Circle One Booties tested

I'm no fan of wearing booties, particularly when it comes to wavesailing, but when it comes to going out in 4 and 5 degrees celcius at this time of year... then there is not much choice but to get rubbered up!

Anyway, my main issue in wave-sailing is that I really want to be able to get out of the straps quickly if I really have to - when I'm jumping, but most importantly when I'm waveriding. Same thing goes for getting twisted and contorted when freesytyling.

The inability to be able to bail from your gear if you have to, can lead to very nasty injuries - and my knee is the victim of such an accident. Not being able to ditch my gear from a big aerial wipe-out in Kerry years ago, has left me with a crushed meniscus and the need to drive an automatic van, as I have constant pain in my knee, which is aggrivated by using the clutch.

Many boots do the job fine.. but I feel hold me back as they have too much padding and rubber around the sides of the foot... creating too much grip to the board and the footstraps (for my big feet anyway)... and this means I will get my feet stuck.

The 3mm Pryde booties were doing the job great for me, but out of interest I got a pair of the Atan Boots, which are like a bootie that has been dipped in latex, esentially a smoothskin boot.
These were working better, but I found they started to stretch, and because they didnt have any strap to over the top of your foot, I found the heel would contstantly twist, which bugged the hell out of me, and started getting really uncomfortable. Also the smoothskin made them a sticky in the straps.

So Alan gave me a pair of the Split Toe Circle One boots to try out, and I am really impressed. They are basically a neoprene sock, with some kevlar on the sole and slight bit of stick-on Kevlar reinforcing.
The fit is really good, and they are the most flexible I have tried (even at 5mm)
As they are just double lined neoprene, they slip in and out of the straped really easily, and feel quite like being barefoot (in terms of ease of getting in and out). They also have a great strap over the top of the foot, which keep them tight and no movement on the heel or anywhere.
Best of all, I feel as confident as if I was sailing barefoot, which is the most important thing.

Bit of a rambling post.... but as you can tell, I'm suitably impressed!
10 out of 10, I'm keeping these ones!

Oisin.
ir777.

See them in the shop [here]

www.surfdock.ie