Dynafit with/without brakes

[Scotsman50]

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.

^^^^ I agree with this. Hated the brakes on my comforts so on my Drifters I didn't put on brakes and went with BnD ski leash. Seemed like the perfect solution with break away connection for avy terrain. I had a couple of falls( I know, I know.... don't fall) and in both cases( one was on hardpack and the the ski went for a 1000 ft ride, the other in deep pow and ski was left buried and took a long time to find) the leashes could not resist the forces of the fall and broke. I tired strengthening the breakable connection until I was sure it could withstand a fall in deep pow( ski tip buried and skier exerting a force on the tie/ring by falling forwards) and with help from an engineer buddy we worked out that the connection would have to be so strong that release in avalanche could not be guaranteed. In the end I gave up on them and went back to brakes and to my joy have had no problems with the brakes on my Verticals and FT-12's and from my experience, the brake problem was on my comforts. I'm now back to brakes and gave my leashes away and am much happier as I spent a lot of time in the resort and the sidecountry/BC on the same day. The weight of the brakes is negligable for me. Still know a lot of friends who dig the leashes and swear by them though so to each his own.
I

[Skirotica]

FYI, i got my dynafits in the mail and they actually came with a leash. Was impressed to see that. I did opt for brakes through gear swap but haven't decided if I'll mount them. For my first run I'll go with leashes. Will decided from there.

[skifishbum]

I'm in the non weight weenie, don't like leashes, or being attached to my skis one the've released, brakes work fine for me camp

[I've seen black diamonds!]

I swing both ways when it comes to brakes. I like them for skiing trees. Prefer leashes for open, steeper terrain. I've had B&D leases save me from one-ski descents a couple times.

[powndnstein]

tour and ski with dynafits and the dynafit leash, but hook them up to the heel piece thru the spaces in the plastic riser. didn't like the way they affected the toe piece clamping into tour mode etc.
I'll take my chances with skies attached as thats how we used to ski back in the day before brakes.

[Jonathan S.]

didn't like the way they affected the toe piece clamping into tour mode etc.

Only if you loop it through the toe lever hole in a way that somehow jams up against the plastic piece. Otherwise, easy to loop it over the top in a secure manner that doesn’t interfere at all with the toe lever operation.

[Jonathan S.]

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 [...]

The majority of your tours . . . above treeline in the Presidentials during winter and early spring?!? Or do you have other locations in mind?

[SamMc]

I personally dont use leashes or brakes (which arent available for the plum guide). I figure that on a very steep face, if the ski comes off, I should be more concerned about my life than the ski and I doubt a brake would help anyways. In powder, brakes dont change a thing. I generally dont need to take my ski off to switch from touring to ski mode. My only concern is putting my ski on after bootpacking and being on a steep face. I don't want that ski to slide away.

My solution? I have to take off my backpack to get my skis off anyways, I just grab the crampons which are in an accessible pocket, clip it to my ski. My trick is to put the ski down above my uphill leg, put my weight on my uphill leg, ice axe/pole/whippet to stabilize, and cross over my lower boot and clip in. Shift weight, cross your feet back to normal and your set on a downhill ski ready to put your uphill ski on.

The leg crossover method means that no only will you have a ski crampon holding your ski in place, youll have your leg and possible a pole preventing it from tumbling.

Leashes would be good for the powder days to not lose a ski but when I'm touring/skiing through brush I've had leashes catch and I'm afraid it break when I want it to. So for the powder days i just revert to the colourful surveyor flagging tape which I stuff inside my boot. Maybe a little bit of a hassle but keep in mind that I pull up my pant leg to unfasten upper buckles when i switch from skiing to touring anyways so honestly its more effective, cheaper.

My conclusion, ski crampons, the crossover technique (takes a little practice but really simple) and bright colourful surveyor tape.

Oh one last thing, your probably wondering how i take off the ski crampon once i have the boot in. Important, I dont slide the crampon into its notch. I just place in on the ski under the boot, clip in the toe first, swivel the binding, take out the crampon and snap the heel.
If you think this is too much fiddling and dont want to lose the crampon, well, it's never happened to me, most of the sliding happens while your trying to put your boot in and it will prevent the crampon from coming out. The method I use to get into the binding is to put my heel down, flush to the binding in touring mode and clip down in one motion (takes practice) but there are other ways of putting on the binding that work.

Sorry for such a long post, hope its helpfull

[Nevada29er]

I have to agree that dynafit brakes are pretty worthless. Yesterday, on my first outing with FT12s, I had a runaway ski in transition, on a 40d chute. Luckily, a small tree caught it for me only about 30 yards down. Not fun to have to downclimb/post hole after your ski, when you're at the bottom of your run.

[Oztracised]

Another B&D leash user here. Like others, I have seen skis with Dynafit brakes (original Vertical FT binders) continue downhill unimpeded once the binding released. This hasn't happened to anyone I know with B&D leashes, plus they easily stretch enough that they don't need to be unclipped to fit skins, have lunch, etc. And they're lighter and there's less to go wrong.

Where I live (Oz) there is usually zero avalanche danger, so release in avy conditions is generally a non-issue for me, so YMMV.

[zeroforhire]

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.

bumping this up.

How has the dan baileys method been holding up? Does anyone else have a line on durable stretchy phone cords? I might just cave and get the BD ones, but like making my own stuff, so thought I would see what other options are out there.

[neck beard]

Here's an old thread.

Think I saw something related in one of the huge Plum threads, but can't find it.

If you ski with no brakes, all your weight and impact forces rest directly on the heel pins. With brakes, you have support under your heel that comes into play after certain amount of downward force. My concern is breaking heel pins. I don't huck, but getting around terrain means taking drops. Has this been a problem for others?

[flipsRscary]

I don't really huck, but have taken a couple small drops without brakes and my pins look fine. I'd be more concerned about the pivot than the pins to be honest.

I did pick up my skis and drop them on the ground today, without thinking about the fact that there are no brakes on them. Luckily a tree stump keept the consequence under control, but still, it's a habit I have from my alpine bindings that I'll need to break.

[BFD]

My son does some hucking (anything in site) The pins do not seem to break. The heel posts do. So I guess the energy is transferred there. Also the heel peice on the boot can break.

[Mantana1]

I recently went brakeless on my FT12s and doing only small drops, haven't noticed an issue with the heel pins.

Also, these are the minimalist leashes that I've been using and very happy with.
http://www.wildsnow.com/1446/dynafit...y-leash-strap/

[wooley12]

Just checked my One's with two pair of older Comforts and a new ST. I do believe that the idea of the brake supporting the boot is a myth. I have never broken a pin but it appears that by the time your boot bottomed with the brake heel pad against the ski, the pins would have broken. Or heel post. I inspect the heel posts with the annual season maintenance.

[neck beard]

I can hardly pull paper from between my Titans in ST brake pad. So at least in my case, the brake pad is firmly in contact with the boot.

[gregL]

I can hardly pull paper from between my Titans in ST brake pad.

Stick a screwdriver in there instead of the paper and see if you can push the brake pad down further. If so, I'd vote for no brake and the Plum Yak sort of heel pad if I was a hucker.

[neck beard]

Stick a screwdriver in there instead of the paper and see if you can push the brake pad down further.

I'm an idiot. Brake pad pressure against the sole rubber came from the springs. I can depress the pad another 4-5mm or so. Meaning Wooly is right. The brake pad does nothing.

Can't afford Plums. Considering Speed Classics to save weight over Verticals... and to save money. Speeds Classics are half the price of Yaks.

[TahoeBC]

bumping this up.

How has the dan baileys method been holding up? Does anyone else have a line on durable stretchy phone cords? I might just cave and get the BD ones, but like making my own stuff, so thought I would see what other options are out there.

I've been using these for a couple years now, cut off the larger heavy clip and use keyrings/zip ties (cheap to by in bulk on flea bay) to attach binding.

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/pag...68&cat=1,42207

[plugboots]

The Dan Bailey cords have held up well, (50 days last year, 20 this year?), but I haven't taken a beater since I put them on. They serve the purpose I thought they would though. I can use them at the top to keep the ski from taking off, and they're long enough to stay attached while I re-skin at the bottom.
I think they would break, or my paper clip attachment point would break or bend out in a big fall, which I guess would be the same as if I was in an avalanche.

[HHTELE]

Reviving an old thread.

Moving some some st10s to a different ski.
Want to try brakeless. In my rear housing, I have two springs. Do I omit the smaller spring?

[userA]

ask nice for gregL
b

[wooley12]

No. Use both springs. Dynafit supplies brakes with new spring sets. Some will say brakes/no brakes require different springs. I tested and don't buy it.

[cat in january]

Think you are asking about removing the brakes. If so, go to Wildsnow for an easy explanation with pictures.