Bishop BMF or 22 Designs Outlaw

[Leukass]

Liking to get a set of step in bindings and trying to decide between the Bishop BMF and the 22 Designs Outlaw - has anyone skied either or both of them?

[EvanTrem]

I'm interested to see if anyone puts up a review of the Bishop BMF. I started skiing on Bishop Bombers last season and I absolutely love them.

[Johnny]

They are both very nice bindings... You can read my Outlaw review right here... After 3 seasons of testing the Outlaws, I personally much prefer the Freerides now for several reasons, but both Outlaws and BMFs are really powerful bindings...

One thing to keep in mind here is that only the Outlaw is a real NTN binding with a second heel. The BMF, while being very cool, is only NTN "Compatible". You can picture the BMF basically as a Bomber binding that can also accommodate NTN boots... No second heels on the Bad Mother Fuckers... Just a regular cable binding that fits NTN boots... A very nice one I should say... But I didn't try them, they might be awesome...

[teleclub]

The Outlaw is very cool and very active.
I couldn't get the ski brakes to work with it. They're available but a pain and I couldn't find anybody who was using them and made them work.

Brakes are dumb but necessary for real step-in for me, so I got Rottefella Freedoms. True step-in because I close the front latch with my boot on the first ski and with my ski on the second. Never have to bend over, and the latch-closing moves are easy and worked perfectly on first try. The Outlaw would have complete step-in if the brakes worked. If you don't need brakes or leashes, the Outlaw has complete step-in now.

The Outlaw was too active for me. I like a neutral feel and the Freeride was too active for me too. That could be just a matter of getting used to it and adapting. I tried the Freedom because it was reported to be less active than the Freeride, and on my first day on them, the Freedom felt too active too. I posted here about it, got good advice, and adapted quickly--the Freedom feels great now. I ski the Blue spring box on 1, the lightest setting, (TXPro) so I think they'd have lots of activity range for someone who likes a more active feel.

Really happy on NTN Freedoms so far but still new to NTN.

[syntheticreality]

I'm relatively new to tele skiing (I started last season). Last season I skied with NTN freedoms. It was always hard for me to get them to work as step in because the ski would slide forward when I tried. I demoed the outlaw for a day and really liked the smooth feel of engagement, the step in connection to the boot, and the way the toe fits in to the front. I had no brakes at that point, but used leashes.

This season, I bought the outlaw X and skipped the brakes due to poor reviews on them. As such, I've been using leashes. Everyone seems to hate leashes, but I actually like them. I attribute that to being a new tele skier and it making me feel (albeit silly) excitement to do something only tele skiers are doing. I generally clip my leash first, then stand up, and can step straight in no problem (on flat ground). The 22d leashes have a very nice clasp and are extremely easy to work even with gloves on.

I have zero experience with the BMF, but am very happy with my outlaws. That said, the freedoms ski really well too, but I know this thread is not about the freedoms.

[Leukass]

Ringing this to the top- anyone skied both??

[dnt_upton]

I don't know anyone who has skied both. There definitely are fans of the BMF, but I'd say the Outlaw X has a greater following, largely for the reason Johnny pointed out -- it connects to the duckbutt. But both are solid companies and I don't think you could go wrong with either.

If you use Outlaw X on setting 1 and think it has too much resistance, remove the inner spring. I believe Bishop is coming out with softer springs this year, so something similar will be an option with those as well.

I have used Freerides, Freedoms, and Outlaw X. IMO, Outlaw X skis better -- smoother and less rigid. It definitely tours better. Opinions obviously vary.

[Gladeskier]

I have both. The BMF is slightly heavier but I prefer the way it skis over the Outlaw but only by a smidgeon. It is EXTREMELY smooth where the Outlaw is VERY smooth. They are both miles ahead of my previous Freerides. I still have some Freedoms on a BC setup but only for weight reasons. The connection of the BMF feels just a little more solid and I attribute that to the fact that it does not connect on the second heel, it connects on the actual boot heel. This gives a longer moment arm of connection and thus more leverage on the boot sole. More leverage = More power.

Another thing I like about the Bishop is I feel like I can go lower in cases where I need to or am in recovery mode. The Outlaw is still better than the old Roteffella bindings that just stop at a certain point, but the Bishop is even less restrictive in that regard although plenty active. Activity is very similar between the two.

My Outlaws are the first gen and are difficult to get out of sometimes, especially with the brakes installed. So I removed the brakes. I understand this has been much improved with the newer Outlaw-X but I’ve never tried those. Both are excellent companies with great engineering, just a slightly different approach to the connection. Another nice thing about the Bishop is you can specify a duckbill toe so If you have that boot, you can still get the benefit of a rock-solid step-in binding upgrade.