When do you replace your ski equipment?

I was thinking about the £300 jacket in the sale posted a week or two back and wonder how much everyone spends on their ski stuff?

My friends bought new snowboards when we were in Italy earlier this year and I found myself thinking should I be replacing my stuff. Most of it is around 5 years old, I hired some new skis for the day and although they were somewhat better, turning quicker and lighter getting back on my own skis I felt more reassured. They cost me nearly £400 5 years ago and look new, so in the end decided not to.

Same with my boots, £180, they look new so why buy new ones?

I bought a new ski Jacket from Tescos for £16, which is so much lighter then my last one

When I started skiing 8 years ago I thought my equipment would last me lifetime. But this was not the case. Technology develops so why not switch to something new. Boots though if they will right you want to keep longer and don't switch based on price/colour etc. alone. You may want to look for the model with similar fit.

Just retired my favouite Stockli's as they were too thin on the edges, and kept on getting core shots. No idea of the number of weeks use. They were left by our communal bins and were gone next day )

I don't want to think about how much I spend on ski stuff although this season has been quite quiet :(

Buy new kit when .....

1 - old stuff wears out
2 - technical advance offer a better ski experience
3 - one gets bored with present stuff
4 - one just needs a treat

1 - boots bought 1997, been wondering about them for a season or two. Some issues became apparent in January on the first day - bought new that evening.

2 - years of life left in my old Dynastars but a day on carving skis showed me what I was missing. Chucked the old skis away and hired this seasons skis ever since.

3 - ermmmmm :roll: can't think of anything

4 - bought some lovely Hestra gloves after someone on here posted a link to a sale. Total spur of the moment, I'm sure my old ones have several weeks wear left in them.

Lol things like gloves and hats get replaced every time I come back off a trip as I loose them

I am tempted to start hiring but I bought a expensive roller bag last year and had the skis serviced.

I hate buying skis end of season. The ones I bought now I bought them in June, they were sat in the garage until end of January.

Do you just throw away your old skis?

Ebay.
People will buy your old skis and this may be a better bet than the economy hire options.
Boots - well if you've got children with growing feet - recycling their old boots is fine - The postage on Ebay purchases is rarely as much as boot hire - you recoup the purchase price when you sell them on again. Generally less smelly than 3 year old hire boots that have been worn by 25 or 30 different people.

Ski boot liners should be good for anything between 15 and 50 weeks depending on fit and use. If you like the performance of the boots, just replace the liners. The strongest reason to replace ski boots (other than upgrading for ability) is wear to the heels from walking around. This can cause alignment issues, and make the boot/binding interface sloppy. To prevent this, use cat tracks or similar.