The 2021/2022 K2 B.F.C. 120 was tested in the men’s All-Mountain Walk wide category by the experts at America's Best Bootfitters, powered by Masterfit.
The Gist
It’s got GripWalk soles and a cuff release called an Apres Mode, so you might guess what sort of skier target K2’s gunning for with the B.F.C. (Built For Comfort), but then it’s released in a military matte black and 120-flex like it means to ski or something. It’s confusing—it touts its Hands-Free entry but still has a traditional polyurethane overlap shell with 4 buckles. Testers had no problem figuring it out—it’s the cushiest, best-skiingest wide load on the market, and has been for a few years, except that now it’s a bit lighter and crisper (can a couch be crisp?) turn to turn.
The Fit
While it’s called a 103mm last, the B.F.C. fits as roomy or more so as any boot on the planet. It was rated the most room of any boot in the test, in every fit parameter we test for: toebox, forefoot, navicular, instep, ankles, heel and calf. It’s big, get it? And soft in terms of its liner feel against the foot and leg. About this bigness and softness, testers said: “Pillows of love,” “Big, cushy, comfy Cadillac,” “The toebox looks like and fits like a C-130,” “Yuge, bigly.” And yet testers say it still manages to hug the foot, in an open way, and approximates the human form, just ins outsized proportions. The calf fit is prodigious to begin with but it is also adjustable to even make it yuger.
Performance
Every year the B.F.C. surprises testers all over again with how well it manages to ski given how big it fits and how cushioned the liner is and how much range of motion the Apres Mode actually offers. Granted, the thicker the testers’ foot and leg, the more they tap into its mojo, but the average score for dynamic balance was a 4.67 and the edge power score was a 5.50—that’s pretty damn good. Of course the convenience and warmth score was a perfect 5.00. Is that a performance score? For this skier it is! Testers did confirm that it will in fact go on without any hands, and it practically leaps onto the foot if you kick at it while its Apres Mode is in the open-mawed-Seymour feed-me position. Stance angles are all neutral and work fine for every tester it seemed.
Cool Features
Testers liked the new Cushfit Pro liner which they said kept all the cushiony goodness of old but seemed to add a little more anatomical shape and hold around the ankles and heel. The calf-adjusting upper cuff adds a major custom fitting bonus for guys with massive steers, not just calves, and top of that the shell is oven-cook-and-wearable just in case this dirigible hanger of a boot isn’t big enough for someone. We didn’t think the Apres Mode actuator could get any easier to use but it is, and testers couldn’t say enough about the 40mm Velcro power strap. No, only kidding, it’s just a power strap.
