Hello and welcome to my review of the Nike Women’s Vapen snowboard boots.
In this review I will be assessing the Vapens as women’s beginner snowboard boots. The Vapens would also be great all-mountain boots but in this case I am reviewing them specifically as beginner boots.
As is tradition here at SnowboardProfiles.com the Vapens will be given a score out of 100. Whilst this is not an exact science it should give you a good idea of the performance of the Vapens as beginner boots.
How the Vapens Rated
Boots: Nike Women’s Vapen
Price: $199
Lacing Style: Traditional Lacing
SnowboardingProfiles.com Rating: 82.5/100
That score was enough to make the Vapens the top ranking beginner boots I looked at in my top 5 women’s beginner snowboard boots list.
Perspective of the Vapen’s Score
Out of 24 women’s beginner snowboard boots that I looked at:
- The average score was 72.5/100
- The highest score was 82.5/100 (the Vapens)
- The lowest score was 41.5/100
- The Vapens ranked 1st out of 24 boots
O.k. let’s check out some details.
What the Vapens were Rated On
The Vapens were rated on the following to determine their suitability as beginner boots.
- Flex
- Comfort
- Heel Hold
- Shock Absorption
- Adjustability
- Price
- Entry/Exit
Flex
It’s important that beginner boots have a forgiving flex. This makes them more forgiving of errors and a bit more comfortable for the rider. But you don’t want them to be too soft because you still want some responsiveness out of them.
The Vapens have a medium-soft flex, which, in my opinion, is the ideal flex for beginner boots.
Comfort
Why is comfort so important for a beginner?
Comfort is important for riders of all abilities – no one wants to be uncomfortable or have to cut their day short because of discomfort.
But this is especially important for beginners.
The Vapens are about as comfortable as they get. This comfort comes down to a couple of things.
- Fully heat moldable liner: The liner will conform to the shape of your foot making for a more comfortable fit and less chance for pressure points
- Heat reflective foil in the bottom of the boot to keep things nice and warm in there
- The Vapen’s Phylon midsole footbed with heel cushioning
- A nice soft-medium flex
- Great shock absorption: Imagine standing on a cloud all day vs standing on concrete all day
The most important thing for comfort is that they are a good fit but the Vapens are designed in a way that improve their chances of being a good fit for a wider range of foot shapes.
Check out the video below for more on the Vapens
Heel Hold
As mentioned in the video above, the Vapens work really well to lock down your heel. With a narrow liner that will hold in those heels even for those with thin ankles and heels.
The liner’s lacing system also plays a part in holding the heel in place.
Shock Absorption
With plenty of cushioning in the sole of this boot they will be super comfortable and this also helps to absorb those bumps and any rough snow you might encounter.
Entry/Exit
The lowest scoring part of this boot was for entry/exit.
This isn’t a big deal but it can be nice to be able to get in and out of your boots quickly and easily. However, this is usually case when your boots are uncomfortable and you can’t wait to get them off at the end of the day.
Fortunately, the Vapens are super comfortable so you won’t be dying to take them off.
The main reason they are a bit slow to take off is because they have traditional lacing (as opposed to speed lacing or boa lacing). The advantage of traditional lacing is that you can virtually adjust them to however tight or lose you want them but the downside is that they’re a bit slow to do up and undo.
Also some people find it more difficult to get a really tight fit with traditional laces as compared with the likes of boa boots.
User Reviews
Check out some of the awesome user reviews that the Vapens got at the link below. These reviews were for the 2015 model so they may not be there much longer – will update the link when there are some 2016 reviews.
Breakdown of the Final Score
The table below shows the breakdown of the final score for the Vapens.
| FACTOR | RATING (OUT OF 5) | CONTRIBUTION TO FINAL SCORE |
|---|---|---|
| Flex: | 5.0 | 20/20 |
| Comfort: | 4.5 | 18/20 |
| Heel Hold: | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
| Shock Absorption: | 4.0 | 12/15 |
| Adjustability: | 4.0 | 8/10 |
| Price: | 3.5 | 7/10 |
| Entry/Exit: | 2.0 | 4/10 |
| TOTAL | 82.5/100 |
Current Prices, User Reviews and More Info
Check out the links below to learn more about the Nike Women’s Vapens, some more user reviews and what they are currently priced at.
The 2016 model wasn’t released at the time of writing so the links below are for the 2015 model (which you can get at a decent discount).
Will update the links for when the 2016 model is released.
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