The 300g Touring Binding Thread

[Cocximus]

Bump for the ATK rampart crampons. Did anyone see them and/or try them?

[Lindahl]

If you can live with their limited heel risers. I too am intrigued by the Traider idea.

Has anyone here done any mods to increase riser height on ATK trofeo+’s? I’m ok with them overall, but due to hip and back problems I’d like a little more rise. It’s a 5 mm gain to rotate the tower, but it’s surprisingly difficult to do, and most of the time I just flip the flap and go. Before i start drilling or glueing, anybody got some successful attempts to show me? I’m kinda just being lazy here.
Also, i have light high ROM boots and like low angle skinners, so I’ve got that angle covered. It’s more of a thought exercise than a real problem.
Just pondering….

Easy solution - a Walmart cutting board hacked with a Dremel, some Ti rod from Amazon bent via a blowtorch. Build your own Tele-style high risers. Mine came in at 10-20g each I think?

I made a set for my lightweight powder skis and lightweight corn/firm skis. I also made a pair for my wife's touring skis (built off the Tyrolia demo bindings). You can reuse the bars, but may need to tune the length of the walmart cutting board piece, depending on boots and mount.

They can be used without rotating the heel which is real nice.

Or... these... which can cut them down and used with only one riser to drop weight.
https://www.phantomsnow.com/products/rocket-risers

[Lindahl]

My thought was that the Trab toe allows a bit of lateral rotation that rotated your boot somewhat, turning the Raider heel enough to release but perhaps I'm just paranoid about that kind of thing.

It seems that there is a decent chance you would have pre-released with any unlocked toe + Raider heel in that situation. Despite their reputation I don't think the Raider is the most reliable binding if you want to ski unlocked in high consequence terrain based on friends experiences.

FWIW, I found the Superlite 1.0s (and thus 2.0s) toes to be pretty prone to prerelease, you don't need much lateral force to open them compared to other bindings I've skied like the ATKs. With that said, the low return-to-center on ATK heels probably relies on that strong/stiff toe spring for proper retention which auvgeek might be running into.

[twoturn]

I second ATK. I have a couple of FR16s and buddy has a couple pair if the FR12. Come in with a few grams of one another and ski f-ing brilliantly! Secure and robust. Tour fantastically as well. 320-360 depending on the shims. Would be a bit lighter without freeride plates, but having the extra platform for the boot heels to fully sit on noticebly performs better. Don‘t have the suspended feel. Also, the elasticity is fantastic.
Worth a few ounces for the performance and robustness.

[Climber Joe]

BD helio 200 LT 50% off through BD website

https://www.blackdiamondequipment.co...0-lt-bindings/

[Pins and Skins]

Anyone pair a Trab toe with a Guide/Yak heel?

[Cocximus]

The Trab Vario2 ski incredibly well. Even on terrible early-season refrozen slush, they are nearly indistinguishable from Vipecs. Good retention even with an offset mount that I have yet to fix. Remind me why is everyone fucking around with different heels on this winner?

[Benneke10]

The Trab Vario2 ski incredibly well. Even on terrible early-season refrozen slush, they are nearly indistinguishable from Vipecs. Good retention even with an offset mount that I have yet to fix. Remind me why is everyone fucking around with different heels on this winner?

Good fucking question. Seems like people want more riser options and adjustable release, but they would be better off just using the trab heels.

[Cocximus]

Right now the brakes are on so the retention bar has the perfect amount of lift for me. The lifter is plenty when I need it. I'm kinda bummed talking the brakes off would also leave the binding without the bar lift. It would gain flat touring, but that's not a priority.

[jacob_dbu]

Y'all making me wanna get some Trab Vario2's...

[jacob_dbu]

Benneke10 or others...if you had to give 5 bindings that are *must try* bindings what would you list?

- ATK Raiders
- Trab Vario
- Tecton / Vipec
- ??? 150g race binding?

[Benneke10]

Benneke10 or others...if you had to give 5 bindings that are *must try* bindings what would you list?

- ATK Raiders
- Trab Vario
- Tecton / Vipec
- ??? 150g race binding?

In this order:

Original Trab vario mounted skimo style
Vario.2
end of list

[jacob_dbu]

In this order:

Original Trab vario mounted skimo style
Vario.2
end of list

The Trab Vario is different than the Gara Titan?

[Benneke10]

The Trab Vario is different than the Gara Titan?

The heel piece on the Vario is much more robust, its heavier and has a lot more retention than the Gara Titan

[Cocximus]

Ha cool game:

1 some dynafits to see what inelastic, jarring and vague feels like
2 kingpin to experience useless weight
3 vario2
4 vipec

[Lord Thomas]

Have some HL C132's coming soon so need to get the binders for them figured out quick. Cheap is a significant consideration. My list is pretty short so tell me which ones will make me look smart and which will make me look like a Texas dentist

1. Helio 180/Trofeo+ because I already have a pair

2. Alpinist

3. ATK Kuluar

4. ATK Haute Route

5. Trab Titan Vario.2

6. Trab Titan Vario Adj

With the elasticity in the Trab's can/should you go down in the rv? Usually ski a 10 rv in my mini tour clamps, right in between the Trab offerings. For reference, I've found that I can ski pivots at my chart din and stay in just fine rather than needing to bump a couple of points in most other clamps

[ezgzy]

If you want cheap, alpinists are routinely available in the mid 200s on european sites. I think they ski pretty good but I don't love the way they look. I like the look of the kuluars and they're also available right around 300 from europe

[fleaches]

Have some HL C132's coming soon so need to get the binders for them figured out quick. Cheap is a significant consideration. My list is pretty short so tell me which ones will make me look smart and which will make me look like a Texas dentist

1. Helio 180/Trofeo+ because I already have a pair

2. Alpinist

3. ATK Kuluar

4. ATK Haute Route

5. Trab Titan Vario.2

6. Trab Titan Vario Adj

With the elasticity in the Trab's can/should you go down in the rv? Usually ski a 10 rv in my mini tour clamps, right in between the Trab offerings. For reference, I've found that I can ski pivots at my chart din and stay in just fine rather than needing to bump a couple of points in most other clamps

I picked up some of the helio 200 lt (pretty similar to haute route) for this purpose and I'll mount them with an adjustment plate I already have. Main reason for this over the trofeo is the flat + riser without rotating, which is the one thing I hate about the trofeo (well also they are super hard to rotate).

I bet any of the trabs would be great too, but I suspect the toe elasticity would be more noticeable on harder snow than your C132s are ever likely to see.

Alpinist has a wider toe pattern than all those ATKs or trab, which is maybe good on a fat ski?

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[Blaster]

Have some HL C132's coming soon so need to get the binders for them figured out quick. Cheap is a significant consideration. My list is pretty short so tell me which ones will make me look smart and which will make me look like a Texas dentist

1. Helio 180/Trofeo+ because I already have a pair

2. Alpinist

3. ATK Kuluar

4. ATK Haute Route

5. Trab Titan Vario.2

6. Trab Titan Vario Adj

With the elasticity in the Trab's can/should you go down in the rv? Usually ski a 10 rv in my mini tour clamps, right in between the Trab offerings. For reference, I've found that I can ski pivots at my chart din and stay in just fine rather than needing to bump a couple of points in most other clamps

I’m a fan of the Alpinists. I generally ski pretty hard and they have only ever released when I wanted them to.

I usually run a RV of 9 and felt like the trofeo 8 came off to easily and the 10 didn’t when I wanted it to. Very subjective, but I feel like the release action of the Alpinists is smoother than the trofeo.

Also put a bunch of time on the haute route but felt like the Alpinist transmitted power to the ski better (in a good not harsh way) maybe due to the kiss gap and elasticity in the heel piece. I always felt like they released when I wanted them to and not when I didn’t.

I wanted to like the Salomon MTNs as the were my favorite of all the above on the uphill the risers work really well and I felt like the locked out toe piece had enough of a death grip on my boots that it made for better lateral power transfer when skiing up steep sketchy icy slopes. They definitely ski more harsh than the Alpinists which feel more damp. However, I had two times when I wanted the medium spring to release and they didn’t. While, that is a small sample size, I bought Alpinists for my next set of bindings.

Haven’t tried the trabs

The biggest ski I have the Alpinists on are the blizzard zero g 108s and they feel like plenty of binding for that ski.

[Lord Thomas]

Very interdasting....looks like Alpenis is getting a ton of love. A little shocked that the ATK fanbois aren't piping up and Marker haters coming out of their holes. Hmmmm. Looks like the C132's might be getting a pair of penists.

[CaliBrit]

Very interdasting....looks like Alpenis is getting a ton of love. A little shocked that the ATK fanbois aren't piping up and Marker haters coming out of their holes. Hmmmm. Looks like the C132's might be getting a pair of penists.

We have our own ATK thread

Alpinist are fine. Very flat ramp. I’m done with any binding you have to rotate the heel on for a second riser hight.

[goolick]

I had alpinists and they were really good except for a couple of (for me, at least) dealbreakers. Like CaliBrit said having to rotate the heel to manipulate riser height was a bit annoying. But more importantly, the brakes were awful. Extremely fiddly to get locked, even in good conditions. Skinned and skiied very well but the transitions were troublesome for me.

[plugboots]

I was an ATK early adopter, (Used some input from SFB), and I’m still a big fan. Easy to use, trouble free, bomber. If I needed another set, I’d get the Front 12.
Also, it’s pretty obvious all these new bindings just copied ATK so why not go with the original with the most experience.

[Lindahl]

Benneke10 or others...if you had to give 5 bindings that are *must try* bindings what would you list?

- ATK Raiders
- Trab Vario
- Tecton / Vipec
- ??? 150g race binding?

I mean, you aren't going to notice the difference daytoday, but the lateral release at the toe on the Vipec and Tecton is much safer imo, if you ski aggressively in deeper snow.

As for skiing performance, you'll notice the difference of the Tecton and Kingpin over other trch bindings on hard snow for sure. noticeable difference in power transfer or energy out of the turn. Some say the ATK spacer gives you that same feeling, but haven't tried it yet to verify.

In firmer snow touring, I'm not skiing super aggressive (why?), So I go as light as possible - Trofeo/World Cup. I don't need fancy tech. Whatever keeps me in will work.

[rigbone]

I'm looking to go brakeless with my Salomon MTNs, does anyone know if I can use the ATK freeride spacer as a stomp pad? I'm looking at the universal freeride spacer on BDs website, does it just get attached directly to the ski in front of the heel rails?

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