UKC

Years ago Mrs Turdus bought a pair of B2 winter boots - Meindl Mountain Crack Lady - because they were a bargain. They've sat in their box for years waiting for her indestructible Sportivas to perish. When she finally put them to use, it quickly, and painfully, became evident that either her feet have spread since she bought them or they were a bad fit in the first place (we did spend ages in the shop). They don't rub, but they're just too tight on the outside of her foot for an inch or two. They're OK without socks. The area which is too tight includes part of the rand.

Is it possible to stretch these boots? I doubt it, partly because I wonder if it will knacker the Goretex.

Any advice much appreciated.

In reply to Turdus torquatus:
You could try pouring boiling water on the area, manually moulding the leather, repeating the boiling water and then wearing them aroun the house.
I had a problem with an early pair of SL's that rubbed my heels as the leather was so hard. I rubbed in lots of hot wax then battered them with a small round ended hammer. They were comfy after that and lasted 15 yrs plus.

In reply to Turdus torquatus:

They look like very sturdy boots to stretch. There is a risk you damage them while attempting to fix them?

An alternative is sell them on ebay or ukc and put the cash towards new ones that fit.

Davey

In reply to Turdus torquatus:

If the bit that's too tight is in the front half of the boot and they're lined throughout, you can cut the insoles in half (or cut and use another pair of insoles if you don't want to chop the originals) and put just the heel halves back in the boot, which eases things out a surprising amount by dropping the foot into the boot. I actually bought my Sportiva Trangos fitted to wear like this with a single pair of socks and might yet do the same to my older Nepals because it's the only way I can get anything to fit with broad forefeet, narrow heels and a bunion stemming from genetically-fused toes on one foot.

In reply to Turdus torquatus:

Take them to your nearest Cotswolds - every store should have a rubbing bar for stretching boots. All they do is heat up the area with some steam and gently force the bar into the area from the inside. It doesn't affect the gore liner (assuming it has one).

In reply to Turdus torquatus:

Not sure whether Meindl are like Scarpa SL which have a plastic toe box. So you can stretch them all you want but they just spring back. With SLs you have to put then in a plastic bag then in a big pan of water which has just boiled and leave them for 5 to 10 mins then carefully stretch. I made up a stretching bar with 1" steel bar set into a big chunk of wood and taped cloth onto the rounded end of the bar which goes into the boot then you pull the boot against it.

To make it easier I used big releasable cable ties since you can pull them to get a bit of pressure. But don't over do it since the toe cap will distort. This even worked a little bit on Vega HA but I had to actually boil them to slightly soften!

I have very wide feet. So have to adjust all boots so it was worthwhile making the above up years ago.

In reply to all:

Thanks all. Some good ideas here, all is not lost. Will try Cotswolds first I think.

In reply to m0unt41n:

Thanks for your help m0unt41n. I'm being a bit thick - can you explain a bit more how you use the cable ties please?

In reply to Turdus torquatus:

I am about to demonstrate that a picture is worth a load of my waffle.

Bar is pocking inside boot with a padded end pressing against the bit that needs stretching. The rest of the bar, the bar is about 40cm long in total, is outside of the boot, where your ankle would be, but has a great big block of wood fixed to it. Turn it upside down so wood block on floor, bar pointing vaguely upwards, boot upside down speared on the bar.

Two long cable ties, they are about 1m long but nearer the 0.4 length of bar when done up, looped around either end of wood block and either end of boot (toe and heel). As you tighten the cable ties it pulls the boot against the bar.

You can get a lot of pressure with cable ties, in fact too much so have to be careful. These are releaseable one o after 10 minutes you can unclip the release and un thread them and then take the boot off the bar.

You should be able to achieve the same by just threading the boot onto the bottom leg of a bar stool and pulling against it or turning upside down and pushing. Its just I made up a Heath Robinson version because I have to do it every time.

If there is not a plastic toe cap then most likely may not need to heat the boot, just stretch it.

Years ago I worked this out when every time I took the boots to be stretched at a cobblers they were OK but then within an hour or so went back to how they were. I rang Scarpa who suggested the pan of boiled water and plastic bag.