The Rossignol Hero Heated Boot Bag is a large ski boot bag that warms your ski boots overnight and on the way to the ski hill. Heated ski boot bags warm the hard outer shell on your ski boots just enough to make them a bit more pliable, which makes them super easy to put on. It makes a massive difference.
I used to consider a heated boot bag as a luxury item I didn’t really need, but after I nearly injured myself trying to get my foot into a cold ski boot on a frigid 4°F morning, I reconsidered. I decided to pull the trigger on a heated ski boot bag and never fight with cold boots again. Let’s take a closer look . . . and, like me, you might decide a heated boot bag is actually must-have gear.
Why You Need a Heated Ski Boot Bag
When you slip your foot into a warm boot at the start of the ski day, your foot is far more likely to stay warm throughout the day. In contrast, if you start out with a cold boot, you might never get your feet comfortably warm. That’s me. When I start with cold feet in cold boots, my feet are cold all day long. I don’t like that.
After nearly pulling muscles and straining ligaments and falling down on an icy slick parking lot on that fateful frigid morning, I told myself that my days of fighting into my ski boots were over.
I tried to find the super large double-size Athalon heated boot bag that my ski buddy uses, but alas, it was discontinued years ago. Because I have large ski boots, I decided to go with a large boxy shape that could hold as much gear as a possible.
I bought the Rossignol Hero Heated Boot Bag and have been very pleased. It might even be one of my top ten all-time best gear purchases. It’s that good.
Rossignol Hero Heated Boot Bag Review
The most important feature of the Rossignol Hero Heated Boot Bag is its cube-like size and shape. You get 60 liters of volume, which is large enough to hold large ski boots, gloves, ski pants, a ski jacket shell, and helmet with ease. For reference, I wear size 31 ski boots which are 252mm long.
The rest of the bag is packed with organizational pockets for goggles, ski socks, snacks or whatever. Most people should be able to pack all their core apparel-related ski gear into the Rossignol Hero Heated Boot Bag.
To carry all that, you can wear it like a backpack with the built-in backpack straps or use the removable shoulder strap.
In addition, the top of the bag has an expandable stash pocket. When the sides of the top stash pocket are zipped, it’s suitable for gloves or a light jacket. When you unzip the perimeter of the stash pocket it expands large enough to hold your ski helmet. It’s a great design.
How to Warm Your Boots
The front of the bag has two pockets that hold the temperature controller and plugins. The zippers are labeled. The one labeled “110V” is for your standard North American household or hotel/condo/cabin outlet. The “12/V” option has a plug for your vehicle’s round DC auxiliary power outlet.
*Note: It’s possible that you could find a bag with a 230V option if you’re buying an international bag vs one designed for North America.
Inside the bag, there is a removable heating element that sits at the bottom of the bag. It’s wrapped in nylon fabric and looks like the interior of the bag, but it’s held in place by Velcro and is removable.
You can choose from three temperature settings:
- HOT – up to 167°F
- DRY – up to 140°F
- WARM – up to 113°F
If you have temperature-sensitive orthotics or special insoles, you’ll want to know what temperature will cause problems. For custom-molded ski boots, you may want to play it safe and use the DRY setting vs the HOT setting.
For best results, you’ll want to leave your boots in the ski bag for at least 6 hours — but don’t leave them plugged in longer than 12 hours. I believe the 12-hour time limit recommendation is designed to prolong the life of the heating element — it doesn’t have an auto shutoff. I usually plug them in at night so they’re ready in the morning.
For short drives to the ski hill, you don’t have to plug the 12V connector into your car to maintain heat. For longer drives, you can plug it in to maintain warmth. Note: If you leave it plugged into a vehicle that’s not running but maintains a live outlet, it can drain your vehicle’s battery. (By the way, if you want the best battery backup jump starter, read The Zeus Portable Jump Starter Review!)
How long does it take the Rossignol Hero Heated Boot Bag to work?
Unfortunately, it’s not a cut-and-dry answer and will depend on the temperature setting you use as well as the size of your boots and the temperature of your boots when they go into the bag. Either way, heated boot bags are slow. The inside of the boot bag will feel warm after an hour, but that heat will take a lot longer to work its way into the plastic of your boot and the liner to make them feel truly warm when you slide your foot in.
My recommendation is to use the boot bag overnight. For less predictable results, plug it in and try to get over 3 hours, which will still be an improvement over typical fully cold boots.
Dries Boots & Gloves, Too!
Another benefit of the Rossignol Hero Heated Boot Bag is that it can dry your wet ski boots as well as your wet gloves or helmet.
Rossignol recommends that you place extra gear lightly around the boots to ensure better airflow for maximum drying efficiency. In my testing, you don’t have to worry too much about placement if you leave it on DRY overnight. I stuff my large mittens, liner gloves, and gaiter in there on top of the boots, along with my buddy’s ski gloves and sometimes a helmet and it all comes out dry in the morning.
If you are going to dry wet gloves or saturated boot liners inside your ski boots, Rossignol recommends that you unzip the top of the bag to leave it slightly open. I’m assuming this will make it easier for water vapor to escape. Even so, the bag is not waterproof — you can see metal vents in a few places on the bag.
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Heated Boot Bag Alternatives & Options
The heated ski boot bag world is surprisingly small. As I started looking for an extra large heated boot bag, I was surprised at how few options there were . . . and also surprised by the low stock. I’m guessing the problem is that you need a high-quality heating element and there doesn’t seem to be many heating element options. In fact, the 2022 Rossignol Hero Heated Boot Bag uses a heating element from Snow Eagle. And Snow Eagle bags and elements seem to be produced by the same factory as the discontinued ‘Hot Gear’ branded bag that was available several years ago. In addition, the red Rossignol Hero Heated Boot Bag looks a lot like some other bags available, like the black Athalon Heated Boot Bag.
What gives? Multiple brands seem to be using the same overseas manufacturer or some of these designs were stolen or they aren’t protected or they can’t be protected or they’re properly licensed.
All of these possibilities led to why I chose the Rossignol Hero Heated Boot Bag. Rossignol is a large and respected ski gear company, and I trust they have their supply chains properly sorted.
However, if I had not found the Rossignol Hero Heated Boot Bag in stock, I would have purchased the Athalon Heated Boot Bag that is sold directly by Amazon.com. My buddy has used his previous Athalon-branded heated boot bag for years without any trouble, and the version sold by Amazon seems exactly like the Rossignol Hero Heated Boot Bag.
The Verdict
If you’ve never experienced easily slipping your feet into warm ski boots, you’ll like it. Better yet, if you struggle with stiff, cold ski boots and cold feet, the Rossignol Hero Heated Boot Bag might become your next must-have gear purchase. All-in-all, the Rossignol Hero Heated Boot Bag is roomy, well-made, has lots of organizational pockets and does what it’s supposed to do: warms and dries your ski boots! Very highly recommended.
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