Intuition Power Wrap Liner

my boot fitter set me up in an intuition wrap liner several years ago.    To be honest I have a few problems with this.  I used them in my head world cup ski boots.  That is a pretty stiff performance boot as it is, which made the liner  difficult to place inside the shell as well as pulling it out.   I also found it hard for me to get my foot in and out.  The wrap is particularly annoying as its easy to wrap incorrectly around the foot and get pinched in the shell.  As for being warmer than most liners, I dont buy it.  My feet froze like ice cubes with these.  Also since the liner is basically the same thickness and material through and through, I found little support in the tongue.  Its simply too mushy, unlike a liner with a tongue where you can build a thick and stiffer tongue yet have a softer material for the rest of it.  Example is my head raptor liners.  Very beefy tongue, lots of material behind the cuff to help shape to your leg, yet very thin leather for the rest of it.  I can actually wear a real sock with my head factory liner.  I could never do that with my intuitions. 

 

The other thing is the first half dozen or more days were miserable in the intuitions.  The heat molding is a lie.  Yes it initially shapes to your foot, but in truth I had to ski the heck out of it to break it in.  Ive had them reshaped once and still had to ski them some. 

 

As negative as this experience is for me, I do not disregard them for others.  They did control my foot well. They seem to have alot of control in rotary movements.  I dont do that much but maybe for others this is a big deal.  They are very light and they were easy to try out.  As many said, they seem durable.  I sense these may never wear out.  Also I only wore one model of intuitions.  they even have tongue based liners now which I would be more adept to using. 

 

For alpine skiing Right now I will choose factory liners.  These were a waste of 170 dollars.  Maybe for touring or liners for hiking boots they would work great.  Only experience will tell.

 

I first bought a pair of test overlap liners (precursors to the current plug liner, with similar 9mm high density foam) about six or seven years ago and it made a world of difference to my feet.  I also have a set of the current Power Wrap Plug liners in a different pair of 190 flex Lange RL1 World Cup plug boots.

I have crazy feet. Very high arches, one foot a 10.5 and other a 9.5, Morton's toe, wide flair at the toes, and the obligatory '6th toe' bump at the 5th metatarsal.  My boots have always required lots of work and blowing out of both shell's and stretching of the left shell (I buy shells to fit my small foot, then bump the heel pocket back slightly in the shell and bump out the toe box slightly).  Despite this, I've never been able to get a boot to fit me comfortably for any length of time, and unbuckling my boots in the lift line was always standard operating procedure.

Getting the Intuition liners solved all my problems.  I still need to get my shells worked on, but with the Intuitions inside they now fit like a perfectly fitted glove and are far warmer as well.  On occasion I have needed to have them re-heated and re-fit due to a detached achilles and the large bump the surgery left on my left heel where they re-attached it, and re-fitting solved the problem (no charge by the shop).  I have had one liner re-heated three times and the plug liner redone twice.

When getting fit for the liners it is very important that they use a neoprene cap over your forefoot and toes, as this creates a bit more 'wiggle room' for the piggies, as well a bit of extra space for the common 5th metatarsal bump.

The plug liner is very thin and firm, but if heated long enough and then clamped as tight as you can into the boot during the cooling process, it will conform perfectly to your foot and be perfectly comfortable (although definitely not plush).  I find I only need my buckles tightened very slightly to get my foot perfectly snugged into the boot, with no movement, and at this setting I can ski for a couple of hours without feeling the need to loosen the boot (unlike the couple of 'minutes' I could ski before I got the liners).

There are other similar custom liners out there, but I have no experience with them so can't comment on the comparison.  All I can say is that for someone with extremely challenging feet, I couldn't be happier.