Month: June 2016

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Even though women's gear has become more and more common in snowboarding over the years, it's still a lot easier to find men's snowboard boots. That's because there are just more of them. Snowboarding was originally a sport dominated by men and that means that some of the more established brands have been churning out men's gear a lot more than women's gear. A lot of women can get frustrated by this and might consider buying men's gear for any number of reasons. But there are a few things to consider before buying a men's boot for a woman's foot.

It can be very tempting for many girls to buy a men's snowboard boot. For whatever reason, many companies think that girls only want pink butterflies and purple stars on their gear. If you're looking for something a little more gender neutral, men's gear is where you're most likely to turn. Men's gear also tends to have a wider range in terms of function. Almost every company offers more men's snowboard boots than women's; some companies even have twice as many men's boots! Sometimes that lack of selection can make finding the right boot almost impossible for a female snowboarder.

So just get a men's snowboard boot, right? Not so fast. Unless you have feet and legs suited to men's boots, you might regret your decision to buy boots made for the other gender. At the anatomical level, women's feet and legs are quite a bit different than men's. One of the biggest problems with getting a men's boot is that women tend to have narrower feet and may experience significant heel lift if they step into a men's boot. That can cause not only a performance problem, but pain and discomfort. In addition, women tend to have lower calf muscles than men. The higher back on a men's boot may dig right into the middle of the calf muscle on a woman and cause quite a lot of irritation during a full day of riding.

But the differences between the foot and the boot are not the only reason you should reconsider buying a boot outside your gender. The way the boots fit with the bindings is crucial. If you have women's bindings, but a men's snowboard boot, you may have trouble getting the boot to fit in the binding properly. This is because boots are made to fit specifically with bindings and mixing men's and women's gear can throw off the fit. Not only might you have poor performance, but you could be putting yourself at a safety risk if your boots do not fit into your bindings.

The truth is that it really is not the end of the world if you're a woman who wants to buy some men's boots. But you may not get all the fun out of your experience that you would if you had a boot better designed for your foot. It's always a good idea to buy the boot that was designed the best for you. If you're still set on getting a men's snowboard boot, you may want to shop around a little longer to see if you can not find a women's boot that you like.

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Source by Matt Banks

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It's hard to find a way of having more fun in the winter, so there's nothing better than spending time on the slopes at the weekends, boarding and skiing. The trouble is when you get home, exhausted but happy, the temptation is to simply put the gear away in the garage and go and get a hot drink. You think to yourself that you'll get up early and sort it out in the morning, but you forget and the next time you see the gear will be the next weekend you pack it in to the car to head off to the slopes. So the ski gear will still be left cold and damp for another few days.

After a few weeks of this kind of treatment, you'll probably notice that your boots are starting to smell a little ripe. This is because all the cold and damp has led to the growth of bacteria in the fabric parts of the boot liners, and they love to give off that very noticeable odour.

What to Do

To get rid of the smell you have to get rid of the bacteria, so you'll need to do the following:

Clean the Boots

• Take the liners out of the boots, and put them in a warm room or office to dry. This step alone will kill a proportion of the bacteria.
• Fill a sink or a bucket with warm water and add one cupful of white vinegar and small amount of laundry powder.
• Soak the liners in the mix for at least 30 minutes. The vinegar will kill off most of the remaining bacteria and the detergent will deal with the sweat and dirt that any future bacteria would like to feed on.
• While the liners are soaking, use a sponge soaked in the same solution to clean off the rest of the boots.
• Once the liners have soaked, rinse them thoroughly in clean water. Do not worry if they still smell of vinegar after rinsing, that smell will disappear as they dry.
• Reshape the liners and leave them on a towel to dry thoroughly in a warm room.

Keep the Bacteria at Bay

The cleaning will have dealt with the majority of the bacteria, and so the liners will smell much more sweetly now. The next step is try to prevent the bacteria taking hold again:

• Spray the liners with an odour spray such as Febreeze or Odour Eater. Office cleaner suppliers are usually a good source for these kind s of products.
• Make an insert that you can use between sessions on the slopes. Baking soda and Coffee Grounds are ideal for this. Fill and old pair of socks with a mix of the soda and coffee, and tie them off to make a pouch, and put them into the boots when they're not in use.

Prevention

The best solution is to dry the boots thoroughly after each use.

• Get in the habit of bringing the boots in to a warm dry room and removing the liners to allow them to air, rather than putting them away wet.
• Once they are dry, spray the liners with an odour control spray, and drop in the sock pouches described above.

These simple cleaning tips will make your boots much more pleasant to put on and wear, and who knows, you may even find other people want to join you on the slopes again!

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Source by Jerry Saddington