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I've spent a decent amount of time in dynafits. first off, they ascend like a dream. it's like you're hiking in the summer. dynafits with light skis feel like no extra weight on your feet and it's incredible. the pivot works well, they never make noise, the heights are pretty easily adjustable and make a difference, and everything is awesome. if you're touring for 3+ hours, no other binding comes close to making sense, gotta strap on the dynafits
on the way down they are a bit different. considering how they look, they are remarkably stable and lock you in well. but i have had a few bad moments with them. in chile i had one of them release at the top of a 55 degree 10 foot wide couloir. the brake didn't snap into place which happens sometimes so the ski slid all the way to the bottom. i had to ski down on one ski and locate my missing ski which was not easy. i've had other moments of them pre-releasing and me taking huge crashes
i think that had to do more with putting them on than anything else. if they're on properly and the toes are locked, you're very unlikely to pre-release, in fact i know a guy who shattered a bunch of bones in his leg because his locked toes didn't release. but if you don't get the pins to lock in perfectly, they come off when you're least expecting it. so at the top of a long climb in chest deep snow on a 50 degree slope it's hard to make sure you get back in your bindings properly and it's hard to tell when you have. there're a ton of tricks like swinging the ski back and forth to clear out the junk in the toe holes but it's pretty hard to tell all the time so you need to be careful. it's taken me a long time to get my boots and toes cleared enough to get down without my skis popping off
here're some things to check for when putting them on:
-make sure there's no junk in your toe holes of your boots. the pins have small ridges on them so when the binding is closed and you swing your ski back and forth and let the pins rotate in the holes, the small ridge will cut through the ice and burrow into the hole
- make sure there isn't ice under the metal part of the toe. if there is it'll block the binding from closing properly. you have to snap it open and closed a few times
-once you have the toes in, line up the heel and slam down hard. if the toe pops out while slamming down, you've put them on wrong
sometimes the ski will flex a shit ton and it'll cause the heel to release. when the toes aren't locked and the heel releases your toes will come out instantly unless you stop and gather yourself
sometimes when you pop out the brakes stay stuck in the closed position and won't snap back down and grab snow. it sucks, doesn't happen with comforts but it's a problem with the ft's
but all that being said, i've skied a lot on dynafits, i've skied groomers, moguls, sketchy shit, non-sketchy shit, taken them at super high speeds, skied them on one ski, etc. and they've held up through almost all of that
if you ski really really ridiculously hard all the time and are gonna huck in the backcountry, stick with dukes and suck up the weight on the way up. but for a more gentle descent and a longer tour, dynafits are the only option. don't jump off shit with them though. they're a ski mountaineering binding and a hardcore touring binding, not a slackcountry binding used to rip around during the day inbounds and then do short tours with in the pm where you're gonna be launching yourself off shit
