A boot-type orthopedic or sports footwear usable for controlled walking with stiffening for the lower extremities of legs, comprises: a sole provided with a substantially vertical rear positioning element; a first pair of rear half-hulls, each of which is hinged onto the sole and which cover, when in the closed position, an ankle and part of the lower portion of a leg, i.e. the calcaneal-tibial-tarsal zone, of an individual who is wearing the footwear; a second pair of front half-hulls, each of which is hinged onto the sole and which cover, when in the closed position, at least an upper part of a foot of the individual who is wearing the footwear.

A boot includes a boot shell having first and second side portions each including eyelets defined in an instep region thereof and a respective opening through at least one the first side portion in proximity of the eyelets. The boot also includes a band having a first end portion received in the boot shell and attached to the boot shell at or adjacent the second side portion. The band extends across an interior of the boot shell and is slidingly received through the opening defined in the first side portion so as to have an opposed second end portion extending outside of the boot shell. The second end portion the band defines an aperture for receiving a lace. An opposed second band may be provided, with the bands crossing each other. The boot may be a skate boot. A method of manufacturing a boot is also discussed.

An exoskeletal boot is provided. The exoskeletal boot can have a walking boot and a boot frame. The boot frame can be formed to receive the walking boot. The walking boot can be secured within the boot frame via one or more buckles. The walking boot can have an externally mounted tongue that can be tensioned via the use of one or more laces and associated tensioning mechanisms. The tongue can be molded to conform to a user's foot and leg while the tensioning mechanisms secure the user's foot and leg within the walking boot. In some embodiments, the boot frame has an open heel to capture the walking boot. In some other embodiments, the boot frame has a rotatable heel configured to pivot away from the toe and receive a heel of the walking boot for easy coupling of the walking boot to the boot frame.

The inventive subject matter shown and described is directed to an item of footwear with a tensioning system, comprising: a shell for enclosing a foot and at least a portion of a lower leg; a pair of opposing edges generally aligned along the top of foot portion of the shell and/or a front lower leg portion, the edges generally aligning with a longitudinal axis of the foot and/or lower leg, the opposing edges defining opposite sides of the shell; a foot retraction system comprising a tension path and at least two anchor points disposed along the path on the opposite sides of the shell and supporting at least one tensionable cable section disposed along the path, at least one anchor point comprising a tensioning mechanism, the tensioning mechanism allowing for adjustable tensioning of the cable section, the anchor points being arranged on opposite sides of the shell that support the edges, at least one being on a lateral or medial side of a boot and not on the top of the foot and front of the lower leg, so that tensioning of the cable causes the opposing edges to converge together. The inventive subject matter is particularly suitable for use in boots for snow and skating sports or any other such sport where sliding movement of the foot or leg relative to the item of footwear is undesirable and where secure coupling of the item to the foot and leg facilitates transfer of power to a board, ski, skate blade, set of skate wheels, etc., that is coupled to the item.

Sports shoe configured to cooperate alternately with a first binding type and a second binding type, these bindings each enabling the rotation of the shoe about a transverse axis, the shoe comprising a sole provided with: a first element for connecting with the first binding type, the first connecting element comprising a guide member, in the form of a metal bar, the guide member including a free length capable of interacting with the first binding type; and a second element for connecting with the second binding type, the second connecting element including interfaces, in an area of the front lateral and medial edges, respectively, of the sole assembly. The sports shoe further including either the first and second connecting elements forming a unitary part, or the first and second connecting elements being two separate components assembled directly to one another along a common contact surface.

A hard-shell boot comprises a boot liner and an outer shell having an accommodation space for accommodating and positioning the boot liner. Two sides of a top portion of the outer shell respectively have a first flank portion vertically penetrated by a first-through-hole and a second flank portion vertically penetrated by a second-through-hole. A connecting member comprises an inner-blocking-piece located in an inner side of the top portion of the outer shell and an outer-blocking-piece. One end and the other end of the inner-blocking-piece respectively have a first-engaging-portion connected to one end of the outer-blocking-piece by passing upward through the first-through-hole and a second-engaging-portion connected to the other end of the outer-blocking-piece by passing upward through the second-through-hole. Thus, the width and size of the hard-shell boot can be adjusted simultaneously to facilitate the use of users with different foot widths and sizes.