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ION Ballistic Boots Shaft too stretchy

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NEkitesurfing
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ION Ballistic Boots Shaft too stretchy

Postby NEkitesurfing » Sat Jan 19, 2019 3:12 pm

On my ION Ballistic Boots 3/2 IS the shaft material, ION calls it "hot stuff", is way to stretchy for my feet. That means that water can easily blow up the shaft to the double volume and that my feet can move up inside the boot. The only reason why I'm not loosing the boots when they are filled with water is the tightened ankle strap. But that is not very comfortable and too much water inside is the reason for cold feet.
In my opinion the boots are designed perfectly for trying them in dry conditions in a shop. Because of the very thin and extremely stretching shaft it is very easy to get the feet in and out. But hey, I wanted to use them in the water and not on a catwalk. By the way the shaft seams inside are not stretchy at all and very abrasive.
I wrote this to ION and got the reply that I have to buy one size smaller. That is the third pair of ION-Boots I bought and I had always the same size and not a problem. A friend of mine has one size smaller and I could try them in the water. Because one size smaller is definitely too short for my feet I felt pain right from the beginning in my toes and they are blowing up with water inside almost the same. Normally I wear my boots below the wetsuit to avoid that they fill up with water fast, this way it takes a little longer that water gets inside. On ION pictures they wear the boots over the wetsuit. I have tried this as well and it gets worse!
The Balistic Boots are so stretchy that I can wear easily my old ATAN boots inside (see pictures). Because of the internal split toe I had to cut them in this area.
Anybody else has the same problem and if yes what is your solution?
Which neoprene boots are less wide? I like a tight fit around my feet.
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Re: ION Ballistic Boots Shaft too stretchy

Postby iriejohn » Sat Jan 19, 2019 3:59 pm

I wear Atan Mistral 3mm boots in winter without any problems, what's wrong with your Atan boots?

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Re: ION Ballistic Boots Shaft too stretchy

Postby mr-markus » Sat Jan 19, 2019 4:08 pm

Had some ION's in the past and they were a pain in the **s!
Even my wetsuit torned in pieces after 6 times of use.
Had the Atan's also for 2 winter seasons and they are fine.
Buy some C-skins or Patagonia boots, def. worth the investment. Got me the C-skins now and no more cold feet and snugg fit.
Cheers

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Re: ION Ballistic Boots Shaft too stretchy

Postby Slappysan » Sat Jan 19, 2019 9:44 pm

I wear Xcel 7mm DryLock booties all winter. I tuck them under my suit and I wear ankle straps. When I take them off after a 2 hour session my feet are still dry.

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Re: ION Ballistic Boots Shaft too stretchy

Postby Da Yoda » Sat Jan 19, 2019 10:00 pm

NEkitesurfing wrote:
Sat Jan 19, 2019 3:12 pm
Which neoprene boots are less wide? I like a tight fit around my feet.
I've found the NPSurf and Prolimit boots are narrow fitting. YMMV
Another option is a custom moldable boot...
https://soliteboots.com/pages/solite-boots-tech

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Re: ION Ballistic Boots Shaft too stretchy

Postby Foil » Sun Jan 20, 2019 3:34 am

for only £12 a pair, I swear by the great 3mm booties I get from good and cheap Decathlon,

Very soft and close fitting with grippy thin sole,thin soft rubber sides that lasts and lasts, they easily slip into foot straps without snagging and give great feel on the board,
(they are still thin enough so you feel all the sharp stones on the beach, not the sort of booty that numbs all feeling which are rubbish to use)

They call them dive boots link- https://www.decathlon.co.uk/scd-100-3mm ... 31593.html
as they have a little rubber bar at the back of the heel to allow dive flippers to fit better as flippers have a strap round the back of the heel, what this translates to is the booties are slim fitting all over with a great little finger grip at the back allowing me to quite easily tug the boot free after a session,
as when wet, the suction to the foot is so strong that without this little step thing at the back it would be hard to get them off with out getting cramp in my ribs on a cold day.
I take a size smaller than normal day wear shoes to ensure no water flushes in, and this eliminates foot movement when under pressure, ankle straps are not needed as the neoprene ankle cuff does a great job.a side benefit of a good sealed fit is absolutely no fine sand ever enters the boot.
I use these booties summer and winter, even when I use my shorty wet suit, and still water never flushes through the boot, or rips it off in a epic wipe out,
I have lost other expensive booties a few times in the past after a big wipe out or fast body dragging back to my board.

They are fantastic value, I have many pairs so never worry about if they are in my kit box in the car.
they do need a good hot flush out after every session as they really don't self flush when being worn and will stink orrible after a few sessions.

Decathlon don't have these on the shelf at the moment as its snow ski season, but they are available to order on line as I did last week for 2 pairs of replacements, for my old holiday sets, £24 for 2 sets of bootys that really work better than all the expensive other less able rubbish I have used over the years.
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/scd-100-3mm ... 31593.html

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Re: ION Ballistic Boots Shaft too stretchy

Postby alford » Tue Jan 22, 2019 3:33 am

I had a burrito tonight that was sub par. The tortilla was burned and the beef was too salty. They call this stuff Tex Mex. Has anyone else had this issue? I had to cut the burnt crust away. I like my burritos wrapped tighter and not to crispy. Where can I find a burrito like this?
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Re: ION Ballistic Boots Shaft too stretchy

Postby Dan-at-Duotone » Tue Jan 22, 2019 6:26 pm

Really sorry you're not happy with your booties, but just a thought... The Ballistic boots are our most expensive booty specifically BECAUSE we use super stretchy rubber with the super stretchy hot-stuff liner. I wear these boots personally in cold water for both surfing and kiting, tighten the footstrap and tuck them under the suit and they keep my feet warm and dry and comfortable, but if I get rinsed really badly (or if I don't tuck them in and get dragged, filling the boots with water) they will definitely stretch out a ton with the water because of that stretchy rubber.

Cheaper material will A. Stretch less and B. Last longer. Instead of getting a smaller size of the same boot I'd recommend you get something from our Magma or Plasma line. They will be cheaper, stiffer, and probably last longer.

If looking at other brands I'd recommend trying them on... We use two lasts in our line, a roundtoe and a standard. The boots you own use the standard last with the internal split, so the rest of our non-roundtoe boots will fit exactly the same. Other brands use different lasts so I'd recommend trying them on, but the same thing generally holds true across brands: Expensive models will be very flexible and probably will fail sooner, cheap models will hold to that last (foot) shape very firmly because of the less flexible rubber, but will generally be more impervious to fingernails/ripping.

The same thing is largely true with wetsuits... when I get rinsed in a high-end suit the legs billow out like crazy. I'm also able to easily layer one mil tops, shorts, vests etc underneath them. They also usually last a year at the most. The super cheap suits that schools use often last for years of hard use, the legs barely acknowledge a flush, but layering with them is pretty much impossible and they significantly reduce mobility/comfort.

Feel free to PM me if you have more questions.

-Dan

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Re: ION Ballistic Boots Shaft too stretchy

Postby alford » Tue Jan 22, 2019 7:13 pm

alford wrote:
Tue Jan 22, 2019 3:33 am
I had a burrito tonight that was sub par. The tortilla was burned and the beef was too salty. They call this stuff Tex Mex. Has anyone else had this issue? I had to cut the burnt crust away. I like my burritos wrapped tighter and not too crispy. Where can I find a burrito like this?

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Re: ION Ballistic Boots Shaft too stretchy

Postby NEkitesurfing » Tue Jan 22, 2019 9:35 pm

Hi Dan, thank you for your explanation. Wetsuits should be as elastic as possible to allow every body movement and should keep the body warm, boots should allow every foot movement and should keep the foot warm but they must avoid that the foot can slide around inside. For what reason do you use the super stretchy hot stuff material for the shaft over the instep on one hand and add a totally non stretchy velcro? A snug fit is important to avoid sliding around inside and get as close to the bare foot feeling as possible and this cannot be achieved by a super stretchy material in the instep and the velcro alone. I bought your premium model because I had expected to get the best possible function. I will try some of the other burritos reccommend above but without beef.


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