Thread: 300hp's Snoboard strap on a krypton mod..bling bling

so.
After a little punching, grinding and an oldschool liner, I have really come to love my kryptons. After skiing in a boot with such instant and progressive flex, other boots just feel sloppyMcslopperstons. The one thing that really continued to bug me about the boots was the top buckle. Too loose and the boot was sloppy. too tight and the overlap design of the buckle gave me a sweet pressure point. I have really bony shins (cannibals hate me) and its a struggle not to get shin bang. I was up at the manufactures test day and started playing with snowboard bindings. My, what plush straps they have. What solid aluminum ratcheting buckles. Infinite adjustment and easy exit. The gears in Hunter's head started turning in a haze of 55 cent pbr's, and the frankenboot was born. I thought that a wider strap would disperse the pressure over a larger area, allowing me to crank down tight without a nasty pinch point. I would also be able to adjust the buckle a little at a time to get the perfect fit on the fly. While I was at it, I figured I might as well make the strap into a booster style elastic as well, for extra cushioning and the ultra snug yet forgiving flex a booster adds.
The first order of business was securing a nice set of straps. I rolled up to my buddys snowboard shop and asked them to look in back. We found a set of burton fusion bindings. these were an ill fated step in from last year that was recalled after half a season. the straps were the uber nice leather and neoprene ones found on the current P1 bindings. they have a burl ratchet and seemed right. I decided to go ahead with this scheme. I talked to the dalbello rep for my area who is a good guy. He assured me the new boot coming out next year utilized such a strap. after fondling it, I came to the conclusion that it was a ratchet style strap, but tightened a plastic strap tight to the boot. most of the new boot strap was cosmetic, and didn't offer what i was looking for. He finally agreed to help me find parts if i destroyed things beyond repair, which i was bound to do. I grabbed a set of cut up booster straps from my shop, some fresh dremel wheels and headed home.
The first step was to remove the old top strap. I fired up the dremel and cut the buckle and the bottom overlap off of each side of the cuff. The cuff now comes over the tongue just enough to keep the tongue from catching. To the back of the boot, I T nutted the ratchet end of the strap. I drilled where i did in the boot as there is a little recess there, so the nuts will not interfere with the liner or cuff. Now came the booster part of the project. I put a rivet in the nylon end of the strap and threaded it into the binding strap. Put the set screw back in and voila. Now came the other end. For what its worth, a booster strap is going to be the only thing to survive the apocolypse besides the cockroaches that live in the basement of Pdog. the shit just did not want to rivet. I finally went back to the shop and press riveted the bitch, it stuck. Threaded it thru with a screw and washers as seen in the pics.
BAM.
My initial impression, as well as that of my roommates who thought I had gone crazy, was that the strap looked like it was meant to be there. It fits perfect. The ratchet is awesome. the booster part works too. you can get it perfectly snug, and it doesnt hurt your shins. I got to ski a few runs today at the local trashhill to test things out, and I was really impressed. The progressive flex is accentuated for sure. the instant you lean in, you feel the boot pressing back at you. That nasty shin point appears to be gone. I can crank down tighter than before without discomfort. I think it was a good move that will really save my shins. The booster portion keeps it glued to my boots whether flexed forward or neutral.
Hopefully this will help someone out or spread some ideas. I think the biggest beneficiaries of the mod will be flexon users. The redardesque buckle system of flexons is a pita. since the cuff does not over lap the tongue, you will not have to cut anything up. Just bolt and go for a nice, secure fit.
Comments and critiques welcome. I'll post more as I get more days on the rig. I'm going to talk to dalbello to see if they want to use my idea in any regard
Hunter

From the front: Looks like it was meant to come that way


From the buckle side


and the mini boostAr:

Impressive. My kryptons are in the mail. Take care of them when you have a minute.

did you show ray and mason yet?

have not gotten to show ray yet. I will when i know he's going to swing by the shop.

jamey- you like

Solid work. I was thinking of retro fitting the snowboard style ratchet system to the end of a BOOTER strap just for the fun of it but thats taking it to a whole new level of sicterness HP.

Frankenkrypton. Very interesting. Passed along.

damn we need to do this to my flexons this weekend asap........... Hunter ..Old straps off Burton step-in boots ..... I think they are going to work perfect

thats pimp. nice.

My AT boots need this.

Mo' better pix of back side please?

Hmmm, I've got Kryptons with hardly any days because of the same fit problem and a couple of sets of snowboard bindings kicking around.
Have too give this a shot, thanks mang.

Wow. Fkn bling man!

This looks very promising. I'm going to have to source a set of Flexon/Krypton shells and get my ass in the shop. Shin bang is killing me so bad this year I actually had to split after 90 minutes last week. On a POWDER DAY.

In your opinion, how essential is the lower booster strap (the one riveted to the Burton?) Overall, does having it make that much difference in the forward flex pattern, or what? Look to me like it's key, but I'm just wondering your opinion vs. just bolting a ratchet strap straight to the shell and just using the top booster.

gawd damn that's a sweet solution

BSS: The lower booster strap is not quite essential, particularly if you have the top booster. These boots respond so well to a booster strap. It really helps the progressive forward flex. My goal with the lower booster was to allow the strap to conform as naturally as possible to the shell. The booster will sit flush on the boot, allowing the strap to wrap around the shell like that crazy girl we all banged in college who squeezed you so tight you were short of breath. I would say try without the booster on the bottom, but one on top for sure.

As to the back of the boot, where the "O in dalbello is, go about .5" to either side and drill. There is a recess back there for the flex shim that the T nuts fit in nice and out of the way. Its really simple.

Bizz- We can do this.

To all having shin problems, If you use a thermo liner, there are some heating solutions that might help. Take a strip of neoprene or other squishy 3mm thick substance about 1.5-2 inches wide, and run it down your entire shin to the top of your foot. Center this piece on the angled part of your shin bone. Tape to your shins and mold the liners with that on. This will cause the liner to form to the outer sides of your shin, creating a pocket and alleiviating stress on the sensitive part of the shin. Also, stand neutral when heating, don't drive forward a bunch. This will give you more cushioning.
any other questions, post up
regards
Hunter

I'm wondering if anyone else knows of a larger, wider version of a Booster strap that might be used in another industry
(construction? trucking? military?) that could be sourced to do the same thing, because you really don't need the cushion
part of the Burton since it's on the outside of the shell.

You just need a much wider strap with a similar type of buckle

the buckle they use is called a "cam buckle" and if you search on Google for 'cam buckle' you get lots of smaller ones used
as tie-downs for shipping things, but I couldn't find any wide ones

maybe this will jog the memory for somebody who knows where to find a wider cam buckle because they aren't very
expensive at all and would probably work as well

i want a krypton foot

cross-post from Gapic

looks like Dalbello and Plake had the same idea for '08






Today, 02:58 PM
Philpug
EpicSki Patroller Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Newtown Square, PA -ASC in 07
Posts: 9,499


"Il Moro", Plakes new Krypton for 08

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http://farm1.static.flickr.com/179/3...7b437e1b42.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/131/3...178c5fca93.jpg

It should be interesting design. From what I understand, Plake has been working onthis for a couple of seasons and it has been his boot of choice. The boot will be softer than current Kryptons and sounds like it will be the bumpers boot of choice.

Originally Posted by SquawMan

I'm wondering if anyone else knows of a larger, wider version of a Booster strap that might be used in another industry
(construction? trucking? military?) that could be sourced to do the same thing, because you really don't need the cushion
part of the Burton since it's on the outside of the shell.

You just need a much wider strap with a similar type of buckle

the buckle they use is called a "cam buckle" and if you search on Google for 'cam buckle' you get lots of smaller ones used
as tie-downs for shipping things, but I couldn't find any wide ones

maybe this will jog the memory for somebody who knows where to find a wider cam buckle because they aren't very
expensive at all and would probably work as well

The standard is 1" buckles. NRS makes a 1.5" that might work. It's pretty burley. I know Army Navy stores sell cam buckles and at one point I saw a 2" but you'd have to have someone sew the strap for you.

http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.a...45&deptid=1188

Any word 300 on how these have held up or did you go with the il moro?