Breaking in new leather boots

[Woodserson]

Nice parquet floor. Are you in the States?

and what's your boot size? Already asked I know, I just have some stuff kicking around.

[lowangle al]

I should have mentioned in my previous post that the important thing is to keep more of the ball of your foot on the ski and not lift your heel too high. This will keep your boot from flexing too much at your toe. High and tight will help you get there.

I think if you have enough range of motion to kick and glide w\o pain you could make them work. Good luck.

[dropkneesnotbombs]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome and all the helpful replies! The boots seem to fit fairly well - they are a 10 UK size, and I wear a 10.5 US, 44 EU, 28.5 mondo, but as you all say fit seems to be extra important with leather boots. And the stiffness and rubber rand probably aren't helping either. The tongue of the boot itself also is very stiff, so perhaps this is why the boots want to flex down at the toes as well.

I already have a three buckle plastic boot, so if these don't work out I'll probably try to stick with leathers - can't have my boots be too similar to each other . I'm actually not in the States - living in Austria at the moment, so maybe my access to boots like the Antarctic is better than for those over in North America. Though surprisingly I've had a difficult time finding any telemark gear here - Central Europe is a much bigger fan of AT gear, and I generally don't see any other tele skiers when I'm at a resort.

I'll try to soften the leather up a bit, wear them around the house some more, etc. But it's good to hear that I'm not crazy, and the boots are probably the issue here. Hopefully I can make them work with some of the ideas you all have given, but if not at least you've given me some suggestions on which boots to look at next.

[mugglesport]

A couple of ideas:
Apply globs of leather conditioner and let sit for a day or two before wiping off, then wear the boots around the house/neighborhood (make sure to squat down and walk around) to help break them in.

I've never tried this, but I've heard about people soaking boots in warm water then wearing them until they dry. Sounds terribly uncomfortable and might shorten the life of the boots substantially...but as a last-ditch effort...

[Woodserson]

Get thee to Italy... you will find boots made of leather! (don't know where, but them Italians just love the tele)

[MikeK]

Get thee to Italy... you will find boots made of leather! (don't know where, but them Italians just love the tele)

They like plastic too

[dropkneesnotbombs]

Mugglesport, that's basically what I've decided to go with. Putting lots of leather conditioner on, and wearing them around the house. But putting even more on and letting it sit for a while is a good idea. Not sure I'm up for walking around in wet boots for hours though... at that point they might just be given away.

Woodserson, on my next trip to Italy I'll have to check out some of their leather boots! Somehow they haven't really made it to Austria, despite the fact the countries border each other...

[lilcliffy]

I would absolutely saturate the leather with a water-based "cream" leather treatment. The product I am in love with is Zamberlan's Hydrobloc.

For complete saturation you need to get the weather thoroughly wet. When the leather is wet- the water-based treatment will penetrate deeply into the leather and condition it. High-end leather backpacking boots are treated like this in the factory.

I wrap my leather boots in wet towels for hours in a utility sink- then apply copious amounts of treatment to all of the leather in the boot. (You will be shocked as to how much more absorption you will get than when the leather is dry).

IMPORTANT- this procedure will not work with an oil or wax based product (e.g. "Sno-Seal" is wax based).

If I am skiing in alot of very abrasive snow (like last season) I have to do this more than once a year- but typically once a year is enough. I always do this full treatment with a new leather boot- and before I store them at the end of the season.

I also keep the treatment handy and intensively treat the flex points in the leather, every time I take them off.

I don't know if you have experienced toe and/or metatarsal pinching before...BUT don't dismiss it! It can cause quite severe damage that can take a long time to heal.

The last pair of boots that pinched my metatarsus were composite and could not be trained. I loved the performance of these boots and continued to wear them. The pinching casued enough damage that eventually it was painful to walk in my walking shoes! It took several months to fully recover!

I turned 43 in October- as I get older I find it takes longer to heal from injuries...

[SanJuanSam]

Dropkneesnotbombs, Obenaufs makes a leather oil. I use this stuff on my fireboots. Does a great job of softening and conditioning leather. Sometimes you can find it at Cabelas or Bass Pro.

Lilcliffy, we use a similar method in wildland fire/forestry with new boots. Fill em with water, let them get saturated. Drain and wear until dry. There are some implications with gore tex / lined boots but it may work.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[dropkneesnotbombs]

Lilcliffy, I've heard great things about the Zamberlan Hydrobloc - I'll be picking up some when I'm back in the States over the holidays. I have some other oil/wax based stuff that should soften the leather up for now, but I think using the Zamberlan stuff long term is the way to go.

SanJuanSam, I'm using this stuff right now - softens the leather nicely and actually smells really nice too.