What’s everyone’s feelings on Daymakers?

They’re heavy and it makes you sit quite a bit higher on your skis which can feel a little awkward. If you tour less than 3 times a year it’s a great option but if you go more often you’ll be looking to upgrade soon.

jaxfulThey’re heavy and it makes you sit quite a bit higher on your skis which can feel a little awkward. If you tour less than 3 times a year it’s a great option but if you go more often you’ll be looking to upgrade soon.

I see a lot of other people saying a similar thing. Why would it be a hassle to use more than ~3 times a year? Just tough on your legs to skin with that much weight or what? If I end up getting super into touring and going, say, 10 plus times this year, is it inevitable that I drop $$ on full setup anyways or could I reasonably get by?

yungspliffyI see a lot of other people saying a similar thing. Why would it be a hassle to use more than ~3 times a year? Just tough on your legs to skin with that much weight or what? If I end up getting super into touring and going, say, 10 plus times this year, is it inevitable that I drop $$ on full setup anyways or could I reasonably get by?

weight is a big part of it especially because you need to step with a set of alpine bindings as well. The pivot point being so high also makes your stride much more difficult/expend more energy and you wont get as effortless of glide on flats, the height off the binding makes sidehills tougher/sketchier, and you need to always have pack space for them. If you are touring a decent amount of the season, it is pretty inevitable that you will upgrade to a lighter more efficient setup.

Daymakers are great for - only going a few times a year, booter skis, or you dont have boots with inserts, and at a good price IMO. If you have the money and are touring consistently a tech setup is better, and if you need a beefy setup CAST is better. But both can be fairly expensive, and you need boots with inserts.


If you have boots with inserts already, my advice would be to look through facebook/craigslist and find a set of touring skis for cheap. Tons of people sell touring gear cheap in pretty much every location with decent backcountry access, and you can usually find a damn good setup for 400ish. If you decide you dont like touring, you can almost always make your money back.

If you dont have boots with inserts, then I think they are a great option to dip your toe in and see if you like it. But yeah, youll probably sell them for a dedicated setup in a season or so.

daymakers are great. depends on objective. they are not the best longterm solution but if you want to get into touring using equipment you already own, they are the best option. they are sort of a bridge between downhill/touring. if you really enjoy touring and do it with friends who take it seriously, you will probably want to get a tech setup in the future. but daymakers can easily also last you multiple years if your interest in touring is strictly casual, then you don’t have to spend $2k on lightweight skis, pin boots, and tech bindings if you’re only going out 5-10 times per year.

they aren’t THAT heavy but they will make your setup heavy since the rest of the stuff you’ll use has the weight of regular downhill gear. it’s fine, just will make hiking a little more tiring and get you in better shape. being concerned about ultralight is a hyperfixation that really only benefits people with very specific and endurance focused goals in my opinion. for casual skiers like us, just haul it up?

I agree with the general consensus. lots of great points here. Great if you dont have pin boots or you only go a couple times per year.

Pack space is a big factor. Weight is a big factor for bigger missions or multiple laps. The heavier your setup = more tired you are = less skiing.

speaking anecdotally- after using daymakers a few times you will want to upgrade. That being said, daymakers have their place in a touring quiver

I have a pair, it doesn't get much use anymore since I now also have one Duke PT setup (got the 16 DIN version for the magnesium parts and stronger heel) and one proper lightweight pin binding setup.

I actually think the skinning motion of them is quite nice, because they use a linkage system to the virtual pivot point is close to your toes, not at all like frame bindings which has a pivot point way in front of your toe. The stack height is a tiny bit weird on firm sidehill but its really fine. The biggest downside really is your setup will be very heavy, and I'm by no means a weight weenie but this does matter. Also Daymakers are bulky and really fill your pack on the downhill quite a bit which sucks, and transitions are slow. FWIW they've been really reliable though.

At this point I think the best bet for most people is to look for a used touring setup on the cheap, especially if your current boots are already pin compatible. So far Duke PT's have been great, seems like CAST is very much the same appeal but both are kinda pricey and add more complexity and thus ways things can break (although I've had no issues personally, at least so far).

In 20/20 hindsight one thing I really loved about the Daymakers are that I used them across like 5 pairs of skis over a few seasons which is awesome (I also re-used the same skins over and over again which was jank but after a while you get a feel for how to grip on skins that aren't cut for your skis). Also for building booters they are perfect, they get you in the BC then you have your normal setup to send hard on. So in hindsight I got them when I was much more broke and my boots weren't pin compatible and I don't regret it, it worked out decent.

One final thought is think of who you will be touring with and how. If your group is all on lightweight setups for long days you will be miserable trying to keep up. If your group is on heavier setups (Daymakers, CAST/Duke PT, Frame bindings, etc) and doing shorter missions or booter builds/sessioning features it will be a perfect setup for this.

Buy daymakers if you fall into these two categories.

1. Not sure you really want to get into it, and don't want to spend too much but want to get out with the homies a couple times.

2. Are building booters

profa_212If you have boots with inserts already, my advice would be to look through facebook/craigslist and find a set of touring skis for cheap. Tons of people sell touring gear cheap in pretty much every location with decent backcountry access, and you can usually find a damn good setup for 400ish. If you decide you dont like touring, you can almost always make your money back.

This right here. Unlike used park gear, which is almost always beat to shit, touring dudes are always ditching their perfectly good gear cause it isn’t light enough or they don’t like how the bindings work. Even buying new can be pretty cheap if you aren’t crazy picky, I got boots and skis both for 50% off and was gifted bindings, so a full dedicated touring setup doesn’t have to cost 2k it can easily be less than half of that

I had daymakers and they got the job done but I love having a full setup now. It’s a little worse on the way down but that’s like 10% of the experience when you’re touring, having a walk mode and light af skis is absolutely game changing. Sure hauling extra weight on the way up will make you stronger, but it will also make you more tired for the journey down the mountain

I tried my friends once and weight on the way up isn't a huge deal I was more so terrified hauling them down in my backpack. If you are touring short distances with the intent to build a booter or session some natural features they are the best product for that IMO

If you’ve toured and know for a fact you like it and will do it more then a dedicated set up is for sure the way to go.

I’ve been considering daymakers especially now that the new adapters dropped. Great price. I’ve never toured. I also have to travel to ski. So I’d need to be planning my whole trip around touring.

that’s kept me from pulling the trigger on a full set up, not that I don’t want one. Just hard to justify when I’ve never toured and it’s a literal hike for me to make it happen. If I hate it I’m only out a couple hundred bucks for the adapters. My skis are all still intact and not modified for cast etc so no real loss there either. I do have inserts on my boots as I bought them knowing at some point I’d want to try touring at the very minimum. At this point I’d also only be doing uphill mostly inbounds. I don’t know enough to head out into the back country yet. So again felt like a full set up at this point is just too much.

I was in the same boat as you were last season, never toured, not sure if I would like it. I wanted to give touring a try, but didnt want to blow the bank since I dont have boots with tech inserts, and didn't want to go out buy a pair of frame bindings to slap on a pair of skis. I found some daymakers on fb marketplace that were used for $125 (you can find them half off if you look daily). The only time I used them were pre season and post season. They are heavy, but its not a big deal, especially since I was only going for a lap due to time. I was able to cut 1 pair of skis to fit my 104s and my 90s (not the best fit for the 104s) and was able to use both skis to tour. I think that they are a great investment, and if you buy them for $150-200 you will easily be able to get that back if you decide to sell and upgrade. I think a common misconception on daymakers is they are the ultimate solution to touring. When really it is an alternate way to get uphill. This podcast does a great job explaining what they do well and what they dont do well.

https://blisterreview.com/podcasts/gear-30-podcast/giray-dadali-on-the-new-daymaker-touring-tekdapters-ep-269