Dynafit with/without brakes

[Skirotica]

did a search. Didn't find this right away. Got frustrated, so I started a new thread. apologies.

I understand and respect the value of brakes. I use them on all of my skis. But I was thinking about the $75+ additional charge for brakes on Dynafit binders and am open to folks' perspectives on their necessity. I don't plan on losing a ski, but I don't want to deal with the consequences of losing one without brakes either.

Then my thinking gets pretty scary: why can't I affix a leash? telemarkers do it. why can an AT binding support one? Is there an injury factor here that I'm overlooking?

Yes, all of this boils down to the same motives: get it for cheap. $75 bucks is a lot, but it does buy a lot of peace of mind....

[My Pet Powder Goat]

I'm running the same setup now, have brakes but won't fit my drifters, its real common to usea leash. I don't usually like coming out of my bindings do i lockout and hope they stay on.

[stradissimo]

A lot of the cool kids around here run Dynafits with leashes. The head of the Silverton Avalanche School uses leashes. I'm using brakes, but I'm considering ditching them because they make dynafiddles extra fiddly. For instance, you can't do the skin-to-ski transition without taking off your skis if you're running brakes.

[brown9]

If you go the leash route in avalanche terrain, you run the same risk a telemarker does in not having your skis come off in a slide and being dragged down by them. You also have a tomahawk flying around in the event of a good beater that could cut your face off. I got brakeless, and it's a little sketchy fearing that my ski could glide away at the top of a slope, but it is something that I have to pay attention to. I would go with leashes on spring/summer glacier travel.

[Scottish_Skier]

Transitions from uphill to downhill are when your most likely to lose a ski - but even with brakes you still need to be careful. Dynafits brakes only engage if they heel is rotated into downhill mode. So you still need to remember to rotate the heel before taking skins off... Basically with any dynafit system you need a little healthy paranoia to prevent runaway skis.

For touring going brake-less isn't a big deal (so long as you have a short leash that can be used when stepping into the skis and are sensible). For resort skiing however I can see a bigger benefit to brakes as it allows faster step in / out ?

[Quadzilla]

My call is this, I don't use brakes. Simple reason is that BC travel means skiing in deep snow and if you lose your skis in deep snow due to a release you may have great difficulty finding it. So being stuck postholing back to the trailhead in hip deep snow can be a crisis especially if you are miles in. As far as AVY concerns, I have a breakaway system on my leashes that I use in AVY terrain as well as nonbreakaway attachment too. I have on two occasions been in a group where a skier lost a ski and believe me it isn't fun. IMO.

[Arno]

I use TLT speeds (no brakes) on my lightweight touring setup. I found Dynafit brakes annoying in that they make it more difficult to change the heel settings and the brakes don't always engage when they should (maybe because I am a jong and didn't have them set up properly?). Anyway, I like the setup and wouldn't look to go back to having brakes unless I was using Dynafits extensively for resort skiing.

I don't use Dynafit leashes. I have tied a loop of thin cord to the toepiece of the binding and a G3 telemark leash attached to one of the buckles of my boots. You just clip the leash to the cord so minimal dynafiddling

[gregL]

I stopped using Dynafit brakes years ago. They never deployed that reliably, and added a lot of weight and friction to an otherwise minimalist and elegant device.

I use BD clipwire leashes, sometimes with 3mm zipties when I feel the need, and some accessory cord girth-hitched through the toe lever. For powder tours I usually go with nothing.

[GeezerSteve]

Like Greg, I haven't used Dynafit brakes in years. They interfere with smooth mode changes and sometimes don't deploy (although both of these issues are somewhat abated by removing one of the two springs). I long used short DIY leashes but I now use B&D leashes

[Skirotica]

If you go the leash route in avalanche terrain, you run the same risk a telemarker does in not having your skis come off in a slide and being dragged down by them. You also have a tomahawk flying around in the event of a good beater that could cut your face off. I got brakeless, and it's a little sketchy fearing that my ski could glide away at the top of a slope, but it is something that I have to pay attention to. I would go with leashes on spring/summer glacier travel.

I knew this. And overlooked it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I am, however, east coast near coastal mountain ranges where avy threat is severe after a snowfall, but only for a brief period of time. So I can likely count on low avy threat for the majority of my tours (different story if I move out west).

Thanks for the perspectives. It helps and at least makes me feel more comfortable about possibly just piece mealing my setup. Worst case scenario, I rely on my Fritschis for another season till I'm thoroughly dissatisfied with their performance.

[peterslovo]

I run a regular telemark leash from the toe piece of the dynafit to a light key chain ring attached to my lowest boot buckle; the idea being the light key chain ring will pull/snap in a really bad tumble or if caught in an avy. Cheap, too. Leashes $18.99, packs of key chain rings $1.99. So far so good.

[harpo-the-skier]

What PS said about the key rings, except I use them with B&D leashes. I have had key rings deform and release when tugged hard. The zip tie sytem with tubbing supplied with the B&D leashes is too fragile; I was replacing the zip ties every couple of days and that was with the buryl ones.

[telelebowski]

Like Greg, I haven't used Dynafit brakes in years. They interfere with smooth mode changes and sometimes don't deploy (although both of these issues are somewhat abated by removing one of the two springs). I long used short DIY leashes but I now use B&D leashes

x2 the B&D leashes. Also long enough to make them helpful when trying to fiddle into the bindings on a steep couloir. In my experience, the Dynafit brakes are past worthless: I have watched at least twice as skis with brakes fully deployed have still skittered completely down the mountain, plus they are just a hassle in transitions. The only real downside to the leashes is if you are doing multiple bootpack transitions, sort of a pain.

[panchosdad]

I use brakes and am happy with them. The transition issue only happens if you're going from ski to tour and not stopping to put your skins on. For me that only seems to happen once a day, usually on the exit when you hit flats again. The deployment issue seems to be solved with the ST 10's. Mine have worked flawlessly over a year of use. It was definitely an issue with Comforts.

I use my skis both at the area and in the backcountry, so having brakes is a real convenience. It makes it easier getting into the bindings (the ski doesn't move around as much) and gives piece of mind about the skis running off.

That's my .02.

[Prodigy]

Nothing wrong with going brakeless, just make sure you have the silver springs if it's the Vert ST or count on losing some amount of release value with the FT12. Dynafit sells a guide leash and the Speed Classic comes brakeless. Next year's Speed Evo will have the leash from the factory and it's cheaper than the Radical ST (just as the Speed Classic is now).

[foreal]

Been skiing Dyna's for 6ish years. Due to being a weight wienie, never used brakes. Can't say that I ever wish I had 'em. Use leashes sometimes in the spring.

But, I also ski with the toes locked FWIW.

[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]

I used to rock the Vertical ST brakes on my touring skis, but had an incident in a step couloir where the ski popped (I didn't have the toes fully engaged due to snw) and it went about 1,000 vert below. And it was not even hard snow - about a foot of fresh. The brakes literally did nothing.

After that I decided I wanted leashes, but my two main concerns were (i) they needed to reliably break away in an avy as I did not want anything pulling me down and (ii) I didn't want something that would be swinging my skis as essentially a weapon around my face and shins if I were to take a serious fall but they were still attached.

I now use the B&D Ski Leashes and think they work amazing. A couple of notes:

1. They come with 2 weights of zip ties that you put a plastic coating over (so the bindings don't shread them). They are designed to break under certain pressures. Unlike Harpo above, I have not had an issue with these breaking when they shouldn't. I even use the less-strong one. I could rip it if I yanked very hard, so I am comfortable it will break away when needed, but hold when supposed to.

2. The cord attaching to (and around) your boot is essenitially an elasctic material that looks like a phone cord. This is great for a couple of reasons. First, if you were to take a nasty fall, there is about 8 feet of stretch in it so your skis will not be wipping around right next to you and bashing your shins/face/etc.... Second, when putting on skis in a steep couloir or something, you can keep them attached to you, but take them off and stick them in the snow when doing snow stablity, or eating lunch or whatever. They are always attached to you, but you can move around and not be restricted. Third, in the off chance the zip tie (or mod you make - e.g. Harpo) were not to break in a slide or something, the stretch adds a marginal buffer of the ability for the ski to posibly not pull you down.

I think they are a great design and definitely think they are worth considering. They do a better job of keeping your skis around you than brakes, but solve issues of breakaway in avys, etc... Quicker touring transitions too b/c the Dynafit break inhibits that.

Also, I don't ski with the toes locked, so I like the added concept of a leash for all of the reasons above.

[GeezerSteve]

Like Harpo, I've had problems with zip ties w/ or w/o tubing, so my B&D leashes are fixed to a key ring which in turn is affixed to a picture hanger gizmo screwed to the ski. (When I used short inelastic leashes, I just couldn't get myself to tie a leash to a binding and expose it to breaking during a yard sale fall.)

Re the zip tie "fuse" connection, I've long wondered if stretchiness of the B&D leash would lessen the impact forces so much that the "fuse" would never pop or pop too late. Think of the B&D leash as a dynamic climbing rope with 300%+ elongation.

[Skirotica]

So my dynafits came from BC.com yesterday and I was surprised to see that they came with leashes. That was awesome. Also, got a pair of brakes from niyaeva. New question:

Can you slip brakes in after the mount? or do they have to be present at time of mounting? (don't have brakes at the moment to see this for myself). Trying to gauge need to hold off on mount for brakes or just leave them off altogether.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

It's easier to attach brakes after mounting. See wildsnow.com for detailed directions.

[Skirotica]

Thanks for the pointer ISBD. How's the doggy?

[I've seen black diamonds!]

She's good. And she's very excited to be going skiing this weekend.

[plugboots]

I use these from Dan Bailey's because they're $5.95, (not whatever B&D charges), and connect to a thin zip-tie but will now switch to a cheap key ring, (great idea), that car dealerships keep giving me.

[GeezerSteve]

Thanks, plug. $5.95 x 2 = $11.90 per pair, i.e., roughly half what B&D charges for a pair (plus zip ties and plastic hose). How are those holding up for you? I tried a hardware store key chain vinyl coil which kinked up and broke after a dozen or so uses. Looks like the Dan Baileys have a "durable cord" inside the vinyl, unlike the POS hardware store 100% vinyl cross section. I'll give them a try.

[plugboots]

Very durable, maybe a tad long, but I wrap them around the toe piece. I think I'll put the ring on a top buckle now.