Burton Hail Review And Buying Advice

Burton Hail 2014 - 2010 Review by The Good Ride

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The Burton Hail has been around for a while and is well liked.  It’s a soft, long-lasting freestyle boot that is great everywhere from the Jib park to even all mountain freestyle adventures around the mountain.  The 2013 and 2014 Burton Hail is set up with what they call an auto cant which is a great thing and makes it easy on the body.

Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews.  No one is perfect and we do make money from the “Where To Buy” links below, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective.

Burton Hail 2014 Review

The Burton Hail is the only boot in the softer freestyle to all mountain freestyle world that offers up what Burton calls Auto-Cant. What this means is the boot rolls in easier than most boots so it’s easier on your knees, ankles, and hips. This auto cant is subtle but effective and still works well with other canted bindings.

James’ Foot Specs
Foot Size: Right 9 and Left 8.75
Foot Width: Right and Left between a D/E
Arch Length: Right 9.5 and Left 9
Calves (Widest Point): 17”
Calves (At top of boot): 12”

Regarding Reduced Footprint: Burton’s footprint is almost a full size smaller on the outside but the same size on the inside. So a size 10 boot is still a size 10 on the inside but more like a size 9 on the outside.  This really reduces toe drag and Burton is the best in the industry when it comes to this. The warmth and feel of the ride are unaffected and all you have is a bootless likely to catch the snow on a hard turn or in steep terrain.  This is great for those that have big feet, ride narrower boards, or are in between the board and binding sizing.

Approximate Weight: The size 9 Hail weighs in at 2lbs per boot and 4lbs for the pair.

Fit: A size 9 boot Fit’s my size 9 feet perfectly.

Flex: The flex is very forgiving and moderately easy. It borders on medium and makes for a pretty balanced in and out of the park kind of ride.

Comfort: The Burton Hail 2014 has a lot of comfort going on and it’s pretty good even at Day 1.  After a few days, it should be as comfortable as it will be after 30.  Burton makes incredibly comfortable boots for most feet.

Heel Hold: Burton has pretty good heel hold but it’s not the industry leader.  For most of us, the heel hold is fine but if you need lots of grip around the ankle BOA might be better.

Adjustability: This Burton lacing system is traditional for even traditional lace. Many boots these days have locking systems at each rung but these have rungs that make it easier to pull it all tight easy. If you know how to do a mountaineers knot at the ankle you can have separate upper and lower adjustability.  Needless to say, Traditional lace is more work than Speed Lace and BOA but some like the ability to control each rung and like the ability to be able to replace a lace quickly if it breaks which you can’t do as easily with Speed Lace and it’s even more difficult with BOA.

Flex Retention: The Hail keeps it’s original flex rather well thanks to the articulating cuff that is very similar to the Burton SLX.  It’s one of the better boots for people who ride many days a year on.

Response: Pretty middle ground response that allows you to have some freestyle freedom but it will also allow you to lay into a carve rather well.

Traction: The Traction of the Burton Hail is pretty good in all conditions.

Shock Absorption:  The Burton Hail has a thinner footbed than Burton boots of old but it still has really good shock absorption and paired up with a good shock absorbing bindings like the Malavita or Genesis you will find that bad/flat landing will be better than most setups out there.