My old 32 Lashed snowboard boots have finally been retired. I’ve had these for a while now; they’re either the 04/05 season or 05/06 season, I can’t remember. Sure, I could probably glue that back on, but they’re pretty much done. Great boots…
Moving from old boots to new
Super soft. As you can imagine the old 32s were pretty soft in the end; didn’t really notice having them on. That’s always going to make trying new boots on seem strange. Even something soft like the Burton Hail is going to feel rigid, or at least, not-soft.
Awesome inner boot. But there was another reason I hesitated replacing those 32s – moving to a different design of inner boot. That particular model of Lashed had two great features on the inner boot:
- The inner laces are part of a harness that is joined to the outer boot. Tightening the inner also pulls it back, ‘joining’ with the outer
- Velcro strap at the top of the inner. When you close that, the inner boot doesn’t open. At all!
Tighten once, ride all day. The net result for those 32s was that I would tighten them at the start of the day – and that would be it. I wouldn’t need to touch them. And the inner boot just worked seamlessly with the outer. The feel was so good.
The harness approach isn’t particularly uncommon. For example, the new Burton Hail boots have the same design. But the velcro strap, that is uncommon. The current 2011/2012 32 Lashed boots don’t have it; 32 haven’t continued to use it.
And I’m not sure why? Is it cost? Do the majority of riders not need it? For me, it was a great addition.
It’s not bad. It’s actually pretty good. I tried on the Burton Hails, the 32 Lashed and some Nike Vapen boots. Of the three, I liked the inner boot on the Hail the most.
It’s a good fit for me, nice grip around the ankle, it’s not so high up the calf, the velcro works quite well and the best bit, the laces tie really well – good mechanism and good, even grip.
That said, the first time that I rode in them, I got to the bottom of the run and realised I’d totally under-tightened the boot. They felt like they were flapping open at the top. A re-tighten did the trick: better fit and feel.
Another good feature of the Burton Hail boots here is that the outer boot also tightens really well. Those basic laces are spot on and the tongue pulls in nicely between the inner and outer boot.
Review to come
I’ve only used the Hails for two sessions – both on an indoor slope. I don’t feel I can give an allround review yet. So far, I like them, but still need to wear them in. Getting some seriously numb feet.
Going back to the old 32s – that velcro strap is detachable. So although the boots are in the bin I’ve kept hold of the straps – maybe I’ll try fitting them around the top of the new boots…
