The Worst Ski Boots I've Ever Owned

Unfortunately in life sometimes things just don't live up to your expectations. This is very true in purchasing products and services, as all too often the packaging or a product's ads can easily make a product seem to be more than it really is. Besides the actual misleading marketing of the company, occasionally the reviews of other purchasers lead to a misconception of the product, and in the end disappointment.

Possibly the worst product that I've ever spent a considerable amount of money on, and certainly the worst pair of ski boots I've ever purchased were the Full Tilt Seth Morrison Pro Models I purchased in 2011. I bought them and almost immediately began having problems with them. I broke all six of the buckles and was forced to replace all six cables due to a terrible fit. Never before had I been so disappointed in a product that I had spent more than $500 on.

Before I dig into the reasons that I think caused this terrible product failure and disappointment, first a brief history on the boot. Originally popular in the 1980's the Raichle Flexon series of boots was the first ski boot to utilize a "3-piece articulated design". At the time this was considered revolutionary and the company was very successful. This success lasted into the 90's until the company fell upon hard times and was bought out. The company was renamed and the Flexon design was archived and eventually sold. It bounced around from company to company until in 2006 Full Tilt purchased the molds and began manufacturing the old design.

These boots were made to be lighter, cheaper, warmer, more comfortable, and easier to take on and off than the standard 2-piece boot. Ski magazines and reviewers began to rave about the boot and its fantastic design. Finally, in 2012 I broke down and decided to buy a pair for myself. I should have known right away that they were not a good purchase because I had to buy and return three different pairs before I could get a pair that fit correctly. After finally getting boots that fit, I immediately went out for a day on the slopes.

Three-Piece Boot vs. Two-Piece Boot

Unfortunately, I soon discovered other flaws in the boots design. Because of the boots use of cables and adjusting buckles it became very easy for the buckle to become frozen after a day of skiing. Once the buckle froze, it became impossible to adjust and once unbuckled, couldn't be buckled again until it was thawed. This was extremely annoying for me as I like to adjust my boots throughout the day and unbuckle them when I ride the chairlift.

Throughout the remainder of the season, I encountered more problems including broken buckles, cables becoming too loose, uncomfortable footbeds, and a lack of stiffness in the boot. I tried to fix these problems with replacement parts but to no avail. The following season I purchased a new pair of boots that have withstood the past three seasons without needing any more than a few new buckles.

In conclusion, I think it is very interesting how a crowd mentality like the one that led me to purchase a product that wasn't right for me can lead so many people to make poor decisions. This can be related to the book Nudge as this desire to fall in with the herd likely "nudged" me into such a poor purchasing decision.


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