Nitro Sentinel BOA Review

Hello and welcome to my Nitro Sentinel BOA review.

In this review I will take a look at the Sentinel Boa as freestyle snowboard boots.

As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Sentinel Boa a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how they compare with other freestyle boots.

Overall Rating

Boots: Nitro Sentinel BOA

Price: $289 (USD recommended retail)

Style: Freestyle

Other Uses: All-Mountain

Flex Rating: Medium (5/10)

Flex Feel: Medium-Soft (4/10)

Rating Score: 82.8/100

Compared to other Freestyle Boots

Out of the 26 freestyle boots that I rated:

Overview of the Sentinel Boa’s Specs

Check out the tables for the Sentinel Boa’s specs and available sizes.

Specs

Who are the Sentinel Boa Most Suited to?

The Sentinel BOA are best suited to creative freestyle riders wanting a softer flexing boot or for beginner riders or casual riders looking for something easy going and forgiving. 

Also suits smaller sized riders who find mid flexing boots too stiff and just want an easy going boot that doesn't require too much force to be applied to it. 

Not ideal for a bigger rider, especially if you're looking to carve/bomb. 

The Sentinel Boa in More Detail

Bindings angles: +15/-15

Board Demoed With: YES Greats

Bindings Demoed With: Union Falcor

Rider Height: 6'0"

Rider Weight: 180lbs

Outersole Length: 31.1cm (mondo 28cm)

Difference between Mondo & Outersole: 3.1cm

Backstay Height: 11.1" (28.3cm)

Weight: 2lbs 5oz (1060 grams)*

* Average of a sample of around 50 boots I've weighed was 1028g (2lbs 4oz). Heaviest I've weighed were 2lbs 15oz (1320g) and lightest were 1lb 8oz (680g).

Fit

Width: Plenty of room width-wise for both forefoot and sides of toes. I would say mid-wide. 

True to Size?: At first trying on, they felt perfect in the 10. But after riding in them, I felt that they could pack out too much and might have been better for me in the 9.5. My toes were just brushing the ends when I first tried on, but after riding in them a bit, they weren't touching anymore. There was plenty of wiggle room for tops of toes too. They were great in the 10 for my testing, but I feel they might have packed out to a point that the 9.5 would be better. So bordering on running a 1/2 size large. 

Top of foot (instep): Felt a little pressure on top of right foot, which is normal for me and it was nothing major. Got better as I rode in them and would have continued to get better.  

Around Ankles: They felt good around my ankles no pressure there. 

Shock Absorption

They have OK shock absorption. In both the stomp test and the on-snow test, they performed better than the Ride Rook (which I was testing alongside them) but definitely not as good as my control boots (Tactical ADV). Whilst nothing is as good as the Tactical ADV, they also didn't feel as good as some others I was testing around that time. But certainly not terrible in terms of shock/chatter absorption. 

Board Feel

Really good board feel with these boots. Really enjoyed them for buttering, tweaking, doing ollies etc. 

Heel Hold

I had quite a lot of heel lift in these boots. If it's the case that the 9.5 is a better fit for my feet, then sizing down would likely help with this quite a bit. But overall not great heel hold in the boots I tested. 

Responsiveness

They felt similar in terms of slow speed turns to my control boot but maybe not quite as good. For higher speed carves not as good as my control boot. It felt like turns were a little delayed in these - and I think that was largely down to the poor heel hold. 

Adjustability

The Sentinal BOA provide complete separation between the upper and lower sections of the boot's shell. The side boa tightens the bottom 4 cables and front boa does the top 4 cables.

Comfort

All round really comfortable. There was a minor pressure point on the top of my right foot, but that was easing and wouldn't have been an issue. On the lift they weren't overly comfortable with the board hanging off but I think that was largely due to the poor heel hold. 

Reduced Footprint

At 3.1cm over mondo they're relatively bulky in length for their size. However, I suspect that I would get in the 9.5, in which, if they typically fit 1/2 a size down, then that would negate a lot of that bulkiness. 

Sole Quality/Traction

Sole seemed really decent quality and felt they gripped well (though didn't have icy conditions or anything). Slightly deeper than average tread depth and reasonable amount of pattern variety. 

Entry/Exit

Nice and easy to get foot in. Can really open it out, so it's easy to get in and out of. The liner harness isn’t super nice/easy to use, but it’s OK. Outer BOA is double, but front boa doesn’t automatically coil like with most front boas. So that makes it take a bit longer and a bit annoying, when you're used to the automatic coil doing a lot of the work for you. 

Score Breakdown and Final Verdict

The Sentinel BOA were a boot that felt high quality for the price and were really comfortable. There are a lot of good things with this boot, but the poor heel hold I experienced detracted from my experience with them. 

I suspect that the 9.5 would have been a better size for me and if that's the case the heel hold would be improved and that would likely also lead to better response.