DIY Alpine Touring binding.

[srsosbso]

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.

Well, there ya go.

[TAHOEDOWN]

Wow, very cool. When you put the looks back on, are you pulling a screwdriver out and actually re-installing the screws?

[srsosbso]

Oh, jeez, no. These are demo bindings. The slide onto metal rails screwed on to the ski. You just push a lever to the side (toe) of lift a lever up (heel) and they slide right off. It takes, literally seconds.

[El Chupacabra]

This is brilliant. Please post a "how to" on how you adapted the trekkers to the Look demo plates.

[corn dog]

This is rad. Please post full info

[Spats]

That is some quality garage engineering.

[srsosbso]

Okay, lemme put some more pics together for "assembly" instructions.

[BLOOD SWEAT STEEL]

That's awesome.

[ono]

NICE. won't replace an AT setup, but a nice lighter alternative to lugging around on a conventional trekker/alpine binding setup.

i'd be up to try this out on some rock skis already mounted with look demo's...

wonder if it would work with a ramer-type trekker setup- bringing the price down a bit.
they say 1 pound on your feet is 5 lbs+ in your pack- so they'd definitely be an econo-option for many folks.

great work/thinking/ingenuity.

[srsosbso]

This is less than ideal- I should have taken pics as I was building these. Anyway, for what it's worth...
First you cut the connecting tube on the alpine trekker just behind the toepart as shown in the first photo (the trekkers in these photos have the top part ripped off- it was a trial run before I figured out how to do this simply and easily.) then you cut the toe part exactly on the horizontal right where the hacksaw blade is in the photo.

It leaves you a perfect little platform to mount to the binding plates. You remove the binding toe piece from the plastic plate (photo 3)

I forgot to mention that I had to pry up the back end of the plastic plate that the toe piece is mounted on, in order to get it to slide forward completely off the rails. There were two little flanges on the back end of the rail plate that I had to file smooth and now the plate comes off without a whimper.

and mount the touring rig in its place using just two of the holes and screws (I used the back ones but it probably doesn't matter.) You have to mark the screw holes VERY CAREFULLY or the touring rig will not be straight.

I'll do another post on the heel lifter.

Honest to god, that is pretty much it. It took me forever to figure this out the first time, but a second pair would take me an hour tops.

[srsosbso]

I also fit a heel lift in. If you cut the two little side flanges off the heel part of the trekkers it fits EXACTLY between the rails of the upper part of the trekkers. Then you just drill through and bolt it in place as shown. It provides a plastic base to level the whole assembly (because the toe is lifted by the demo binding plate.) The plastic alone actually gives just a BIT of heel lift as is, so I rarely even need the heel lifts flipped down. I cut the plastic piece off flat so that there is only the one heel lift remaining- its actually a bit high for me and I rarely use it, so I am going to bend it shorter by an inch. It was clanging on the rails which annoyed me so I rapped hockey tape around it. Jeez, guess where I'm from?

[marshalolson]

dude, that is really slick! nicely done!

[Daywalker]

Nice set-up. You get a ghetto ass engenuity award.

(engineering ingenuity = engenuity before some smartass corrects me).

[srsosbso]

Thanks Marshal! Here's a couple with a a boot in- gives maybe a better idea of how it works.

I'm still interested in the Dukes to be sure. But I've toured all season on these (unless I am tele-wacking) with people on fritschis, and I have honestly always felt better off- up and especially down.

[ono]

just from looking at it, they look like they have to be an overall lighter setup than naxos or fritschis by a fair bit...
nice, again, very nice.

[srsosbso]

Thanks to you all for the very positive feedback.

If anyone decides to try and build these, feel free to pm me re: questions or problems.

[srsosbso]

Ono- the touring rig itself is indeed much lighter than a fritshi or naxo. They are literally 500g each (on the neighbours kitchen scale) which is actually about the same as a dynafit binding. To be fair, however, you have to add in the weight of the demo binding rails, which of course remain on the ski, up and down. I don't have a free set to weigh, but I tried to weigh one of these skis and they came out about 500g over the advertised weight of the ski alone, so if that's even close to right it doubles the overeall weight of the system.

[jfost]

cool. I toured for a week on my FR's and nearly always had the climbing post up in position#3 (2nd from top)... In looking at these, it seems you could maybe leave the heelpiece of the looks in place as a de facto climbing post and be good to go, then you'd only have to change the toes!?! Really a nice job! Go answer your phone, I think some guys from Salomon want to speak with you...

[srsosbso]

Interesting idea. I guess I could leave the heels on, but they weigh 800g a PIECE, so I think maybe they're better in the pack. It also gets the brakes out of the way.

Oh, and by the way, you can pick up brand new p12 demos for all of 90 bucks. For me, at 165lbs. INCLUDING the winter fat, a 12 DIN binder is plenty. And the look demo's seem just solid, to me anyway. I have not noticed any slop, and they are very minimally elevated off the ski.

[highflyingpilot]

Sweet idea. I feel compelled to give it a shot

[squatch]

Thanks Marshal! Here's a couple with a a boot in- gives maybe a better idea of how it works.

I'm still interested in the Dukes to be sure. But I've toured all season on these (unless I am tele-wacking) with people on fritschis, and I have honestly always felt better off- up and especially down.

That said, if the Baron is anything like the duke (likely), it will definitely win the head-to-head battle with the fritschi. (It is essentially a 12-din alpine (plastic) binding with a walk function).

[Beatdown]

Sweet! I was thinking of something along these lines while messing around with a pair of Tyrolia demos a while back. I might have to actually go and try it now...

Also: it looks like the front is held on only by 2 screws? Seems like that could break with a little bit of torque considering it's only a thin piece of plastic.

[mountain_man]

this is radtastic. such a simple solution to, cheap touring bindings.

[1wsguy]

Nice job! Practical Rigineering is sooo much fun!

[Tony]

Brilliant!

At last a solid AT binding made by Look.....sort of.