sorry i for some reason couldnt copy paste from school
Hey.
I've been touring this winter on a do-it-yourself binding I put
together. I thought some people might be interested in this as an
alternative to fritchis and naxos, and dukes in particular. I'll show
you some pictures, tell you how it works and how it might compare to
the the available options (at least in theory.) If there's any
interest, I'll show you how to make 'em. (In this case, DO try this at
home.) I posted here months ago when I was thinking of building these.
I'd link to that but I don't know how.
Essentially I butchered a pair of used alpine trekkers that I got for
50 bucks. I literally cut them in half. Then I took the top half and
attached it to a spare one of those plastic plates that attach the toe
piece of a look p12 demo binding to the metal plate that is mounted on
the ski.
There's some pics at the bottom of the post:
1) The Look p12's mounted.
2) The touring rig- alpine trekker top screwed to demo binding plate.
3) The looks off the ski- ready to huck into the pack.
4) The touring gizmo on the ski.
On the way up a slack-country-sort-of-tour I take the toe and heel
piece off the skis and throw them in my pack. Then I pull out the
touring rig and slide it on the toe-piece rail and voila- touring mode.
At the top, I pull off the touring thing and put the p12's back on and
I am ready to rock.
I've used these all winter without problem.
FYI I picked the looks 'cause the heel piece comes right off including
the brake (solly's don't, at least the ones I looked at.) Plus I had
some p12 demo's on a pair of volkl ax4's so I scavenged the base plate
from those. I just use the same toe piece on the volkls and the
dynastars now.
Here's how I see these comparing to other options.
1) Cheap. They cost me 50 bucks.
2) Light. The touring rigs weigh 500g each. The look demo binding rails
probably add 500 g per ski to the set up, so maybe 2kg total. Less than
dukes anyway, similar to fritschis?
3) Alpine binding performance when descending. Also not elevated (much) off the ski compared to dukes/naxos/fritchis.
4) You have to carry the look bindings in your pack on the way up,
which is weight, probably over 2kg, and a bit of hassle, and takes up
room in the pack. Okay for slackcountry, but a dealbreaker for anything
long or multiday. But I have tele gear for that...
5) It takes me about 2 minutes extra frackin' around at each end.
6) Did I mention cheap?
7) A fella could put demo bindings on a few pair of skis, and they would all be available to tour on.
8) I can ski on alpine bindings at the resort, but then tour on the
same skis- no need to hammer lift-serviced runs on fritchis OR to buy a
different set of boards for walking. Dukes share this advantage,
obviously.
9) Because the demo plate moves front to back, I can slide the touring
rig back a few notches for a better balance point. I think the duke
does this too.
