PSM

Good info. Which one of the the required the most effort?  And like you said, once you ride the RS-1, a comparison of the 4 would be really interesting.

Shoot me an email if you get minute, Roger. Address is pls4ms (at) aol (dot) com. Thanks.

A friend of mine spoke to one of the designers of the RS-1 boots, and stated that the system was designed to have the laces run as loose as possible to maintain the safety as engineered. He mentioed just "wrapping them around the hooks", and not even cinching the plastic clips down at all. He said the performance and control comes from the lateral stiffness and fit of the boot, as opposed to the tightness of the laces. Being a snow-skier, I was always one to run my bindings somewhat tight -- whether it was from the buckles on hardshells, or tight rubber from Wileys. I liked the feeling of stiffness and support. So the idea of running my RS-1's that loose was somewhat discomforting. However, after about 2 weeks of skiing them this loose, my buoy count has maintained and my skiing feels fine. There was definitely an adjustment period, but after a bad fracture in traditional hardshells, I was willing to give it a try for safety purporses. Currently, I can no longer get my foot in and out of rubber boots due to the previous injury, and the other hardshells systems were'n't working for one reason or another, so the RS-1's seemed to be my only personal option at this point. Grandted I haven't taken a bad fall yet to test the release (hopefully I don't have to), but so far the boots have worked for me. Keep in mind when I say loose, I mean my boots are to a point where I can pull my foot (and liner) out standing on the dock without touching the ski. Some may not be able to live with that feeling, but it seems to be working for me.

Thank you for the responses. I've seem to alleviate the problem by wrapping my big toe with 2 pieces of duct tape before skiing. If I protect the end of the nail, and then around the cuticle, it seems to provides relief. It doesn't appear to be an issue with shell volume, more so just the liner just being snug and irritating for my particular toe and nail shape. A minor problem for me, but not enough to affect my satisfaction with the boot system. They really ski amazing. Thanks again.

After a couple of weeks of use, I'm still struggling with toe discomfort on my front foot (big toe).  I've heat molded the liners 3 times, each with more "toe caps" and stuffing to try and "pack out" that area for relief. My shoe size is a 10.5 normally, so I purchased the 11 RS-1's. The rear boot feels great.  Has anyone experieced similar, and if so, any ideas for remedy? Maybe I just need to "suck-it-up", and the pain will go away eventually?  It's right where the nail meets the skin (cuticle) on the medial side of the big toe. But it's not an in-grown toe nail.

Question for all of the RS-1 users: do you get your boots, feet, or both wet before trying to slide in the first set? Or just go dry? We're playing around with a set, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to get in and out. For out, it just seems like loosening the bungy and pulling foot and liner out is the way to go. Thanks.

Yes. On my Diablos, there were several holes in a few differnet locations. It seemed to happen from where the rivets and hardware were from the shell constructions. I'd bet pads in those areas would help.