"Monique Y. Herman" wrote in message
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snip

I still have the old boots. I had Surefoot punch out the toe once more.
They are almost totally comfortable except that I have one toe that
inevitably goes "painfully numb"* after 3-4 hours. I'm reluctant to get
new boots; these are "mostly" there, and if I can't isolate the cause of
the toe problem, who's to say the new ones won't have the same issue?

Anyway, I think I've decided to stick with these, at least for this
year. I think that frequent use has helped pack them down. I've heard
a rumor that boot dryers, which I've used in the past but not this year,
can pop the liners back to their original state -- that they rely on
humidity to stay molded. No idea if there's any truth to that. In any
case, if I haven't done it before then, I'll bring them by the Surefoot
at Vail during my honeymoon. After all, they're the ones who sold me
the boots.

Eight days already -- hard to believe for an ex-pat Virginian!


* "painfully numb" means that the toe aches, but the toe itself can't
feel its surroundings; the big and middle toe feel its cold skin, but it
doesn't reciprocate. When I remove the boot, I get a prolonged ache
that makes me want to scream, presumably due to blood flowing back into
the region. So *something* is causing this pressure. I've taken to
leaving the lowest buckle undone (doesn't seem to change my degree of
control) and have the second buckle on its loosest setting. The upper
two buckles are as loose as I can set them while still feeling like I'm
in the driver's seat. This isn't due to cold; it's been pretty warm on
our ski days. It's also not isolated to skiing; I've noticed a similar
numbing effect while mountain biking. So I'm guessing the problem is
actually the constant pressure from the soles. Except that riding lifts
with no foot-bars seems to hasten the process, so that would implicate
pressure from the top. *sigh*

Congrats on the 8 days and the intended honeymoon. Ive got 2 days and a
todler, used to get about a dozen.

Your boot is still probably only partially broken in, and your foot will
also be getting manipulated into a slightly different shape so it takes a
bit of time for it to get used to being constrained.

RE the MTB, a friend had a similar issue which she cured by putting some old
ski orthodics in her cycling shoes. They were the rigid plastic type w no
arch posting.

Boot dryers that are too warm can soften the liner materials and let them
somewhat bounce back to their original uncompacted form. Moisture only
gives you musties AFAIK.

I can relate to your toe issue as I get foot cramps on a reg basis -I can do
great involuntary Vulcan greetings with my toes :-) Don't rule out cold
'cause if the circulation to that toe is bad it could be freezing before its
friends do. Dosn't mean that its not the boots fault, just that it could be
a blood vessel issue and not a pinched nerve issue. If its white and its
neighbours are pink (assuming your are of pasty european descent -which is a
great bootfitting aid) you have minimally some sort of circulation issues.

I have cramping issues that are boot volume related. For me I find chair
lifts sometimes hell as that is when I get cramps. For myself at least, its
the lack of weighting on my foot, which causes the problem. My theory is
when weighted its in a stable spread position, easily overcoming boot
forces. When unweighted the now relatively large boot forces distort it
resulting in potential for cramps. I find this is worsened by cold, lactic
acid, and dehydration.

I do have a low volume fit, and I am very close to the sides and top of the
shell. All that said I've been looking for replacements for about 2-3
seasons and nothing comes close to their fit even though they must be close
to 300 days.

BTW if you go to a podiatrist, try to get someone who specializes in skiing.

F. Plant