I believe in being the "educated and informed" consumer. I myself have experienced (and heard many stories from friends about) problems with even some of the most reputable boot fitters available in this country. This even includes the "skunkworks". I won't get into my issues here or the others I'm aware of because I don't believe that disparaging professionals on a public forum serves any useful purpose.
Yes, you may be able to put yourself in the hands of an expert and come out OK, but the trend is that consumers must watch out for themselves (these days even for your medical care).
Anyhow, so Gary has covered the subject really well already. I'm glad he pointed out a VERY important aspect of shell fitting that almost every boot fitter misses - a shell fit must be done WITH the footbed in the shell. Your footbed (hopefully it's a custom one) changes the shape of your foot (especially in shortening the overall length). Plenty of so-called boot fitters will shell fit, but how many of you have had the fitter actually use your footbed when doing so?
For me the key fit areas are the ankle, heel, and instep (I also prefer a wider toe box so that my toes don't get pinched). It's the shape and alignment of the ankle pockets, width of the heel, and height of the instep that makes or breaks a boot for my feet.
It's also important to understand where in the size distribution for the manufacturer's model lineup, the shell components actually change size. Many times the shell components do not change size between 2 (sometimes 3) given shell sizes (and remember shells are only available in whole sizes, the half size crap is just liner or insole trickery). This means that the same size upper cuff may be used for 2 or 3 shell sizes. I discovered this issue a number of years ago when comparing 3 sizes of Flexon/Full Tilt shells. Nothing changed but the overall length between the 27 and 26 shells, but drop down to the 25 shell and then the rear cuff and tongue were smaller and the shell was significantly narrower, not just shorter. The same holds true for the Head Raptor series - the cuff component is the same in the 25 and 26 shells, but is larger in the 27.
So what does this all mean? It means that you shouldn't get too hung up on the overall length of the shell when shell fitting and really concentrate on the other fit areas. Insist on trying multiple shell sizes. Be sure to try the shell that is definitely too small, but really assess if it is. It's relatively easy to make a plastic shell get some additional length or some additional width. So go small (or don't go at all).
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