Katana 108 - the resurrerection

[GHILL28]

Ha,I guess I should’ve (de)tuned them before deciding they weren’t for me? Glad they are working for you now.

Ah that's right, they were yours. I think we were dealing via text and I forgot what the TGR handle was.

The binding mounting ended up with true center closer to +1 than on the rec line with the heel plate being moved, so I may think about re-mounting them again at some point if there's adequate space between the hole edges. Not sure yet. The edge tuning was the main thing so they do smear around consistently on steep bumpy stuff between the trees really well now, but then want to be going mach 10 on the open choppy stuff too. Neat skis.

[Bandit Man]

Bandit man - where do you have yours mounted. I love my 102s so much thinking about picking these up (184 as well) but would probably want to mount a cm or two forward.

I’m on the rear line for all my recent Volkls, and I’m only in a 295-mm BSL. I like driving the shovels and with that large sweet spot, it feels perfect for 184’s.

On the topic of hooky K108’s, as has been shared, it’s all about detuning. My K108’s are soooo easy to slide the tails around, especially when scrubbing speed above 50-mph and coming to a quick stop. Might be the easiest ski I have to perform this maneuver on.

Also, I’ll admit that the long-ish rocker but minimal splay might give some pause on how aggressive to get with detuning. It was a progression for me, but I feel like detuning really allows the 3D sidecut to shine, especially in heavy, dense snow.

[Beder]

Another Katana in the wild.
6 inches new on top of variable yesterday at Targhee. Leftovers today and tomorrow should be another powder day. For the second season Katana goes along on western road trips.





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[klauss]

Just mounted these up for a buddy. Quite envious. Good thing we have the same BSL.

I told him to get the 192 dynastar m-free 108s a few years ago and he went 182 instead and was under-gunned. I reckon these 184s I recommended will do the trick and open his eyes.

[swissbro]

Spent the morning skiing 14” of untracked dense two layer powder with my 184 Katanas mounted on the back line for bsl 305. No tip dive and able to make any turn shape without effort as long as you keep some forward pressure on them. Smooth as silk and nimble if you want them to be. I thought my Revolt 114s were better. They’re not.


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[Bandit Man]

Spent the morning skiing 14” of untracked dense two layer powder with my 184 Katanas mounted on the back line for bsl 305. No tip dive and able to make any turn shape without effort as long as you keep some forward pressure on them. Smooth as silk and nimble if you want them to be. I thought my Revolt 114s were better. They’re not.


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Interesting take, especially given you’ve skied the Revolt 114. K108’s are surprisingly good in pow and stellar in the leftovers.

[rod9301]

Is anyone skiing these mounted at +2? I have been obliged to mount an old pair of 184s here due to hole conflict.


Currently not enjoying them much. The skis don't feel particularly balanced and. to my mind, there is too much tail and not enough tip. I generally prefer skis mounted -11-12 cm from the true centre (Cochise 106 and MX 98 are my main skis).

I mounted mine first at +2 and they keep diving in powder. Went to back line and they ski great in powder and everywhere else.

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[Robik]

Interesting take, especially given you’ve skied the Revolt 114. K108’s are surprisingly good in pow and stellar in the leftovers.

I rediscovered K108 for myself today. Not sure what Solitude reported today but caught afternoon rope drop in Honeycomb after 3 days of snow and man these rip pow. Usually for these conditions I would grab BMT 122 or Revolt 121 but today I didn't expect any significant accumulations and K108 didn't disappoint. They definitely don't float and smear like those mentioned above but I didn't notice any tip dive as long as they had some speed (I'm on 191, mounted at +5mm from the rear line). But they get even better once stuff is tracked out. Pure stability.

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[GHILL28]

4 days at Alyeska on beat up conditions with no fresh snow since the prior week. Saddest thing ever. These things are psycho fast on the groomers, holy hell. Very composed and stable and easy to pivot going across the long narrow traverse lines much faster than I should have been.

The places where I noticed some issues were steep bumpy refrozen terrain (really hard conditions) and heavy chopped up cement. The hard bumps were taking me for a bit of a ride and more speed wasn't bringing them into more composure, and I was having a difficult time getting the tails to release in the cement stuff. This might have to do with the +1 mounting. Or the pilot. I noticed I would end up in the backseat a bit on the exit of really steep bumpy soft terrain turns (occasionally). That may be more on me.

There's one chute up there where you have to smear down through a crack for a ways. Skis were happy as can be sliding sideways down over chalky bumps.

[GHILL28]

I picked up a 2nd set of 184's to try to mount some demo bindings to (in the hope that the previous drillings will work for some demo bindings I have kicking around). Reading through here it sounds like most people with the 184's are ending up back at the line after experimenting with forward mounts. I don't think I'll have quite enough room to re-mount my current ones since they're more like +0.75.

[roQer]

Is there any noticeable difference between the 22/23 model and the 21/22? On soothski, it looks like there is, for example in the straight pull tape length measurement.

[Bandit Man]

Is there any noticeable difference between the 22/23 model and the 21/22? On soothski, it looks like there is, for example in the straight pull tape length measurement.

I have the 20-21 184 (black and yellow) and just bought a backup pair of 2023 184’s. They have the same straight pull length.

[GHILL28]

Same thing here. Have the yellow ones and new darker colored ones and they're dimensionally the same.

[enginerd]

Anyone want to play a scenarios game? …skier is 6’, 185-190. Traditional. Likes heavy metal skis. Closest skis in the Quiver include 184 og m102, 187XXL and 192 UL GPO with guardians. Love all these skis. feeling like the XXL is a little long in the tooth and the GPO tends a little wide for a travel ski. Might be time for a k108??

Resort boot is a Mach 1 LV 130. Touring boot is a scarpa quattro xt with a shorter BSL.

What do you mount on a katana k108?

Option 1: duke pt 16 on the rear line for the Mach 1 BSL. Move heel fwd for the scarpa. ski it mostly at the resort but also can do some side country in Tahoe or on travel with the touring boots (one does not travel with two pair of boots so might be bummed trying to ski these hard in bounds with the scarpa?).

Option 2: put pivots on the k108 and forget about it as a sidecountry ski. get yet another 108 chargerish type ski - say the mfree108 and put dukes on that.

Option 3 - n: suggestions from the collective!

Edit to add: another pondering is dukes on vwerks katanas and pivots on k108. But seriously? A quiver of m102, k108 and vwk??? And would I just unload the GPO at that point? It’s also such a good ski…maybe m102 + k108 is too much overlap and I should just forget about k108 and put dukes on the mfree? It’s a wonder how I get any sleep these days…

Thoughts?


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[Robik]

Have had all 3 and don't see any overlap between K108 and M102 as long as they are both mounted with alpine clamps. There's no way I would want K108 even as a remotely side country setup. KVW would be way better contender, specially if you size down from your K108.

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[enginerd]

That’s kinda what I figured. Can’t imagine going shorter than 184 in the kvw but that ski does seem like a great all’rounder for the soft. Just not sure about dukes vs just straight tech bindings for a kvw.


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[rod9301]

If you're asking where to mount, i had the k108 mounted forward and i had to re drill it. It was way too forward and it made it somewhat difficult in powder.

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[Shorty_J]

If you're asking where to mount, i had the k108 mounted forward and i had to re drill it. It was way too forward and it made it somewhat difficult in powder.

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The K108 is too forward?

You mounted behind the rear line?

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[rod9301]

No, center after the 1st was to forward.. even so, the binding seems mounted in the center, compared to the old katanas

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[Shorty_J]

No, center after the 1st was to forward.. even so, the binding seems mounted in the center, compared to the old katanas

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Ok... different strokes for different folks... I like that middle line for how I ski but I haven't heard of anyone going behind the back line.

Sounds like you are consistent with that.

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[GoldenBC]

Lots of Katanas left at our shop. 40 off. We don’t sell online but I can make it happen to get them to people here.

[Sylvan]

another pondering is dukes on vwerks katanas and pivots on k108.

Thoughts?


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^That was my setup last year, I was happy. Both 191s. Could see a tech binding on the KVW, but they also work as a 'fun' or below treeline resort pow ski. Those two w/ a GPO for pow and an M102 for firm you'd be well covered. Honestly I could run K108 and KVW and be content 97% of days. Wanna have fun? KVW. Wanna smash? K108. Exercise? The first one. 6'2, 190, also traditional, @BComb.

[enginerd]

Thanks, Sylvan! Great data points! Super helpful.


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[Velomayniac]

First day on the 191 K108s. White ribbon type thing but I could get a feel for them.

I really like them so far. They feel like Volkls, surprise surprise. Feel kind of like my M4 Mantras and the old Katanas, but the 3D isn’t as pivoty as full rocker obviously. I need more time to see if K108s are as good as those older ones.

3D radius doesn’t feel unpredictable at all yet, hopefully I feel the same way on steeps. I thought it would be unpredictable like asym was for me, but it’s not even close. So far 3D feels pivoty when I want ski to, and not pivoty when I don’t.

I’m surprised by how soft and easy going they are. I wanted an easier going Pro Rider/Monster 108 and these are definitely that. Quite a bit easier going than I expected honestly, the tips do flap a little but turn radius still feels very long when not pivoting, and they feel very stable so far. More stable than the longest length Enforcers for sure, but not quite as damp. I need more time.

These could be my new daily driver. They have some traits I like compared to M4 Mantras, but lets see if they are nearly as good in bumps. The on call pivotyness makes me think they might be decent in big bumps.

[SnakeMagnet]

M102 is the best bump ski at that width I've used. 3D is such black magic but it just works. Katana should play like it's only slightly fatter.