Marker Baron Durabilty

[ski school graduate]

Off the advice of a couple people I bought the new Baron 13 instead of the duke, mostly to save a little weight. But after reading reviews from this site and others I have mixed feeling on whether I made the right choice. My concern is the plastic vs. the metal parts and the barons long term durability. Is the Duke really that more durable than the baron? What other sacrifices have I made to shave a few grams?

I'm 5'11 and around 170 lbs. Snowboarder who has recently switched to skiing, so you could say I'm more of aspiring aggressive skier. The 13 DIN is more than enough for me at the moment. Looking for others thoughts or experience with these. Should I keep them or sell them and buy the dukes?

[ChowdahRidah]

Thank you for posting this... I have the same question. Is that essentially the choice?
Duke = more durability and can get a higher DIN
v.
Baron = Lighter and less durable

Other than that the same?

[Jarle]

I think you'll be fine. If 13 is more then enough they should'nt break

[IJ]

I've skied my baron's for 80+ days and have had zero issues with them. I'm 6ft 180 and they are sitting around a 10-11 din. I don't think you should have any issue. Unless you are hucking 20+ft cliffs you should be set. I've been very happy.

[toast2266]

I've got a bunch of days on barons with no issues. Most of the issues I've heard of with them are the same issues seen on the Duke (AFD, overtightening center screw, etc.)

[hutash]

Same here, two seasons on Barons and no issues.

[ski school graduate]

thanks for the feedback guys. It's a relief to hear that people with good amount of days on the barons have had no issues.

[nickwm21]

At 6' 200# riding with a din of 10, hucking up to 30ft. I am not a binding breaker. My Naxos are going on 3 seasons (no hucking of course)

Convince me that Barons will work. I would rather save weight and money.

[lemonhead]

I rocked the barons for a 2 seasons before I went to dynafits. As long as you don't regularly break alpine bindings you won't break the barons. Just be careful switching from tour to ski mode. Make sure the track is free from ice and snow, don't put a lot of force on the lever, rather push the heel piece forward and they should be fine. Also, check to make sure that the screws stay tight, in the shop a lot of dukes/barons come in with really loose screws.

[Jarle]

At 6' 200# riding with a din of 10, hucking up to 30ft. I am not a binding breaker. My Naxos are going on 3 seasons (no hucking of course)

Convince me that Barons will work. I would rather save weight and money.

I actually doubt that they will hold up for a 200# guy that hucks 30 ft.

I'm 145-150 and broke dukes like they were crackers...

Congrats to being able to ride such a low DIN at your weight and ability, I envy you

[F.D.V.]

Likely because they were installed incorrectly and didn't have the proper toe height.

Let me guess, you broke several AFDs?

I have three years in now on two pairs of the old black dukes without issue. Also have a pair of barons which are still working fine.

I actually doubt that they will hold up for a 200# guy that hucks 30 ft.

I'm 145-150 and broke dukes like they were crackers...

Congrats to being able to ride such a low DIN at your weight and ability, I envy you

[Jarle]

Likely because they were installed incorrectly and didn't have the proper toe height.

Let me guess, you broke several AFDs?

I have three years in now on two pairs of the old black dukes without issue. Also have a pair of barons which are still working fine.

Actually everything was properly adjusted (all the fucking time since the screws unscrewed themselves so I had to adjust them at least once a day).

Broke AFDs, screws to the AFD, the ramp the afd slides on, bottomplate etc...

They're good binders, but they're still touringbinders. Actually, they're the best in their segment. But the DIN suggests they will hold up for more than they actually do

Been discussed many times before.... Just putting a warning out there since I actually only know one person that has'nt had any problems with them

[el hefe]

^^ What were you doing to break them like crackers? I have had them for 2 seasons now and no issues at all.

I have more issues with my solly STH 16's then my dukes. I am about 155lbs and would say that I am a aggressive skier, lots of big drops etc... Mainly used for sled skiing and touring though, so lots of pow, not much resort.

[marshalolson]

FWIW i have broken more salomon 916s and 920s than i have dukes.

very big/strong person (6'2'' 215lbs built like a linebacker), who goes big-ish (40,50,60) regularly.

[nickwm21]

Congrats to being able to ride such a low DIN at your weight and ability, I envy you

I like to release when I stack it. I don't like blown knees.

[el hefe]

Too many hucks to flat landings maybe?

[Jarle]

^^ What were you doing to break them like crackers? I have had them for 2 seasons now and no issues at all.

I have more issues with my solly STH 16's then my dukes. I am about 155lbs and would say that I am a aggressive skier, lots of big drops etc... Mainly used for sled skiing and touring though, so lots of pow, not much resort.

Skiing all conditions, including hardpack.

FWIW i have broken more salomon 916s and 920s than i have dukes.

very big/strong person (6'2'' 215lbs built like a linebacker), who goes big-ish (40,50,60) regularly.

Holy cow, thats impressive, how can metall break before plastic? I wish I could stick 60-footers, thats about as big as I've ever seen anybody go (Julian lopez in Revelstoke was about that height on his drop final day and about the size the guys in movies huck when they go big). I mean, I do it sometimes, when I sleep :P

Assuming you're always going for full on stomp on the big stuff, otherwise bindings hardly matters since you're not landing on them.

Anyways, cudos for going big

I like to release when I stack it. I don't like blown knees.

I like releasing too, I just wish I could do it without pre-realeases on a lower DIN. All cred to you since you obviously have a really good position on your skis

Coombs stayed in his binders, no matter how shitty piece of plastic they ever were. All about the technique

[nickwm21]

Is the Baron built different than the Duke (more plastic)? Or is it just a lighter spring that results in the lighter weight and lower din settings?

I would think marker would build the same binding but with different springs, for simplicity and cost effectiveness. Ski companies these days are retarded so they might have spent the money redesigning the whole binding.

[ski school graduate]

Is the Baron built different than the Duke (more plastic)? Or is it just a lighter spring that results in the lighter weight and lower din settings?

I would think marker would build the same binding but with different springs, for simplicity and cost effectiveness. Ski companies these days are retarded so they might have spent the money redesigning the whole binding.

the piece that connects the heel piece to base plate and the wings on the toe are both plastic on the baron and metal on the duke.

[Kim Jong-un]

Is the Baron built different than the Duke (more plastic)? Or is it just a lighter spring that results in the lighter weight and lower din settings?

I would think marker would build the same binding but with different springs, for simplicity and cost effectiveness. Ski companies these days are retarded so they might have spent the money redesigning the whole binding.

The design is the same. Someone else can answer what's metal v. plastic on each one, cause I have a hard time telling---some stuff that looks like metal to me is probably plastic.

If you are not a big guy and shooting ski films for a living, go for the Baron if you're a 10 DIN guy. Add in the weight of skins, the crap in your backpack, etc when you go touring, and ask me to choose halfway up the hill? I'll happily give up 4 units DIN that I won't use and whatever extra metal might be in the Duke's for the lighter Barons.

If you just wanna look cool inbounds with AT gear then whatever floats your boat.

[ski school graduate]

If you are not a big guy and shooting ski films for a living, go for the Baron if you're a 10 DIN guy. Add in the weight of skins, the crap in your backpack, etc when you go touring, and ask me to choose halfway up the hill? I'll happily give up 4 units DIN that I won't use and whatever extra metal might be in the Duke's for the lighter Barons.

If you just wanna look cool inbounds with AT gear then whatever floats your boat.

I totally agree. I think a lot of people get the Dukes because there the "in" thing right now and they don't have any intentions to actually tour with them. I intend to actually use my Barons for touring, so if the only thing i'm actually sacrificing is 3 units of DIN for a lighter binding I'm more than happy to stick with the Barons.

[F.D.V.]

That and back seat landings...

Too many hucks to flat landings maybe?

[nickwm21]

I totally agree. I think a lot of people get the Dukes because there the "in" thing right now and they don't have any intentions to actually tour with them. I intend to actually use my Barons for touring, so if the only thing i'm actually sacrificing is 3 units of DIN for a lighter binding I'm more than happy to stick with the Barons.

The Barons/Dukes will be going on my Lhasa's because im looking at around 70% inbounds 30% touring/slacking. If I was going full tour Id throw my naxos on them, if I was going full resort I would slap some fks140s on.

So after this debate, I think Barons win. I wont use the 14,15,16 din, I dont usually break binders, I like saving money, and the lightweight will be nice both in and out of the resort.

Thanks for the advice all!

[El Chupacabra]

From what I can remember, the common breakage issues with Dukes (and they aren't really that common) are mostly (1) the AFD tends to crack underneath the sliding part, and (2) fore/aft slop due to the tour/ski lever rivet wallowing out the plastic around it. AFAIK, these parts are 100% identical on the Duke and the Baron.

I think I saw one set of Barons with the plastic heel bracketry broken; those brackets are metal on Dukes.

I have Dukes only because they were cheaper than Barons on end-of-season clearance deals. I don't tend to break stuff though (non-hucker).

[Jarle]

That and back seat landings...

Back seat landings don't happen, only crashes I had this winter was because of being too far forward in landings... Hell I only backslapped/landed in the backseat once in the whole season

EDIT
I had one crash that was due to backseat, underrotated a frontflip.