Bumping an old thread, but I just bought these boots from a local shop yesterday (the 2012 model), and even got the liner heat molded and all that shit, not knowing about all the problems.
Should I ask them to take them back and buy a different pair? These are exactly the boots I want (I ski mostly off-piste, but no skinning/touring although)I wanna start hiking more, but I don't want to bust out for a pair of AT specific boots yet. These fit me like a dream too, so I want to keep them, but the shell/strap buckle issues are scary.
How fucked am I gonna be if one of my buckles break while I'm skiing? What about a shell crack?
I'd like to keep the boot if possible (if something fails, I'm sure the shop would take care of it for me, and in the best case scenario replace it with something else).
Or should I not risk it and ask them to take them back? I've not gone skiing in them yet, but I don't know if having had them heat molded is gonna be a deal breaker.