Snowy Sunday project: Heat molding my 32 Forecasts

Nothing to it.

A $40 heat gun, some cardboard tube, a thermocouple, an hour and a half, and three beers. I was going to take my boots to the nearest Zumiez today, and simply take the path of least resistance. I'm sure the heater that 32 gives it's distributors does a fantastic job of heating their liners. Unfortunately, I called them and their sales representative chirpily informed me that while they sold 32s they 'don't do heat molding', and none of their locations do heat molding, sorry. Which didn't seem plausible, but after saying 'Really?' and 'Are you sure?' in an incredulous voice a couple of times, I gave up. Hell, I have a heat source and a basic knowledge of thermodynamics. Who doesn't?

The key was ducting the hot air into the toe of the boot. I used a handy 1.5 inch cardboard tube that had a previous life as the center of a roll of wrapping paper. If you just blow heat into the top of the boot, you won't get good airflow through the liner, and the heat just stratifies in the top of the boot. You need to get the air down into the toe, and then it will heat the rest of the liner as it flows out of the boot. I heat soaked the liner at about 220F for 15 minutes. I cut a notch in the tube about 6 inches from the end so it would bend a little more gracefully.


Not the most elegant solution, but cardboard is a very poor conductor, and I wasn't worried about the tube singing the liner. Ultimately it worked very well.

I simply can't believe the level of fit I have now. I'll have to actually ride it, but it feels incredible. I could barely get my feet into the boots prior to treating them.

Preview: ThirtyTwo Forecast

Well, one part of my softboot carving setup is here. The ThirtyTwo Forecast is supposed to be one of the stiffest soft boots ever made. Unfortunately, ThirtyTwo discontinued it in 2008. It's still possible to find old stock on the internet, but it's slowly disappearing.

From the looks of the current ThirtyTwo line, the Circuit Boa appears to be picking up the torch. A Dual zone Boa system plus a very stiff boot has to be the ultimate in support - but good luck finding these boots for less than three hundred dollars. My 2007 Forecasts set me back $136, which strikes me as quite reasonable for a boot that lists for $229.

These are very serious boots. They are every bit as stiff as I expected, and then some. Recco reflectors on the tongues are a nice touch that's apparently missing from the 2008 version of the boot. The heat moldable liner is held in place with an internal lacing system that holds it against the back of the boot, instead of being integrated with the liner.

Once I actually ride these, I can post a proper review. In the meantime, I can start thinking about the other parts of my softboot carving setup. Don't you just love to daydream about gear? No? I guess it's just me.