Double boots or toe plate

[TheBeeZ]

Do you wear double boots or a toe plate when you slalom ski?

Is there advantage to double boots? What are the down sides?

[Yellowmobius]

I don't ski a lot anymore but when I do it is with a rtp. I had a pair of doube boots, HARD to get into, not that much more support (in my opinion), they make it harder to get up out of the H20 since both feet have to be in the boots.

[BensonWdby]

I fall so often that the idea of having both feet secure concerns me. In 30 years of skiing I have only tried dual boots once and did not care for it all that much. I do not feel that an RTP is compromising my skiing, since my feet normally do not seem to move when I ski. But I rarely ski more than 32mph, normally 15 or 22 off. I think there are even some Pro's that ski with RTP.

The new hard boots with mechanical release bindings (fogman or ski techinque) look interesting, but I think are too expensive.

My 2cts
Dave

[Catdog1]

Went to double boots early last year and really, really have more control of the ski.

Haven't felt at risk for injury in them, even with a bad fall.

May be just naive, though.

[db7]

I've been skiing since I was 12 (I'm 37 now) I learned with a RTP and skied several years with no complaints. When learning I would recommend a RTP as it is easier to get up on being able to drag a foot. When I was about 19 I bought a ski with double boots, and have been using doubles ever since. I currently ski on an HO CDX. Every once in a while I will be without my ski and use someones RTP ski, I definetly miss the security of the double boots. I have had many wipeouts over the years and feel that I would rather have both legs secure to the board than have one leg flipping around in the air while the other is being twisted any which way by the ski.
I compare it to a race car, you wouldnt want to be flying around a track at 100 mph with nothing more than a lap belt holding you in, you need a 5 piont harnes.

Of course this is only my opinion:)

Go to your local ski shop and demo both types. (some shop will let you rent skies for the day and take the rental fee off the purchase if you buy a ski from them)

[jburnside]

67" Connelly Concept with Stoker Plates. I am not an accomplished short line skier (read... I fall A LOT) but I can't imagine being without double boots. It did take a while to learn to get up with both feet fixed. Well worth the extra work in my opinion. I never feel like I'm more injury prone because of the double boots. Just my .02

[BensonWdby]

FYI - Will Asher won the Malibu Open on a Goode with an RTP at 3@41.
I guess it just depends ....
Dave

[Catdog1]

Still like the double.

Did make the mistake of putting it on once while standing in the open bow section, though. Couldn't get out of the boat. Couldn't sit down. Couldn't get the ski off.

Hey Dave, ice gone from your lake now?

[BensonWdby]

Water is still a bit chilly. End of May and Beginning of June were pretty nasty. Lots of rain. My first day out was week before Memorial Day at 6:30 in the morning in the rain and about 58 degrees. Really rung my bell that day.

The rain has let up but the cold is really lingering. Morning lows are still in the low 50's. Wind has been nasty too.. But I did manage to get runs in Sat, Sun, Mon this week.

I am working on changing top hand on my grip so this has been especially interesting year.

Thanks for asking..
Dave

[BensonWdby]

I just acquired Andy Mapple's video and noticed that he also skis with an RTP and soft boot in front.

[zabooda]

I've slalom skiing since I was 9 and now I'm 47 but I never went to a double until 10 years ago mainly because I was always behind under powered boats and get dragged a mile as it was. I went to a HO Mach back then with double boots and will never go back. I weigh about 240 so I ski about 36-38 mph and when I fall in my cuts I just slide. If it appears I'm going for a header then I tuck and roll on my back and my ski never comes out. Ironically, the HO ski I have a buddy had one also and broke his foot in five places. The bindings were new and were too tight at the time. I still use the HO and have replaced the triple wrap with a solid boot now that I have REAL ski boat and a deck to boot. The RTP will still be around and I used to have my rear foot up on the ball of the foot and shift the foot for leverage and sometimes I felt I had better cuts than my double boot.