I bought my Vans Boa Switch boots at Board-X in November 2003. They were the last pair on the shelf and were the 2002/2003 model. The word was that they were more comfy that the new version and since I was looking for a pair I snapped them up at their £100 price tag. I had also looked at the Salomon boots and a few others, but really liked the cable lacing idea. Only downer was that they were softback and required some highback Switch bindings making my Switch setup redundant. I bought a pair second hand for £20 and the job was a good-un.
So in Tahoe last year one of my cable laces snapped. Not surprising after about three months of hard use. I went to the nearest board/ski/hire and general snow-clobber shop and they fixed it for me on the spot for around ten dollars.
Now I already had a spare cable that came with the boots, and the Tahoe repair left me with another spare cable from the repair kit they used in the shop. However I still managed to not pack either of those items when I set off for two weeks in Whistler.
Halfway through the holiday as I hopped off a lift I noticed that my back boot was slack and proceeded to tighten the cable. Having twisted the winder a few times I realised that it was actually a broken cable and all I was doing was winding extra cable into the winder.
This, as it turns out was bad. The problem was that more cable had now been wound into the winder than was ever meant to. The whole thing was jammed up, and following the instructions to "pull the excess cable from the winder by hand" was impossible. Since we didn't have a clue as to the internal mechanism and the likelihood of the cable spilling over the spool and jamming around the axle, we didn't know if pulling the cable ends with pliers would help or just tighten the thing more. There was no way to dismantle the unit as it was stitched and sealed in place at the time of manufacture. We spent some time considering the options, and the final decision was that it would be ok to pull with pliers as hard as we could. It worked and it didn't take as much force as we had expected.
With the new lace in place I continued my boarding until the penultimate run of the holidays when the front boot went slack. By now I'd learned my lesson and checked the cable for a break rather than just tighten the thing. Typically I had emptied my pocket the previous night and not repacked my spares kit. With help I continued with a knotted lace and the distinct possibility of shredding the plastic guides in my boot like a cheese slicer. Well they survived the punishment and I went out and bought a few more spares so that the future of these boots is assured for a good while.
Bottom line: I love these boots - best I've ever used - and I love the Boa system. If it seems like a lot of lace snappage then consider that we are talking three laces in 135 days of riding. I've never found a problem with pressure points that some people have and even if I did I think the benefits from the system outweigh any shortcomings (for me). It seems that the winding mechanism is pretty tough and even if jammed, will shrug off a bit of brute-force required to free it. In future I will always make sure I have an emergency lace and associated hex-driver (included in spares packs) with me.
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