THE GREATEST bindings debate on the planet (Official thread)

[Raventele]

RT, I ski my boots in walk mode which helps me stay in the sweet spot. A nod back to all my years in leather boots.

Roger that TD..Been some great skiing on the pass ..where the f you been ?
BTW, I wonder if I am sacrificing any turn power by running my 3PHW's on the CRB ?

Can't comment on the CRB never used them. Great powder Monday especially for N. ID. Been skiing at Silver or its BC. Just for LJ I have leather and it can be fun, but not with some of the conditions I've encountered, kickturning your way out isn't skiing.

Well, there's wonderful snow SC and up in the basin above Lkout..Groomers all skied out , of course, but
it snowed 3in fresh last night and they are closed 'till Thursday due to the possibility of --40 windchills! Damn, gonna be some freeze-dried ! Looks like a decent storm for the W/E .. I can't complain too much about N. Idaho snow; we always get some great days at the pass, and barring the very odd year, snow is dependable! ..Recent trip to Colorado where we skied ice for a week (best skiing was at a nordic center) and SC and BC looked miserably thin!!! ha ha..Yea, it's great when it snows there and stays cold..but is that not true of about anywhere ?
I bet those Andrews Ultimates could be used to ski about anything..They are HEAVY leathers with plastic heel support..nice flex but I would not want to stomp them out to climb in..We are in a second Arctic push TD; typically there are at least 3 in a given winter..maybe 1 in March! ..we'll see...
Cold! Especially on the Crest and alos on the selkirks..

Colorado reminds me of S. Idaho..yea, more winter sun and it can be colder at times
but it also often lacks snow , certainly true contrasting elevation-to-elevation with the North Rockies..

[nurse ben]

Bogon,

Go over to Earn Your Turns and read the article I wrote a couple years back, also take a look at the TTS discussion on Dostie's BC Forum.

I ski with TTS tech toe locked (tour mode) and I have had reliable releases. I can ski in the unlocked (ski mode) but I get too much pre-release.

I have no idea about crampons with a TTS HH, I'd assume they'd work if you found a set that fit.

[Jeff]

TTS is a great system with certain limitations, ie ROM is insufficient with the stock cartridges.

Unlike one poster suggested, TTS does have very good lateral stability, better than NTN for sure, close to what you'd get with AXLs or Hammerheads.

In time someone will retail a TTS variant with more travel, but for now you can either build your own or ski tall.

I ski two TTS variants ( Hammerhead TTS and Axl TTS) and the stock TTS, all work well, subtle differences in feel, more ROM with the HH and Axl variants, I still like to ski the stock TTS on light skis (BC 125) whereas the variants see use on fatter skis.

I'm confortable in saying that you're nuts Ben. Boots aside, NTN provides more lateral stability than any 22d product. I own and ski Freerides, HH's and Axles. 75'sh days on NTN and 200 plus on 22D products gives me a pretty good feel for the performance differences.

[bogon]

Bogon, Go over

Ben, I've read them all, and all yer posts on old ttalk. You're my hero (in a sense, see below)

I ski with TTS tech toe locked (tour mode) and I have had reliable releases. I can ski in the unlocked (ski mode) but I get too much pre-release.

You're heroic w.r.t. breaking gear. Granted You're a big guy, but as I'm 6'2'' and 175lbs w/o gear, and ski Freerede with blues on 2.5 in TX Pros to great enjoyment, I suspect that in my case either it will just work, or adding washers as per http://www.wildsnow.com/2794/dynafit-bi ... erimental/ or changing to stiffer springs should do the trick.

[Teleman]

With you love-man....pins...yesterday was arcing the forest....@ a foot of powder....just south of you....Strange zone....south nada....north ice? Highlands 8-14 inches of pure bliss...Raven and Teledance good hearing what you are doing.....This storm MIGHT put us into steep zones....will see...Teleman

[Johnny]

Looks like the steep zones will definitely be open here tomorrow...!

I had Voile release plates on all my 3pc bindings... I remove them all this year and the feeling is even better!

Next step: A pair of smiley plates right into my bare feet!

[nurse ben]

Jeff,

A simple carpet test:

Put a boot in each system, using your typical tensioning, then apply pressure to the side of the boot at the heel.

Let me know how that goes, I think you'll see I'm not so nuts after all. I found NTN to be especially loose and it only gets worse over time.

The perception of "lateral stability" is just that, a perception. A stiff boot with a tight interface will have more lateral stability. Controlling a boot from both ends if more powerful than controlling a boot from the end and the middle; think levers and physics.

Hey Bogon,"a hero", thanks, but you are a lone voice in the echo chamber

I'm my own tester, if I break it then there's a problem. Granted I have broken things for any number of reasons, bad design, insufficient ROM, skiing too hard but if I break it, then sooner or later someone else will suffer the same.

I like TTS because it skis great and I haven't broken it. That's about the best I can hope for until someone comes out with a better design.

[Saint Jocko]

What improves a Rottefella Super Telemark binding is a Voile strap through those little slots in the foot plate sides and then over the top of your boot and cinched down tight. I got noticeably better control.

If you want to take it further, then run a stretchy nylon cord around the front of the binding, routed underneath the foot plate. An old stamped metal Voile heel lever with the nylon cord run through it fixes the nylon cord to the boot.

It can get you back home in an emergency if nothing else if the bail breaks. Everybody should carry Voile straps and some nylon cord in the backcountry.

Of course, some folks get by just fine with Mukluks duct taped to their skis. Primitive folks got by without the duct tape and just used leather straps. National Geographic did an article back in December, 2013, about native skiers in the Altai Mountains using traditional carved spruce skis that used animal skins lashed full length along the bottom. The journalist on modern gear was hard pressed to keep up with them. The native skiers chased down elk-sized animals on their skis and lassoed them with ropes and brought them down. No need for rifles or spears. Try beating that on your modern skis and boots. The article shows one of them bringing down one of those big elk.

The fact is, modern gear has made us a bunch of wimps by comparison. The native Altai skiers also carve their own skis by hand, and use skins from animals they have killed. They camp out in the bitter cold on their hunting trips, without modern tents, and hardly seem to mind the conditions. The article is worth reading. I watched a video on Russia Today about a Siberian sheriff who used the old traditional skis to patrol his villages and he said they were way better than the modern skis. Considering the distance he had to go in his work, he just might know something.

[Teleman]

Yeah and minners used to ski 14 foot skis and hit 80 miles per hour....turns that's for wimps....stop....shiiiiiii........This year got some beater e109's....nice ski....ripped off the small lifter and the ski was even better....Teleking and I wanna nail some leather (naturally) sandals onto the ski and....ski....less is best...TM

[bogon]

OMG.
Saw "rocker launch" yesterday.
In person.
It's the 1st time in my life that I saw non-leather (read: thick duckbill, not thin one, and w/o pins) 75mm binding (Cobra) and boot (Gara).

And I do have 1 word:
HORROR.

Full 2'' of over-the-handlebars horror.

Now don't even talk 75mm to me.
That "norm" is just ridiculous
(given the Bishop availability/price)