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Buy or Keep Renting, That is the Question

3K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  mhaas 
#1 · (Edited)
So here is my dilemma, other than waiting too late to get into snowboarding. I can't decide if I should get my own gear, or just keep renting. My local ski park closes early March depending on weather. Probable mid March seeing we have 6 more weeks of winter and a shit ton of snow. Paying for a couple more trips there and I could own a decent entry level set-up. Shitty thing about that is, I'll only enjoy it for less than a month. UNLESS, I find an opportunity to travel out west during spring break.
If I had my own gear, I could find some decent hills closer to my house and hone in the fundamental skills of boarding without the temptations of just blasting down the “big” hills at the park. I could perfect my balance, learn to switch ride (better), and develop better board control. That way if I did get out west I would be more prepared for the mountains out there. I think I would gain more confidence that way too.
On the other hand, renting seems more appropriate. I can develop all those skills at the ski park of course. But then, I would just see all this snow out my back door go to waste. All those hills that are free, and 5 minutes from my house, calling my name, just wasted away. See the convenience? Paying 70$ a pop at Perfect North and all I'll want to do is blast down the big hills and struggle to keep good posture. Sure I could stick to the bunny hills there, but why pay that much money for that when I have bunny hills in my own back yard?
The more I write this I feel more confident I feel in buying my own gear. What would you guys do? Did any of this make sense? I have a tendency to throw people off in my writings.
 
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#2 ·
I bought my own equipment after 2 days of snowboarding. By that point I knew I would be sticking with it. Of course in my case the late-season sales had started so I paid 50% or less.

Here's a question for you: how much more do you think you'll pay worst case buying now vs renting for the rest of the season. $100? $150? Don't know anything about you, but how significant is that in the grand scheme of your life? Sometimes people get too torqued about absolutely avoiding any possibility of "losing" any amount of money, or making a decision that might be less than 100% optimal. Get over it. Unless the downside will cripple you, go with what will give you the most enjoyment. That's what life is for. The other thing is called "existing".
 
#3 ·
If you're dead set on getting into boarding, awesome for you :laugh: I always just looked at how expensive it is to rent more than a few times and thought 'even if I do buy a really good quality deck, it'll pay itself off in the first season' of course my first board was just a used board I could find for $100 and I still ride it every now and again because it is a lot of fun. So in my opinion I will always advocate getting your own setup earlier on if you can find it cheap and if you're sure you're actually gonna stick with riding.
 
#4 ·
I'm dead set on sticking with this sport. I don't have ALOT of money, so any chance I can get on taking advantage of a descent hill close to me for free, I'll be happy. A rossi board, rossi battle bindings and a red trace helmet will set me back 250.00 plus I'll get a pair of pimp'in new shades whoop whoop. I'll spend that on my 3rd trip to the park. Of course I'll still need boots before I board around home. I can swoop up a pair at the park for free. Which brings me to the most bazaar question yall might ever read. How stupid would it be to snowboard in Muck Boots? I know I wouldn't ride my motorcycle in hiking boots, and wouldnt hike in race boots. I'm guessing the same concept goes with snowboarding? That question doesnt make you guys wanna kick my ass does it lol?
 
#12 ·
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Which brings me to the most bazaar question yall might ever read. How stupid would it be to snowboard in Muck Boots? I know I wouldn't ride my motorcycle in hiking boots, and wouldnt hike in race boots. I'm guessing the same concept goes with snowboarding? That question doesnt make you guys wanna kick my ass does it lol?
That question makes me want to hit you over the head with a snowboard, and then ride you over on your own motorcycle. :dizzy:

I have plenty of good motorcycle gear and do not ride in non-motorcycling boots/jacket, but I would sooner take my motorcycle for a spin in flip flops than go out snowboarding without a proper snowboarding boot. Motorcycle gear is mainly for protection and unless you crash, you may not notice as much difference between a hiking boot and a proper motorcycling one. When you snowboard, the boot plays an important role every single second of your ride. You will hurt yourself in more ways that you think if you attempt to ride in the snow in regular boots, even if you don't wipe out.

I would say get the boots first, then pick up any board and binding you can afford. Make sure to try the boots with the binding, some have a larger outer shell and will not fit in a binding that another boot of the same nominal size will work just fine with.
 
#5 ·
The single biggest advantage for me in terms of buying my own gear was a pair of boots that fit really well. Rental shops usually only stock a couple of styles and only in full sizes. The increased comfort from boots that fit my feet instead of some "average" was worth it alone.
 
#6 ·
By far the most important piece of equipment a snowboarder has is his boots. Without good, proper fitting boots, the best board/binding combo in the world will suck ass.

It'd be kind of like putting some used, bald tires on your bike. Great bike, but sure does suck with those shitty tires, right? Except what you're talking about wouldn't be equivalent to used, bald tires. It'd be like putting wheelbarrow tires on your bike. LOL!
 
#8 ·
You won't want to use non-snowboarding boots in general, but Mucks would be absolutely terrible. They have like zero stiffness and support through the ankle.
 
#13 ·
Yeah, buy used first if you're on a budget. It's like buying a used car, you get the same thing without the new car smell for 30% of the MSRP... Buy your boots new, and don't be cheap about boots! A lot of us here learned in winter boots, I still remember my first pair of ACTUAL snowboarding boots and thinking I'd landed in heaven. When I feel them now they're a wet noodle, but were tons better than riding in walmart winter boots.
 
#15 ·
if you have the money, I would just go ahead and buy the stuff. you will get your money back after just renting for 10 days. besides, you know your own stuff will be perfect fit and clean (nasty rental boots).
I bought mine after going snowboarding for three days. you can buy last years model for less than half of the price for this years.
 
#16 ·
Wow Indy has some pretty decent snow shops. In all honesty the park would provide the best terrain to learn on. Any hill around me, I would be down in the matter of 3 seconds. I would have to release and walk back up the hill. I'd spend the whole day walking up a hill. I don't HAVE to rip down the hill at a park. Then I could get a lift back up. Think I will be buying some 32's. They felt great. I would so much rather be in those boots than rental boots. In reality I'm only going to get a few more runs in this year. More if I had my own board, but ya boots come first. I know yall said go big on boots, but $130 is about as big as I want to go for now. I'll pick up a board closer to March when the prices drop more. Muck boots, what the hell was I thinking.......
 
#19 ·
I don't think you necessarily have to spend big on boots. They just have to be comfortable. Any legitimate snowboarding boot that fits will do they job. I ride 100+ days a year and wear Burton Hail boots that cost me like 109 dollars because they were the previous years model. I had the same boot, and felt that they were comfortable so I bought the same kinda and size.

When buying used, do a search of what they are selling and how much it costs new. People think that snowboarding gear doesn't depreciate in value and try to re sell it for like 15 dollars less than they paid for it 8 years ago. If its more than 1 or 2 years old, you should be paying wayyyy less than original retail.

You could get away with older bindings but your gonna want your board to be newer since they will physically deteriorate faster.
 
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