Paid Billy Kaplan a visit today to check out the Dodge boots. Thought I'd post my impressions of both the boots and his work here.
The Dodge boots didn't work for my feet, as I kind of expected. I have very narrow and very low instep, low volume feet, and there was just too much volume for me, especially in the forefoot but also in the ankle, even when I went down to a size I couldn't really ski b/c of toe crunch. Oh well, I really like the idea of a carbon boot that's not just way lighter than a plastic plug but also rigid, stable and consistent in flex regardless of weather conditions.
While not the right last for me, the Dodge boots are definitely cool. They are indeed super light -- I had both my Lange plugs and my Dynafit Titan AT boots with me, and the Dodges were lighter than even the Dynafits. The shells are VERY thin. I didn't actually find them that hard to get into, perhaps because I have so little instep, and they were much easier to get out of than my plugs b/c the heel channel helps a lot. They are definitely stiff, but you can flex them. I'm only 165# and usually ski a 140 flex Lange RL12 plug; the Dodge's were stiffer than that but not by a million miles. Anyway, hopefully Dodge will have success and begin to build a narrower last for guys like me. I will definitely try 'em if they do.
As for Billy, great guy who really knows what he's doing. Even though we ruled out the Dodge boots fast, he spent A LOT of time with me analyzing stance, alignment etc and with both the other pairs of boots I had with me. He has all the cool tools and he is very exacting and patient; he wants to get things as right as possible given you aren't on the hill for on-slope analysis. We determined I should have some additional canting done to my boots. I've worked with a few fitters and pedorthics guys over the years, and Billy struck me as the most knowledgeable and the most thorough I've met. Would highly recommned him to anyone in the mid-atlantic area.
--Josh
