Plum guide tech binding

[auvgeek]

The ampersand is key!

[Scotsman50]

Those BD leashes are supposed break away for serious wrecks, they come with zip ties designed to break. That being said I have ejected and those leashes are long and very elastic and I have never had an issue with them hitting me ever. You can also take the ski off pull the skin and put the ski back on with out taking the leash off due to it elasticity. I am perfectly happy with the leashes, and I am 6"4" 250lbs.

Sorry don't like BD skis leashes.. I was being all Euro and decided I didn't want brakes so bought the leashes. Ejected...leashes broke at zip tie..ski ran off...goodbye ski! Upgraded to stronger zip tie. Caught a tip in heavy snow...200 lbs moving at high speed pulling on buried ski..leash broke. Then I calculate what the strength of the zip tie would have to be to resist loading put on it in a heavy fall and calculated that if stong enough to resist heavy fall ,they would not probably break in an avy either and I don't want my skis on in an avy even if connected by a 6' ft leash.

BD leashes... seem like a good concept but from my experience..... they break at the zip tie in all but a very mellow fall and who wants to lose a ski in the BC.
Got over my Euroness and put brakes back on all my three pair of dynafits. Feel much better.

Edit to add other reasons why BD leashes suck: Transitons...messed up my transition times and at transitions I have no peer. Bootpacking... really annoying having all that cord dangling/wrapped around your skis when bootpacking. ON the ski rack...damn things vibrate in the wind and whistle... sorry I really hate these leashes.....very disappointed in them.
Plus all that coiled leash cord around my boots was effecting my sartorial elegance.

[auvgeek]

Damn, scottsman. You prefer Drifters over DPS, and you don't like B&D leashes. My garish world is crashing down around me!

But seriously, thanks for the perspective. Will definitely be a little cautious the first few times out on the B&D leashes.

[gregL]

Worst hit I ever took from one of my own skis - eight stitches in the forehead and lots of screaming from the chairs above - was using brakes.

[The Gnarwhale]

FWIW, Garrett Grove's photo of his Plums. Doesn't sound like they made it many days before failing.

[thin cover]

^^^^^ I snapped a toe wing last year in a bad spot, plum took care of it right away, i was the first failure they said. This looks interesting, I would like to know what plum says about that. What was the circumstance?? just skiing? or was he jumping off something? I just surrendered to the idea that tech binders for my size and purposes are for skiing pow in trees here on the EC with out jumping off anything, which is 80% of my skiing. Anything steep or firm and I will have dukes or f-12's on my feet.


Scotsman- They are not for every body. I just prefer the leashes did not like the brakes and thought their effectiveness was minimal for an escaped ski. Most I know use the leashes.

[Scotsman50]

Scotsman- They are not for every body. I just prefer the leashes did not like the brakes and thought their effectiveness was minimal for an escaped ski. Most I know use the leashes.

To each his own...just giving my cautionary tale. When they first came out I was on them like a pig on a truffle...seemed like a great idea but didn't work in practice.....most I know don't use leashes anymore. Clincher for me was avy terrain implications.

[auvgeek]

FWIW, Garrett Grove's photo of his Plums. Doesn't sound like they made it many days before failing.

I'm not seeing any pic? Is it just me?

EDIT: For some reason my computer doesn't like TGR at the moment. Disregard the above.

[billyhoyle]

Had a chance to fondle these on the weekend. Very nice workmanship indeed. ^^That sheared pin makes me pucker a bit though, but one report thus far isn't all that bad really IMHO.

[thin cover]

Had a chance to fondle these on the weekend. Very nice workmanship indeed. ^^That sheared pin makes me pucker a bit though, but one report thus far isn't all that bad really IMHO.

read this page again, there are two failures so far, not one

[billyhoyle]

Ahh fair enough. For some reason the impact of a toe wing failure didn't register in my fragile little mind. I stand corrected.

Can you elaborate on the circumstances of your failure? Were you hucking off something, or was it something much more tame than that?

[auvgeek]

A little more info can be found in the other Plum Guide thread (discussion is mainly pg 4-5).

Though if TC wants to share more info, I'm all for that.

[adrenalated]

One of my coworkers straight up exploded a Plum Guide a couple weeks ago at Loveland on a demo day. The binding was on a Black Diamond demo ski, and the rep who set the bindings (a respected member of the TGR community) is positive that she set the bindings correctly. The plastic around the pins on the heel shattered and the entire heel unit was shoved backwards on the track.

This happened on the new BD Justice 185cm (a fairly soft ski), on a blue groomer at Loveland in the middle of a turn, big/powerful guy with a Scarpa Skookum boot. Our theory is that he flexed the ski hard enough to shorten the distance between the toe and heel of the binding, the binding hit his boot heel and broke. Wish I had taken a picture of the binding. He normally skis Dynafit Vertical FT12s on 191cm Voile Chargers with no issues.

So I guess make that three failures, not two.

[sqikunst]

"she" set the bindings correctly

Naw jk...

"The plastic around the pins on the heel shattered and the entire heel unit was shoved backwards on the track."

Two things to remember if its busting out of the track and it had just been adjusted then it was not tightened enough. Busting out of pins probably occured while the binding was sliding in the track as the force became more acute on the pins. With the leverage on the very end of the pins coupled with the binding sliding in the track a dyna would hold out either.

Snapped pins are part of tech bindings. To go out without spares is stupid. This is meant in a BC sense not groomer day related.

From the models I have handled the pins sit directly on metal. With plastic only behind the holding head. Where is all this "plastic" on the PLUM's??

[thin cover]

^^^^ Guess I never checked but how hard is it to install pins if you do indeed snap them in the BC?

My toe wing snapped in 10" of new that was getting manky from the sun, so the suction cup effect of deep heavy snow had a part to play. But other than that I was making a turn on 40-45 degree pitch in the BC, went to make another and tumbled forward, self arrested, ski leash kept the ski on me so I gathered the ski and placed it on the slope and went to click in and realized the piece was gone. Broke below the pin on the crux of upward curve of the arm. Plum sent me a new toe and called me their customer of the year saying this has never happened in a year of field testing in every condition and pitch. I never had my FT-12's do this, thats for sure, and I have pounded on them in much more dire conditions than this.. Now I am reconsidering which I dont want to do.

[adrenalated]

From the models I have handled the pins sit directly on metal. With plastic only behind the holding head. Where is all this "plastic" on the PLUM's??

The black section of the binding below the pins. Maybe I remembering incorrectly and this is aluminum too? Either way, that material had shattered.

The binding didn't just move backwards on the track, it had broken at the base of the heel tower and bent at an angle. Tough to describe without a picture. That said, the scenario you present (not tightening the heel onto the track enough) does make sense and is certainly a possibility.

[marshalolson]

tech bindings break when you ski them inbounds. it just is what it is.

[sqikunst]

The binding didn't just move backwards on the track, it had broken at the base of the heel tower and bent at an angle. Tough to describe without a picture. That said, the scenario you present (not tightening the heel onto the track enough) does make sense and is certainly a possibility.

Damn!!! Is he related to either Chuck Norris or Hermann Maier??

Anything on the toe would be a bitch in the field. Changing out the pins in the heel on the other hand is no biggie. Small allen key with a torx head. Remove 4 torx screws at top of heel plate. Remove heel plate pull old broken pin out replace with new pin in screw back in the 4 torxs heel plate and you are done. If doing it in the comfort of your home little drop of loctite on each screw, just to be sure.

If ordering PLUM's get 2 extra pins. Save yourself the trouble later and just keep them in your backpack with the appropriate torx allen. Unless its howling its an easy fix.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Not sure about Plums, but with Dynafits you want to back the release setting down to nothing, or the pins and spring will go flying when you remove the top plate.

[Skidog]

Not sure about Plums, but with Dynafits you want to back the release setting down to nothing, or the pins and spring will go flying when you remove the top plate.

+1 you'll surely lose it in the snow too.. be careful.

[sqikunst]

Not sure about Plums, but with Dynafits you want to back the release setting down to nothing, or the pins and spring will go flying when you remove the top plate.

Shit forgot about that!!! so you might need a Flathead too but most sane people do....

[Sinecure]

So who is going to organize the group buy for extra pins?

[SimB]

The screws in my top plates keep untightening so I get a pretty significant heal play, does anyone have a good reason not to put some locktite in there to keep them down? Plum Guides btw.

[sqikunst]

Nope... Locktite is a pretty brittle/fracture like seal. It releases after a quick burst of energy like when giving a quick jerk on a torx allen. This is just observation by feel of screwing and unscrewing with locktite. No idea how it actually works. Marshal probably has your answer and will school us shortly.

[auvgeek]

FWIW, jondrums recommends a little locktite on each screw when swapping bindings with inserts.