?powder bands?

**plywood** · 07-04-2008, 02:22 AM

first of all: i have no idea how you name those things in english...what i mean are those bands you can fix on the bindings and which get pulled out of your trousers when you fall and the binding ejects. should help find skis faster.

last season was the first time i saw someone ski with such things, and i believe they generally don`t get used often. why this?

are the systems available just not convenient enough? (i think they suck pretty hard if you have to take off the skis for gondula transport and such things)
or is there simply no need for it because you never fall or never lose a ski? or is it just a stupid system because those bands are too short (1,5m) to really help recover skis faster?

**couloir** · 07-04-2008, 09:20 AM

because they're gay?

**Huckin eh?** · 07-04-2008, 09:45 AM

I carry em with me but hardly ever use em, Too much of a pain in the ass.

Heli ops use em cos who in a group wants to wait around while someone digs for a ski.

Besides, its pretty difficult to bury a pontoon without that tip being really close to the surface.

**Wes Mantooth** · 07-04-2008, 10:21 AM

Also, you get caught in a slide and your ski releases and then you're flying down a hill with large planks with sharp edges attached to your feet and following you down just waiting to slice your neck open. Maybe it's just me but i'd rather buy a new pair of skis or look for hours then have them kill me as I cartwheel down with them on me
I step on people's in the liftline though

**flyby** · 07-04-2008, 10:39 AM

Originally Posted by Wes Mantooth

Also, you get caught in a slide and your ski releases and then you're flying down a hill with large planks with sharp edges attached to your feet and following you down just waiting to slice your neck open. Maybe it's just me but i'd rather buy a new pair of skis or look for hours then have them kill me as I cartwheel down with them on me
I step on people's in the liftline though

Those are leashes. These are those thing you tuck into your boots that stay on your skis and help you find them.

Oh yeah, and I don't use them because they're a PITA. They are also incredibly lame.

**AsheanMT** · 07-04-2008, 10:56 AM

I can see the use in them but they are a pain in the ass. I would never buy them either as you can make them yourself for next to nothing.

**plywood** · 07-04-2008, 11:34 AM

it really seems that the bands you can buy are a pain to use. i thought so, that`s why i didn`t buy any so far. besides you don`t get them in switzerland (or at least in no place i know) and the ones i found in europe are only 1.5m long - which is completely useless.
luckily today i stumbled across some ripstop nylon stuff and am now sewing and tinkering

i`ve also considered the gayness-factor, but up to now i`m not sure wether they are gay or not.

**stuckathuntermtn** · 07-04-2008, 11:36 AM

Europeans are big on them, I think. I saw this group of them at Moonlight last year (06/07) all wearing them with 4 inches of new snow.

**highflyingpilot** · 07-04-2008, 11:42 AM

http://tetongravity.com/forums/showt...ight=lost+vail

This alone is reason enough to wear them, gayness aside.

**XXX-er** · 07-04-2008, 11:43 AM

Ya powder leashes , you don't tie the skis to your leg , the leash pays out from yer powder cuff and you follow it but those don't look very long ,a ski can go a long way under snow ,I lost a ski at bigwhite in very light pow ,dug for 2 hrs didnt find it ,went back in june and it was stiing on top of the snow at the bottom of the pitch a very LONG way from where I popped out

I have used flagging tape tied to the ski and then you can make really long tracers

The video cam guy in whistler also does ski finding (a good ski bum sideline),Buddy sez they are able to find the ski if you can give an accurate description of where you lost the ski

**flyby** · 07-04-2008, 11:46 AM

Originally Posted by highflyingpilot

http://tetongravity.com/forums/showt...ight=lost+vail

This alone is reason enough to wear them, gayness aside.

I think Max probably would have found some way to lose that anyways.

Smokey McPole · 07-04-2008, 12:46 PM

"Trousers" - rad!!!

I love that Limey talk!! I'm gonna use "trousers" a lot from now on! You guys rule!

Chords are for pussies and my skis never come off.

**LightRanger** · 07-04-2008, 01:06 PM

Originally Posted by Jerzilla!!!

"Trousers" - rad!!!

I love that Limey talk!! I'm gonna use "trousers" a lot from now on! You guys rule!

Chords are for pussies and my skis never come off.

"Limeys" are from England. The British Navy earned that nickname because they ate limes to prevent scurvy when they were sailing around ruling 1/4 of the earth.

The OP is from Switzerland.

DUMBASS.

Smokey McPole · 07-05-2008, 07:49 AM

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Well, ok then. Your KNIVES kick ass! Hellhammer was a great band! Your cheese is good too!

**El Chupacabra** · 07-05-2008, 08:03 AM

I have them, but only use them on really deep days (like 18" of fresh) because they are a PITA to use. They do work though.

Digging for an hour to find your lost ski, while struggling to hike up/down/across slope in deep pow that you otherwise could be skiing = teh suck.

**moonlightdbag** · 07-05-2008, 12:20 PM

haha, Stuck...i saw those guys too, that was kinda awesome. they probably got laughed out of the tram line!

**couloir** · 07-05-2008, 08:00 PM

Originally Posted by XXX-er

The video cam guy in whistler also does ski finding (a good ski bum sideline),Buddy sez they are able to find the ski if you can give an accurate description of where you lost the ski

theres ski finders too... or maybe its the same dudes... they go up with a metal detector i think

**Ottime** · 07-05-2008, 08:56 PM

I'd rather find my own ski. Down own any cords, but do think about getting them. I've watched people search for hours in Tahoe.

I remember one six foot plus week helping someone search for 30 minutes after we lapped them on several runs. Still found nothing. They looked for at least 3 hours. It was deep. Cord would have helped.

**XXX-er** · 07-05-2008, 10:55 PM

Originally Posted by couloir

theres ski finders too... or maybe its the same dudes... they go up with a metal detector i think

could be, I met them doing the wiesal thing,they were taking a bunch of video of the races all february

**Idris** · 07-06-2008, 02:57 AM

Only used them 3 days ever in europe, could have justfified them on probaby 10 other days only!. Used to ski with them a lot in Whistler. Saved my skis many a time. Only found them justified in realy deep snow. Always glad of them in trees. Much easier finding skis on a wide open slope.

**plywood** · 07-06-2008, 11:47 AM

i thought those bands are a pain to use. i believe the main issue is, that they`re fixed to the skis which sucks when you have to use gondulas and such stuff where you have to take off the skis. i furthermore wanted to improve the "storage" of the bands when not used. as far as i got it the idea of the bands you can buy is that you put them somewhere in your trousers, right?

so my homebuilt bands are about 4cm wide and nearly 4m long each. bands are out of neon coloured rip stop nylon tissue.
to store the band i built a small pocket. so i`m able to roll up the band around my finger with gloves on and then fold the roll in the middle to put it in this pocket. the pocket is attached to a leash that fits around my skiboots. so you can tie the pocket around the boot, fixed with a velcro fastener.
when the powder band is folded into the pocket the end of it sticks out and can also be fixed to the pocket by a tiny little velcro fastener. this just holds enough that the band doesn`t get ripped out of the pocket incidentally but still gets ripped out easily when the binding releases.
at the end of the powder band sits a little buckle with a leash. this leash can be fixed on the heelpiece. so the whole system easily can be attached to this heelpiece-leash or detached from it when taking off the skis willently. operable with gloves on

i really believe this is the most overthought powder band system ever. and still i`m not fully convinced it won`t be a pain to use. we`ll see.
anyway, it`s a pain to build one and takes quite some time though!

**Nathan Explosion** · 07-06-2008, 02:49 PM

If you didn't have Markers you wouldn't need those.

But, they are very well thought out, I'd almost buy something like that. I'm still too lazy, though.

**burny** · 07-07-2008, 12:57 AM

not too bad ... I have some powder bands but never ever use them. However I did use them once or twice and they really work.
The idea with the little bag is great, could speed up things at the gondola.

some thoughts:

wie wärs wenn Du statt eines Fangriemens um den ganzen Skischuh herum ein kleines Stück Klettband am Schuh und an der Tasche befestigst? Am besten hinten am Skischuh damit das Ding nicht versehentlich bei irgendwelchen Manövern aufgeht. Kann schon recht fest sein denke ich, wenn der Ski davon fliegt reissts das schon ab. Oder irgendeinen anderen Mechanismus den man mit Handschuhen schnell lösen kann der aber halt bei einem ungewollten öffnen des Skis auslöst. Eine Möglichkeit wäre ja auch etwas zu haben das unter dem Skischuh sitzt und sich aufwickelt sobald der Schuh eben nicht mehr da ist. Via Magnetchipkarte im Skistock wird die Verbindung von dem Ding zum Skischuh dann gelöst, zB., naja, vielleicht etwas weit her geholt ...
Großer Fehler ist natürlich die Marker Bindung, hatte die auch mal, die ist einfach Mist. Stichwort Vertikalauslösung am Vorderbacken.

Schreibs auch mal ins Deutsche Forum, denke da bekommst auch noch ein paar Antworten (wobei grad viele auf dem Weg nach S-Amerika sind oder sogar schon dort sein dürften, die Saubande)

**Long duc dong** · 07-08-2008, 12:11 AM

As dorky as they are I use them on very deep days. I lost an AK Launcher a number of years ago, and I NEVER want that to happen again. I lost the ski around 2, and searched for the rest of the day. I would rather have dorky orange chords attached to my skis then lose my skis.