There are many reasons to own your own snowboard gear. These are the 10 most obvious ones that came to mind for me.
There might be some cases when renting is better overall, but in my experience a majority of the time, owning your own gear has too many benefits to ignore.
These are the 10 I thought of, but there could be others too, of course.
Reason #1: Snowboard Boots 1
Suitability & Fit: Snowboard boots come in many varieties – difference flex, with different lacing systems and each brand, and in some cases model, of snowboard boot feels a little different. Some will fit you better than others, depending on your foot’s shape.
Some styles of snowboarding are more suited to a softer flexing boot and others to a stiffer flex. Some are better or worse for beginners. Some have good traction in the soles for those that like to do backcountry missions, others have plenty of padding in the soles for those that need extra shock absorption for the park.
If you buy your boots you can control the type of boot you get, the lacing system that you want, and perhaps most importantly how they fit your foot.
>>Learn more about choosing snowboard boots here
Reason #2: Snowboard Boots 2
Consistency: If you own your own snowboard boots, you are wearing the same boots every time you ride. So, you get the same consistent experience every time. This saves you from having to adjust to different boots each time, which helps to speed up your snowboarding progression.
And it means you know you’re going to have a consistently comfortable experience every time too. It can be hit and miss when you’re renting whether you’ll get a comfortable experience or not. In my experience more often than not the comfort is average or just plain uncomfortable.
Reason #3: Snowboard Boots 3
Wearing boots others have been wearing: This will bother some more than others – but when you rent boots, you are inevitably wearing boots that have probably been worn by hundreds of other people. This isn’t a factor if this doesn’t bother you, but if it does, it’s another reason to invest in your own.
Reason #4: Bindings 1
Suitability: Like with boots, there are a lot of different bindings out there, a lot of which will be unsuitable for your snowboarding style and/or your ability level.
When you buy, assuming you do your research properly of course, you can factor these things in and get the bindings that are most suited to you specifically. When you rent you don’t get this luxury.
>>Learn more about choosing snowboard bindings here
Reason #5: Bindings 2
Consistency: Like with boots, if you’re going out with the same bindings every time you ride, you will have a much more consistent experience and won’t have to adjust to new bindings every time you ride.
The other thing is that bindings these days are super adjustable – so you can adjust a lot of different things on them for the best fit for you and your snowboard. When you own your own bindings, you can dial in your setup.
When you rent you either have to just go with how they’re set or you have to set them up every time before you ride, which can be time consuming.
Reason #6: Snowboard 1
Suitability: There are so many different types of snowboards out there – even more so than with boots and bindings – and there are certain snowboards that are going to be a lot more suitable for you than others, depending on how you like to ride, your ability level and your personal specs, like height, weight and boot size.
Buying your own gear means you can do the research and find something that’s really suitable for you, which will speed up your progression and, even more importantly, increase your enjoyment.
>>Learn more about choosing snowboards here
Reason #7: Snowboard 2
Consistency: Again, like with boots and bindings, it can’t be overstated how important a consistent experience is. With different gear, everything feels a little bit different and it takes your brain/body a while to adjust.
When you have the same snowboard every time you ride, your brain/body is already familiar with it and doesn’t take any time to adjust to it – so you can start again where you left off and work on improving your skills – or on hitting that jump better, or adding an extra spin here – or finding that cliff to huck. Whatever you’re looking to do, it works better with a consistent setup.
Reason #8: Other gear
Things like how your helmet fits, how your goggles fit, how your helmet fits with your goggles, how your jacket and pants fit, how waterproof they are, the functionality that they have, etc, can all be controlled when you buy rather than rent.
Reason #9: Convenience/Time
Having all your own gear saves so much time and feels way more convenient. When you can just get out of the car, put your boots, gloves and helmet on, grab your board and walk to the lifts (or get a coffee first), it’s so much quicker than lining up, renting and then having your rental gear get setup.
Reason #10: Style
Whilst I am the first to say, don’t choose your gear based on style, if it’s unsuitable, there are certainly some decisions that are made concerning style. This is particularly the case with outerwear.
If you find a jacket that’s really waterproof, breathable and has all the functionality that you want, but you find it visually unappealing, then you’re probably not going to be that excited by it.
And for things like bindings and boots, they often come in a number of different colorways, so you can choose based on your preference and how they go with the rest of your gear.
Choosing something that’s suitable for your ability level and the way you snowboard should always be the number 1 factor for boards, boots, and bindings – and things like waterproofing should be high on the list for outerwear, but style comes into it and you just don’t get that choice when you rent gear.
Reason #11: Cost
O.k. I know this was only supposed to be a list of 10 things, but there are just too many reasons – but I promise I’ll stop after this one!
Even if you don’t ride that much, buying your own gear will eventually pay for itself and be more cost effective in the long run.
And the more you snowboard, the more it makes financial sense.
Thanks for reading
Those were the reason’s that I could think of off the top of my head, but I’m sure there are others too. There are reason’s for renting sometimes as well, but for most it’s usually a smarter choice to buy.
I know when I first bought, the difference it made astounded me. That was the beginning of my passion towards snowboard gear and the start of my inspiration to start this website.
If you’re not sure how to go about choosing your snowboard gear, check out the links below to get you started with your research.
Hey Nate,
Just a quick note to thank you for your advise here. After trying snowboarding years ago and not sticking with it, I’m back in full force and loving it. I spent significant time doing research and the content that I found here was super valuable. I only rented once and immediately decided to go with my own stuff. 2 hours in a rental line made that an easy decision. Anyway, I went with the Burton process FV, Vans Hi-Standard and Union T-100 bindings. The bindings were the only thing that I purchased that you didn’t recommend for a beginner. But the deal was too good to pass up, so I took a chance. Overall the entire setup has been fantastic. I got started late in the season (mid Feb) So I’ve only been out 4 times, but making really fast progress, already confidently linking skidded turns. Good call on the FV board being catch free, that’s what I was looking for. That rental board had me catching the front edge like a champ. Not so much fun. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
Hi Marc
Thanks for the message. Awesome to hear that you’re enjoying the gear and that you’re making fast progress! T-100 didn’t make my list but certainly still beginner appropriate bindings, so a good choice there anyway. Happy Riding!