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ArjinFerman  Tinfoil Gigachad  1mo ago (text post)   551 thread views

Tinker Tuesday for November 18, 2025

This thread is for anyone working on personal projects to share their progress, and hold themselves somewhat accountable to a group of peers.

Post your project, your progress from last week, and what you hope to accomplish this week.

If you want to be pinged with a reminder asking about your project, let me know, and I'll harass you each week until you cancel the service

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I am attempting to build a pair of ski boots for the Hock.

My starting point? Some Fischer Travers CS ski boots. I've upsized three mondo sizes, ripped out the stock liner, and put a hefty 15mm Intuition liner inside. This was an improvement from the cheap Scarpa Nero liner I'd had during my January 2024 solo of Mt. Washington, NH; I got NFCI in my right big toe then in 0 degrees F and 40mph wind. Fairly modest conditions, at least compared to those I might encounter out on the Hock.

The goal now is to obtain some aerogel Slentite panels or SolarCore aerogel foam and put that on the base of my boot, between the liner and the plastic shell, in order to provide more insulation. I might be able to replace some of the foam in the toes with SolarCore aerogel, although at 32.6 mW/mK it is maybe half again as insulating as something like neoprene or (probably) the closed cell foam that makes up Intuition liners.

Then, I want to make an overboot, which I am calling the Great Unholy Boot or GUB, out of:

  • Aerogel foam panels (if I can get them...y'all got any SolarCore aerogel layin' around?)
  • Neoprene
  • Cordura fabric
  • Apex ClimaShield
  • Coyote fur

This overboot, at least according to ChatGPT, may be able to keep me warm down to very cold temperatures, like 40 degrees below zero.

The first thing to do at this point is:

  1. Attempt to source SolarCore aerogel foam
  2. Build mockup of Slentite panel for professional boot fitting using EVA foam, rubber mats, or other items
  3. Have boots fitted with Slentite panel mockup in.

What is the best way to test these boots, living in the northeast US and therefore not having access to Alaskan or Interior Canadian-level cold? Buckets of dry ice?

Is my plan generally sound? Essentially, I'm using aerogel Slentite panels to provide more insulation than otherwise possible (half again to twice as insulating as a regular foam insole) plus aerogel foam around the boot to provide less bulky warmth.

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Is my plan generally sound?

No.

What is the best way to test these boots

I already told you - put the liner back in and sell them; put the funds towards a (properly sized) pair of these:

https://www.baffin.com/products/3pinm002?variant=8572562702387

Or similar; I think Alfa makes something like them? Either way, you don't need to test them because people have already tested them extensively in actual arctic conditions.

Even putting insulation and sizing aside, tech bindings are quite a bad choice for the trip you are proposing.

Why are tech bindings a bad choice? The Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic is a Hock-like race in which participants often use tech bindings; IIRC Andrew Skurka discussed their use at length and ski mountaineers use them as well. I'm very interested to hear your thoughts on the topic of bindings.

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