Rear Boot/rtp shimming

[bdh1974]

How goes it all. I dont really post but follow the forum. I am from Australia & have a question I hope one of you may be able to answer.

 

I broke my leg a few years back in a cycling accident & it has lost 30mm in length due to how bad the break was. I have a simple question, well hope its simple.

 

I have a 2011 Senate C with double Vector boots. My front leg (left) is the shorter leg & was wondering if any one has ever built up the underside of a boots plate to take up some of the discrepancyand if so how did you go about it.

 

If you need to know anymore let me know.

 

Cheers

Brad.

[BraceMaker]

I also have a short front (right) from a broken femur, only 8 mm, I do not use a shim.

 

I rather like a 10 mm lift inside my front hardshell at the heel, although I am still tracking its performace. I couldn't do 30 mm and still fit the boot.

[ForrestGump]

Bob Lapoint has at least a 1/2 inch spacer under his front boot.

[Waternut]

Wow that's a big difference! If you decide to go with a spacer to pick up the difference, let me know. I'm sure I could come up with a lightweight, strong option to go under your foot while not breaking the bank.

[h2oskinats5]

HDPE, High Density Poly Eurethane comes in quarter inch. it is also cheap, light, and easy to cut and grind to custom fit your boots, ski and hole patterns

[BraceMaker]

For a boot what you should look at is Crepe orthopedic soling.

 

HDPEthylene is fairly heavy in the world of 3 cm.

 

http://soletech.com/products/Cloud-EVA.html

 

You're looking at a material that is extremely light, and fairly dimensionally stable. I would of course use bushings to space the material to avoid crush over time. But I also probably would not recommend going much over 1/2" to begin with, you increase the distance off the deck of the ski, which I don't think is a great thing.

[Nando]

Old HO bindings had the front raised about 3/8" higher than the rear. I used sheet nylon to raise my rear binding to match the front. Weight was negligible, it was tough enough to resist crushing, and using longer stainless steel screws worked just fine. I have a friend who broke his femur and lost 2" from one leg. He simply uses a 2 X 6 cut to fit the ski and it seems to work fine (even on jump skis [yes, he broke it jumping and still jumps]).

[Ryno]

@bdh1974 My mum has the same issue as you, though it is her rear foot that has the shorter leg. She bought the thickest RTP she could find (I think it was a Jobe) so it's around 1/2 higher than her front boot.

In your case, having the rear leg longer than the front is probably less of an issue, though if you want to try a spacer I'd cut up a nylon chopping board in the shape of your front plate and get some longer screws so it'll go through both the plate and the chopping board.

 

Where in Australia are you?

[bdh1974]

I do have some EVA that I got from a podiatrist that I will test. Thanks for the info.

 

@Ryno I am up in the Hills District, not far from Windsor. Not getting out as much as I would like considering the river is only 15 min drive away. After breaking my leg, I was away from waterskiing for about 15 years, so for the last couple of summers have just trying to get things running right.