Free on the left. Visually similar with one glaring exception: Hoji Free has a DIN shaped toe while Hoji Pro boasts the much touted and ever reviled Speed Nose.
Side-by-side comparo of the Hoji Pro and Free
“Twins; God’s way of saying one of you is a rough draft.” I’m not sure the human twins I know would appreciate that little meme, or perhaps it is “twin humor” I don’t quite get? In any case, I thought it applied nicely to gear with similar names and designs, and our constant struggle to parse out the differences. In this case Hoji Pro and Hoji Free ski touring boots. Is there a rough draft in the pair? Read on.
First, if there is any endless issue with ski boots, it’s “last width,” that ethereal non-standard way of explicating a boot’s roominess on your foot. Free is noticeably lower volume, both in width and height. In fact, Free has an entire refrigerator less volume, much less than the numbers would indicate. It’s specified as a 102 mm last (verified by Skialper magazine Buyer Guide 2020), while the Pro is listed as either 103 or 103.5 (depending on your source, and measured as 103.5 by Skialper). Let’s be generous, and say the difference is a Godzilla sized 1.5 millimeters, or the width of 15 sheets of average printer paper (yes Virginia, I measured). Or more practically pictured as a boot fitting project: 4 layers of Gorilla tape.
As I’ve said before, much to the revilement of those who I’ll call “lasting fanatics,” any competent boot fitter can make 1.5 mm of extra width go away. With a caveat. “Smallifiying” a boot is much more easily done when you’re not dealing with scads of overall volume. In this case, the Pro is downright tumescent compared to the Free. Conclusions: You’re not going to easily create a roomy fit in the Free, and conversely, you’re making the Pro fit like the Free would be too much work for all but the most committed fit modders. Oh, and yes I did measure the outside width dimensions. Doing so was difficult, due to the decorative moldings on the sides of the scaffo. Best I could get was a difference of 3 millimeters. So lasting fanatics, you will get a lower volume boot with the Free.
Last width: Last size. Free (left) is noticeably lower volume, both in width and height. Yes, boys and girls, we’re talking LAST WIDTH, the subject of at least thirteen million opinions as to boot fitting and performance.
The difference in volume is obvious to the naked eye. Free on the left.
Twins? Not only are the shell toes differently shaped, but Free uses Dynafit’s Quick Step In binding fittings — for compatibility with non-tech binding toes such as Atomic/Salomon Shift. Pro uses Master Step fittings at the toe. Both boots use Master Step at the heel, as the fitting is fastened from the inside of the boot and much stronger than the “classic” style Dynafit heel fitting.
Both boots use Master Step tech fittings at the heel. Delightful.
More here about tech fittings. And here.
On to the less visible differences:
Differences in height as indicated by liners.
Height
The liners might illustrate the height difference best. Free is about a centimeter taller at the rear cuff, including a small riveted spoiler. My impression is the front of the shell cuff is higher as well, but I found that difficult to verify due to the different shape of the scaffos. The liners are markedly different. Free uses a Sidi branded liner that’s noticably denser, and has a velcro attached adjustable tongue. One could of course swap in a softer liner if the boot is too stiff. That’s a nice option to keep in mind. In any case, a slightly taller boot can feel surprisingly more powerful, that little centimeter translating to a significant percentage increase in leverage.
Hoji Free includes an additional cuff spoiler that’s said to increase forward lean to 17 degrees from the Hoji Pro 11 degrees. From my measurements, I think the increase is less but still different enough to yield a boot geometry that “feels more forward.” The spoiler can be removed, but doing so is not user friendly. It would require demolishing a pair of large steel rivets, then re-attaching the power strap. Note that some catalog text and online stores spec the forward lean out at “11/17,” thus making it appear to be adjustable. The Dynafit website, oddly enough, specs it out at 11 degrees in their list of specs, and calls it out at 17 degrees in the body copy, so clearly there is some flawed messaging going on somewhere with this. Adding to the confusion, both the Dynafit website and some etailers list the spoiler as a separate part. Perhaps they’re selling a North American version with the spoiler, and a European version without it? Or they’re selling it so you could install it on a Hoji Pro? The Dynafit website shows the Free _with_ the spoiler. Continued clarification will I hope be forthcoming. (I added this photo and caption after discussion in comments.)
Hoji Lock system is exactly the same on both boots, excepting the orange plastic component.
Overall flex/stiffness
Easy tactile evaluation reveals the Free to be obviously stiffer than the Pro. It appears to use stiffer and perhaps thicker plastic in the scaffo, and the cuff flexes stiffer as well. Where does the Free end up in Lou’s soon to be adopted industry wide flex rating system? “Frickin Stiff.”
Little things
– Free lacks the annoying tab on the end of the power strap, that catches when you totally unbuckle the strap. I’m wondering if Dynafit will change this with the Pro, we be watching.
– Free has sole lugs at the toe area that’ll interact correctly with the AFD of hybrid bindings such as Atomic/Salomon Shift. As the Pro won’t work in those bindings, no basis for comparison here.
– Neither boot has adjustable forward lean. (There is confusion about this, see comments, we will update if/when more information is verified.)
– The Free spoiler will in many cases yield a few degrees more forward lean (depending on the shape of your leg, liner molding, etc. It could be removed for the same 11 degree lean as the Pro, but doing so involves demolishing permanent and substantial steel rivets and re-attaching the power strap.
– Both boots sport thermo mold liners. We would expect nothing less.
Weight, size 28
Hoji Pro: one shell no liner is 1258 grams, liner 250 grams, total 1508 grams
Hoji Free: one shell no liner is 1336 grams, liner 366 grams, total 1702 grams
Conclusions
Boots such as the Hoji Free are heavy, and you’re not going to get the uphill mobility of a full-on dedicated “skimo heritage” touring shoe. But then, nobody is fooling themselves. If your ego can live with only three buckles, this is a “freeride” boot on par with anything else out there. And perhaps it comes out at the top due to the flex of the Hoji Lock.
Lastly, are they twins? Dizygotic, yes. And neither is a rough draft.
Shop for Hoji Free Boots at REI
Shop for Hoji Pro Boots at Cripple Creek Backcountry
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
