Rubber patch on La Sportiva G5

Hey everybody–
I just picked up a new pair of G5s, and I noticed that some sizes (44) had a rubber patch over the outside ankle that is not pictured on Sportiva's site ( sportiva.com/g5.html). Not necessarily a problem, I'm just wondering if anybody knows what it is.

I think it's extra protection from/for the BOA knob which is right under the rubber patch. 

Graham Johnson wrote: I think it's extra protection from/for the BOA knob which is right under the rubber patch. 

That's what I figured. Any idea why some sizes have it and others don't?

If I had to guess,on smaller sizes the zipper will run more to the outside of the boot (zipper stays same size), and there is not enough space for the patch (likely one size of patch). Just something I have noticed across the industry, across size runs, in 1.5 boots with offset zippers.

Also, with different sizes there can be a size-break which denotes whether there is enough pressure on the boat to warrant a patch or not. Extrapolating design to smaller/larger sizes than the prototype (likely sample size 42/38 for m/w respectively) makes all sort of wonky things happen: you are changing distances between components that retain their one size (boa).

Yet another possibility is that someone f'ed up on the first production run for size 44, let's say and a patch was needed to reinforce that area/underlying stich, and instead of remanufacturing it turned out to be cheaper to just add patches to >= 44 for the lifetime of production. I would like to think it's not that but crazier things happen in boot production land.

Alex Styp wrote: If I had to guess,on smaller sizes the zipper will run more to the outside of the boot (zipper stays same size), and there is not enough space for the patch (likely one size of patch). Just something I have noticed across the industry, across size runs, in 1.5 boots with offset zippers.

Also, with different sizes there can be a size-break which denotes whether there is enough pressure on the boat to warrant a patch or not. Extrapolating design to smaller/larger sizes than the prototype (likely sample size 42/38 for m/w respectively) makes all sort of wonky things happen: you are changing distances between components that retain their one size (boa).

Yet another possibility is that someone f'ed up on the first production run for size 44, let's say and a patch was needed to reinforce that area/underlying stich, and instead of remanufacturing it turned out to be cheaper to just add patches to >= 44 for the lifetime of production. I would like to think it's not that but crazier things happen in boot production land.

That makes a lot of sense. Thank you!

The ones with the added rubber are from a newer production run, an in-line update done without updating the product photos, etc. I’d try to get a pair with the update if you’re buying new.