Thread: Shit, I bought Climbing Skins Direct. Now What?

Originally Posted by Big Steve

The fixed tail and elastic tip was how everyone did glued on skins for years. It works okay.

It works fine with high rise tips on skis, with the current lowrise wide tips it doesn't work as well because invariably the elastic is rubbing in the snow more than a tail elastic.

holy BNL fuckfest!

Tip and STS tail on my 90 underfoot pair, and tip only on my 125 pair.

I got the thinner one first, and before they started having the glueless strip, so I ended up taking the fabric that covers the glue on a friends skis that were having trouble and cut the back half off. Slapped that on my skins so mine were easier to take apart, and my buddies pair (of older BDs or G3s) actually stuck. Another friend was having problems keeping a normal loop tip on their skis, but the CSD ring did the trick.

I think OP got the tip/tail skins with the hook at the rear (which can't be reversed) instead of the twin-tip skins which come with a ring and a stretcher (which can be reversed to put the stretcher on the rear).

Don't listen to the haters, CSD skins are great. Mine have gone almost three seasons, with no issues, on the original glue...and the new angled-ring tip stretchers are even better than the old ones.

They glide way better than Ascensions but don't have quite as much grip...that's the tradeoff. And the wax they give you works just fine if you actually use it. Don't try to rub it against the nap...just give 'em a few swipes with the nap before you head out and they're great. In my experience it doesn't even matter unless it's REALLY warm and wet out.

If mine ever die I'm happy to reinvest in another pair...but they're fine so far. PROTIP: if the glue ever starts to stick to your bases (or not stick very well) ask them about "the iron trick"...it works.

Originally Posted by Spats

I think OP got the tip/tail skins with the hook at the rear (which can't be reversed) instead of the twin-tip skins which come with a ring and a stretcher (which can be reversed to put the stretcher on the rear).

Don't listen to the haters, CSD skins are great. Mine have gone almost three seasons, with no issues, on the original glue...and the new angled-ring tip stretchers are even better than the old ones.

They glide way better than Ascensions but don't have quite as much grip...that's the tradeoff. And the wax they give you works just fine if you actually use it. Don't try to rub it against the nap...just give 'em a few swipes with the nap before you head out and they're great. In my experience it doesn't even matter unless it's REALLY warm and wet out.

If mine ever die I'm happy to reinvest in another pair...but they're fine so far. PROTIP: if the glue ever starts to stick to your bases (or not stick very well) ask them about "the iron trick"...it works.

Yeah, mine have the metal hook. I don't know why I bought those, but that was definitely my bad. Looks like I'm just going to replace the tip and tail attachments and call it good, sounds like the glop and glue concerns were largely unfounded. Thanks TGR for guiding me through this dark time.

I have a pair of simple skins, tip only, that are 5 years old and probably a couple hundred days. The glue is starting to suffer, but what would you expect. The nice thing is they climb better as they age and the glide improves too. I use the wide bent ring on the tip and fold over about half an inch and stitch with my speedy stitcher. No snow build up and the attachment is permanent. I haven't had any issue using just a tip attachment.

Originally Posted by chmnyboy

Yeah, mine have the metal hook. I don't know why I bought those, but that was definitely my bad. Looks like I'm just going to replace the tip and tail attachments and call it good, sounds like the glop and glue concerns were largely unfounded. Thanks TGR for guiding me through this dark time.

Just buy a pair of tip rings from CSD (or anywhere, but CSD's new angled rings are the best), cut off the hook, and put the stretcher on the rear like everyone says. Problem solved!

I like the CSD stretcher much better than the adjustable rubber tail-with-clip everyone else uses, which falls off of rounded tails and is hard to get right with gloves on.

My son bought me a pair for fathers day last year and I used them this past winter and they were just fine. I did not use their clips, went with BD STS which I have always used. I have Coombacks which have a tail notch so no they did not come off even once. The skins worked this past winter in every kind of snow condition imaginable. I was really impressed in the way they handled rock solid ice without slipping. My wife has an older pair of BD ascensions and there did not seem to be any difference in uphill grip or glide between the two. The CSD are sticky but I use skin savers so getting them apart is no big deal.