Hard Boots on the Splitty

Looking to move to hard boots.

I see a few folks rocking them on TAY reports - toe stepping up steep hard snow and ripping down aggressive lines.

What are people riding and liking?

How big is your bank?

Boot of choice is the dynafit mt 5's. But some new one have come out. Fit and warmth seem to big the two biggest issues

I am using some scarpa f3's, but I think more guys use the f1's.

They all take a little modifying, and dialing in to your preferance. but I haven't done anything to mine. I just leave the tongues out.

What size feet? I was going to make flower pots out of them but I have a usable pair of tlt 7s you can have. I think somewhere around 8.5. They did me very well for a a few years.

I switched over ten years ago and love it.

alecapone is right about the initial $ but I think they last a lot longer- more than long enough to make the investment worth it.

The number one concern is that the boot fits, and holds your heel down without cranking them all the way down. I usually have a ton of mods to do on new shells, but then they last a few years.

The other hard to quantify factor is size- I think big heavy dudes like me can flex them around like soft boots, but a stiff boot and smaller rider might work differently.

i have ridden several different hard boots on the split.

ive used some crispi diablos, those were pretty good.

ive also done bd primes, heavily modified. those werent bad but they were too heavy.

now im on the tlt 5's and they are really good.

the biggest problem i think is the binding. voile makes the mtn plate but they dont ride very well, you sit real high off the board and you get the sensation of being dissconnected from the board.

if youve got some ingenuity the burton race plate voile slider track combo works good, but it has to be a somewhat home-made system.

it is worth the $, you'll enjoy the BC experince that much more from improved touring, lighter weight, and more responsive equipment.

that being said i still love my vans boots and ride them occasionly on my split when going to more freestyle influenced terrain, like roadside pillows, and surf slash waves.

There is a lot of info on Splitboard.com under the Boots and under the Bindings subforums.

The current favorite set up seems to be the TLT5 mountain and the Phantom bindings. The TLT5m (TLT6m next year) has a great flex for splitboarding. Most people only expand the forward flex a bit. The Phantom bindings blow away toe and heel blocks of any type (Voile, Burton, F2, Bomber) mounted on a Voile slider and Voile pucks.

Thank you everyone. Those tlt5s do look ready for prime time. On the other hand, I have to believe Phantom or somebody could innovate a better/lighter plate.

Capone, I am a US size 11. Thanks for thinking of a second home for them.

Maybe the best thing is to get the tlt5s now and deal with the crappy Voile mtn plates for the time being.

It can't be any worse than my current setup. Note the North Face hiking boots shimmed with kids foam to 10+ year old Burton customs on a Voile Universal...