Dynafit FT Radical VS. G3 Ion VS. Fritschi Diamir 12

vipec would be frischis tech binder
all tech binders have a bit of a dynafiddle learning curve
dynafits been doing it the longest so long the patent expired and there are new kids on the block.
and swalea warranty kikcs ass over g3 and frischi

To be fair, Dynafit has the patent on the pintech binding system, but it recently expired. Once it did, many other manufacturers got into the game. Some argue that G3, Diamir, and Plum are just refreshed versions of the older dynafit vertical from a few years back. Since the old patent expired, dynafit has been developing better systems than the vertical. There aren't any great reviews yet on the ION from G3, and the Vipec from Diamir has had its fair share of issues (Google that isht). You simply cannot go wrong with the dynafit radicals. They're proven. I would suggest taking a look at the new Marker Kingpin too. Although it is currently unproven, marker has quite the palmares to boost confidence.

I think if at all possible it will be worth waiting to at least see how the Marker does performance wise. I have very little first hand experience with FT Radicals, but one of my touring buddies who uses them has a pretty consistent (seems like every time we go out together) issue with prerelease. He's a pretty big dude who goes hard on pretty large skis, so take that with a grain of salt I guess.

Two seasons ago, I picked up Radical FTs. Short of skiing them a lot inbounds, I dropped some decent cliffs, threw backies, and toured them really hard in powder and for ski mountaineering. This past season, I finally did them in by pancaking on a 30ft drop into the flats. No issues with prerelease, but I consistently lock out my toes for skiing. Really impressed by the durability for the weight.

Since, I've moved to Speed Radicals, as I'd rather have leashes than brakes for ski mountaineering. I've had fewer issues with the heels spinning, and no prerelease problems, but I've been more conservative in how I skied them.

The Vipec seems to be more refined now, but I can't speak to experience.

Unless you can find a mega deal, wait on the Ion. Always better to let somebody else sort out the initial consumer issues with an untried binding. We'll all know more next year.

Kingpin looks promising, but again, waiting is the better part of valor. It still has the sliding mechanism for the heel piece, and keeping snow out of the slider on my old Dukes was a total bitch.

What are you planning to do with your BGs? What kinds of ski touring?

There has never been a tech binding that did not have substantial issues with its first release.

Radical had issues.
Vipec has issues
Plum had issues
Onyx is an issue
Beast has issues

Fuck it, touring bindings in general have issues:
Duke had issues,
Guardian had issues
Marker f10/12 had issues

You get the idea

I made the switch from Radicals to casts system. Pretty easy to use and we have relatively dry snow so I never had issues swapping toes.

The small weight penalty has been worth every gain in reliability, peace of mind and days were I'm riding more side country than touring.

Thanks for all he good feedback guys. I was always leaning towards the Dynafits for the most part. I just really started wondering if there was a huge difference in each binding. I have also talked to a few other people about this topic and everyone loves the Dynafits. Haven't heard much about the Beast but for my weight, i'm not gonna be cranking my din past 12 anytime soon... As for the Marker Kingpin, i think it's getting a lot of hype with the new Volkl BMT series coming out and everything. I am super loyal to Marker but they haven't been in the touring game at all so we will have to see what happens with that. Even the Marker duke has had a lot of issues. The heel piece design looks really similar to their griffons, squire.... My shop does deal with Marker so when the sales rep comes in i'm gonna get the details about the Kingpin! All i can say so far about it is that it looks fucking badass. As far as what i'm going to be doing on my BG's; I'm going to be taking a few avalanche courses as well as Level 2 Instructing. I do have my Volkl Mantra's for groomers and what not so my BG's will be my go to big mountain/powder ski. When i bought the Scarpa Maestrale's they actually advertised that they are built to fit with Dynafit bindings.

marker blows except their shop manual is actually good and rarely do 1st release tech products nail it kinda like Solomons quest boot debacle
a wickits or some stout bailing wire round your pole a damn useful thing
and you'll learn to make damn sure all the snow/ice is out of your aint a whole lot tech interfaces
toes locked and brakes vrs. leaschees is all debatable personal preferences
don't care much for it myself but plenty of tech weenie uberexpert gabber at
wild snow

What's the word on the G3 Ion bindings? Reliable?

I've had Ions for about a season now, I've used them all over the Wasatch in all kinds of conditions, dropped smaller cliffs (>20 feet), hit natural features, as well as a few random days inbounds (don't ask) and have yet to have an issue. I'd recommend them, but I've also never had a negative experience with anything Dynafit either, I'd say you couldn't go wrong with either.

For reference on the Ion's I'm 5'10 155 they're mounted to G3 Synapse 109's and being driven by Dynafit Vulcans