SNOWBOARD BOOT LACES – Traditional, BOA and Quick Lace

In the market for a new pair of shred stick kicks? Or finally investing in your first pair of boots but don’t know what lacing system to go with? Listen up!

It all depends on what you’re after – speed, ability to stay tight, reliability, durability and variable tensions all come into play.

Traditional Lacing – You know, like normal shoe laces. It’s what I ride in because I like the feeling that I can tension my boots by hand to whatever tightness I feel like, whether I’m cruising park or cruising to apres drinks. The downside is they can loosen throughout the day but unless your three years old, tightening them again isn’t that hard. They’re generally cheaper to buy and cheaper to replace but I’ve definitely ripped a few lace eyes out of my boots before making for some seriously creative tightening til I could afford new boots.

BOA System – The lazy person boot lace system. This involves a circular ratchet dial which tightens the cable through your boot as your twist it. I was never really a fan as BOA boots used to always only have one ratchet meaning that I couldn’t really adjust tension in certain areas but now with Double BOA and even Triple BOA Boots, you can have a different tension on the forefoot compared to the front of your shin which is really handy. You can also tighten generally with one hand, with a glove on so no hold ups on the run because you can tighten your boot on the chair. The cable is generally super durable so lasts a fair stint but when they break they are significantly more expensive to fix than a new set of laces. The cable may also cause pressure points so always try boots on before you buy!

Quick-Lace System – These lacing systems literally just have a handle you pull and it locks into a clamp making them super easy to use. There is more often than not two sections of quick pull, meaning the ankle can be tighten separately to the forefoot for personalised comfort. Once you tension the lace they can be wrapped around and tucked away neatly in the boot. However, sometimes people may not have the strength to pull to the desired tension or the lace can come loose from the clamp which will result in the boot loosening dramatically and quickly. For quick pull laces, as they do vary from brand to brand, I recommend the Nitro TLS Lacing Sytem.