Need gear advice for big guy

I'd double check your mondo boot size first.  Are your feet really 320mm long?

Donek recently mentioned getting a new press for even wider boards.  I don't have any experience with them, and I know a few people have questioned their quality, but your options are certainly limited.

Check out this one:
https://www.donek.com/product/kona/

@board-doctor my foot is 300 mondo.  So what's a good waist width for learning advanced carving techniques?   I typically ride 12-24 posi-posi.

Mondo 300 is a US12 (don't get US14 snowboard boots).

I'm only mondo 260, and with 24/12 that's basically the minimum width for hardpack. 

My pow boards are 265 to 280WW... the 280 is great in champagne powder, but too much in afternoon chop.

The JJA-C4 is 292 and I've got a fair bit of underhang.  It digs a nice trench in softer snow, but is really too wide for me when it's icy.

So you're probably looking at waist widths of at least 300... eventually up to 330 if you're riding soft snow. 

@board-doctor I'm definitely not a size 12. I only wish I was...  

I did a more careful measurement of my foot and got mondo 30.75

Which I guess puts me at US size 13. That's weird, since most size 13 shoes don't fit my feet.  

So back the question at hand...  sounds like I need a board width of 310 or 320.

But is there a more scientific way to identify board width?  Perhaps by measuring the effective transverse width of the boots+bindings at my stance angles?  

Perhaps James could make a video on how to determine optimum board width emprically by measuring a specific dimension.  That would so helpful for people that want to order a custom board. 

Your snowboard boot size generally isn't your shoe size. Hopefully you can get into a good boot fitter (warning: some shop kids don't know shit), but if not here's a good video:

If you can take out the liners, put your foot in the shell and press your toes up to the front.  People generally like to be able to fit 1 or 2 fingers behind their heel (no more, no less).  Get your boots first, so you know where you're at.  You'll probably want a stiffer flex rating if you're looking at wide boards.

Now board width is even more complicated.  It's the underfoot width that's really important.  This is usually the back foot due to the angles and the taper on the board.  Unforunately with different sidecuts and taper, there isn't a direct relationship to the given waist.

Moreover, different boots have different outer dimensions (footprints) for a given size. If you're getting a custom board, you could get it tailored to the width under your rear foot. But that's also going to depend on how much overhang/underhang you want, which depends how much you tilt your board and even how soft your snow is. 

It's not a simple answer.  I'll even use different boards/widths for different conditions.  For someone starting advanced carving, my rule of thumb would be a waist size that's around your mondo size.  For a custom board, probably less than 1cm of overhang on the heel & toe.  If you're not going to be carving on edge all the time (ie. taking it off-piste), you may not want to go that wide.

Lars doesn't seem to like quite as much width, but he has some great videos:

A while ago I got the Kona specs from Jordan (11.5 boot):

Posted by: @board-doctor

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Moreover, different boots have different outer dimensions (footprints) for a given size. If you're getting a custom board, you could get it tailored to the width under your rear foot. But that's also going to depend on how much overhang/underhang you want, which depends how much you tilt your board and even how soft your snow is. 

I guess it is the "package" as James also mentions in one of his videos.
Binding and boot dimensions are important to minimize boot-out.

I'm at the same height as dicynodont, but "only" size EU45/ Mondo 29.0/ US 11.5

I have the same questions... what board to buy ?
My current All Mountain board, a Ride Concept 160, 250 mm waist is too narrow on soft slopes and too hard to carve on icy/ hard slopes, edge grip is non existing.
I've watched most of James' videos on carving and adapting to this style.
Toe side carves are pretty good on soft slopes, but I'm still struggling to get propper heel side grip/ angle on the board.
I made some canted risers and that helped on the boot-out
I pretty sure my technique can be improved a lot, but I'm also sure a new board would be helpful.
My plan is to keep the old board for powder and very soft conditions and then get a new board for carving on groomed and hard slopes, and man made snow.

Any experience with Kindred boards ?
This one for i.e.?
https://kindredsnowstore.com/collections/snowboards/products/kindred-freecarve?variant=42891946393699

Posted by: @dicynodont

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Sorry for hi-jacking your topic, but I think we have many questions in common 🙂

@carvehard all good to join this thread! The Kindred boards look super interesting. I just emailed them.

@carvehard I don't have any experience with Kindred, but their ProCarve certainly looks rad.  I'd love to try one.  The waist width tops out at 284 though, so I think it's a bit narrow for mondo 290 but it's doable.  The C4-166 might be a better size for you.

Effective edge makes a HUGE difference in your confidence on the heelside.  You really need to drop your hip out over the edge, almost like a "trust fall", so it's reassuring to know that it's going to "catch" you.

Posted by: @dicynodont

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@carvehard all good to join this thread! The Kindred boards look super interesting. I just emailed them.

Thanks, from a fellow surfer (windsurfer)😊 

I don’t think you need a boot full waist width. With the increase width towards the feet, angle of the binding and maybe some risers, I think you will have plenty of boot room. 

let us know what the Kindred answer is…

@carvehard It depends how much overhang/underhang you want.  Boots are often 35mm larger than the insole and you don't really trim that much off with the modest binding angle on the rear foot.  When you get into a larger sidecut radius the tail width doesn't open up as much either.

For a newer carver, it is easier to ride with a bit of overhang as Lars points out in his video.  He said that he has 14mm of overhang on his narrowest all-mountain board (Stranda Descender), and I certainly woudn't want to go larger than that on a CARVING board.

My 260 Vans Verse outer measurement is 293 mm. I think 12deg takes about 6mm off, so the oblique underfoot boot length is about 287mm.

Last spring I really didn't enjoy riding my 164 Stranda Shorty (260W) because there was just WAY too much drag when the snow softened up.  Then I used my 154 Freecarver 6000.  Although the waist is only slightly larger at 267, the tight sidecut opens up to 278 underfoot, so I only had a 4-5 mm of OVERhang.  I think this is actually a pretty versatile amount for me (okay on ice as well as softer snow).

My JJA-C4 is 296mm underfoot, which gives me 4-5 mm of UNDERhang.  I'm really looking forward to some spring laps!

Note that I've increased the waist width by 25mm (292 vs 267), but the underfoot width only increased by 18mm (296 vs 278), due to the 12m vs 6m SCR.

If anyone's talking to the Kindred guy, I would be interested in what the rear underfoot width is on the ProCarve.

Donek has a video here, along with a template that you can print, to do some measurements with your current setup:

The template has different board angles, which would be useful if you're not riding steeps and getting close to 90 degrees.  For freeride/carving he's got it at 70 degrees.