pair of boots that you like, try them on for as long as 5 minutes and see if they really suit you.

In my experience, the boots that really suit you are the moment you put them on.

It feels like a couple, the moment you meet.

Please choose the boots that suit you.

I think snowboard boots are the most important part of snowboard gear.

Features of boot flex

The flex of boots can be broadly divided into soft, medium and Stiff. Stiff boots are fast and stable, and soft boots are easy to bend ankles and control the board. Beginners should choose soft or medium. Advanced snowboarder tend to prefer hard boots, but they do not always wear hard boots.

Just like choosing a golf club, they decide on the flex of your boots depending on what you want to do.

Those who want to have fun with jib items tend to prefer soft boots.

Also, those who want to snowboard at speed tend to prefer stiff boots.

If you want to jump with a big kicker, you might use hard boots to some extent, and if you want to jump with a medium to small kicker, you might use soft boots that are easy to control.

If you want to enjoy different styles of snowboarding, I recommend medium flex boots.

For boot flex, check the catalog or ask the shop staff.