Bindings, what do you set yours at?

[eldereldo]

I keep seeing references to people looking for bindings that go to at least 16 or similiar. Are people (Other than those hucking off 100 ft + cliffs) actually setting their binings this high, or is just that a binding works better set towards the low end of it's range? I ski with mine set around 7-8, on binders that go to 12, I don't release, I ski fast and pretty hard (I think), so what's the deal?

[Below Zero]

How much do you weigh? 7 or 8 - is that what the chart puts you at?

[seatosky]

12345678

[MacDaddy]

10-12

I'm no HARDCOREMOFO!

[eldereldo]

I weight 180lbs, and I set my bindings so they don't pop me out in my normal skiing. I might set them up one in heavy spring snow, but I regularly leave them around 7.

Perhaps the high settings some are using is why there seems to be so many knee injuries around here? I can twist my foot out of my binding or pull my heel up with a bit of effort, but not enough to tweek anything so if I started a slow twisting fall I can easily force my bindings to release.

[Dr. Send]

I tele. Sucks to your ass-mar.

[PacRimRider1]

well, it depends. I'm usually at 11-12 ish but on the deep days I like to crank, subscribing to the "rather lose a knee than a ski" theory. I can't remember any falls in pow that I wish a ski had come off, but many come to mind where hours could have been spend slaying rather than digging. Then again, both of my knees still work.

[PulverSchwein]

I run Rossi axial 140s with DIN at 9.5. I set it this high because I don't want that ski popping off due to some short heavy load while I'm charging. This happened a few times when I first got them and was running around 8. It put me in some sketch situations by either going down in a dangerous area or managing some freaky speed shutdown on one leg.

I could have got away with a 12 DIN binder set but I bitched a set of Solly's too quick by running 9 on a max 10 binder. The cost wasn't much different for the 14s and it should help the binding perform closer to new for a longer time.

[72Twenty]

11.


Becasue I'm a badass.


Err, I mean fatass.

[eldereldo]

well, it depends. I'm usually at 11-12 ish but on the deep days I like to crank, subscribing to the "rather lose a knee than a ski" theory. I can't remember any falls in pow that I wish a ski had come off, but many come to mind where hours could have been spend slaying rather than digging. Then again, both of my knees still work.

Hmmmmm, six months rehab or buy a new set of skiis.... I'll go for the skiis.. especially considering you can get a new set of skis in hours and be back to the slopes. How about those Pieps things for skis?

[mrryde]

I run 9/10, because I'm fat

[jump]

Typically 8-9

[Skip Dooley]

11.5 in park

13 for cliffs etc.
15 in big mtn. comps

I weigh 143 lbs and am 6ft1.
13 seems kinda high but they still come off when they need to.

p.s. It seems that Acl(rearward twist) falls have not much to do with din. Esp. since high din bindos don;t usually have upward toe release.

[LIP]

Hmmmmm, six months rehab or buy a new set of skiis.... I'll go for the skiis.. especially considering you can get a new set of skis in hours and be back to the slopes. How about those Pieps things for skis?

Think I would rather find my buddys instead of their skis, or their dogs for that matter.

[GFP]

What do you consider the greater evil: pre-release in the crux of a line or no-release when you need it?

I personally can deal with the occasional pre-release, plus I'm light, and I can ski K-12 with one shoe, one pole, switch, in a whiteout. So I'm at 8.

[Eldo]

Just realized I've been using the same setting since I was a skinny teenager and have never thought that I might need to change it.

Back in the bad old days of bindings we always erred on the side of caution. Some of the technology was pretty suspect. As EE mentioned our basic safety test back then was seeing if you could torque yourself out of a binding when you were just standing there.

But I am wondering if I could get away with a higher setting, due to more modern bindings? I dropped a ski last winter in pow and spent half an hour digging for it.

Any ski shop/ski rep type people want to tell me what the suggested DIN setting is for me? 6'5" 205 lbs. Advanced skier. An oldie but a smoothie.

(Snowboarding is sure waay less technical than skiing )

[Z]

Last year had a pair of S900s. Started em out 1 above my chart range, 9-10. Ended up not being happy with em even set at 13.

On the other hand, all my 8-18 binders are set at 11 and i couldnt be happier with em.

Anyone have a similiar experience?

[DINMS]

I'm like 9.... Meh.

[thommy21]

I run 9 on my Looks most of the time. I'm 195-200#

[Endlessseason]

10 1/2 to 11 is the perfect setting for me. I've always been able to release when I need to and I've never had a prob, other than when I used to use Marker bindings. I had several broken bones from pre-releases with those stupid things, even set on 10-10 1/2.

The reason I blew my knee out two years ago wasn't due to my DIN setting. It was due to me being impatient and an idiot. I had grabbed old skis for spring skiing that fateful May day. I didn't even realize, until I was on the hill, that I had not changed my bindings to accomodate the longer boots I had purchased since the last time I had used those skis. I didn't want to get back on the tram and drive all the way home to get another pair of skis, so I went ahead and jammed my half-inch-too-long boots into bindings set at 11. They weren't coming off for anything. The effective DIN was prolly 30 or something.

Anyways, so later in the day, when I was grabbed by a snowsnake while traveling at over 50 mph--instead of jettisoning my skis, sliding to a stop, jumping up, and laughing about the whole tumble--I cartwheeled down the slope in a whirling, thrashing, gyrating fashion with what felt like lead egg-beaters attached to my feet.

As a result, I now have what was once part of my upper leg bolted to my knee bones. It is holding together just fine but there is a permanent loss of sensation, strength, and a certain degree of pain that has not gone away.

We learn lots of stuff on this forum. One bit of wisdom I can assuredly share with the collective is that under no circumstances should you ever do this...





______________________________
"You say potato, I say starch-based tuber."

[karma]

5'3 150 and short sole length, Chart says 8.5 I run em at 10 most of the time, sometimes crank them to 12 and the one time i needed them to release at that setting they came right off... This is on Look Rossi's, my one reamining pair of M1200's will forever remain at 12, thankfully I dont really like the skis they are mounted to anyway.

[jibij]

I weigh 143 lbs and am 6ft1.

Are you transparent?

[MakersTeleMark]

HH pos #4.

[p.blz]

10-11 for me.

I think you're better to be closer to the middle of the range then the top end thus I like 14 din bindings better than 12.

For some people, it's more about being seen with bindings that go to 16 or 18 than it is about needing springs that strong to keep your skis on your feet.

[seatosky]

So far fully 10% of maggots screw their boots to their skis. That's a pretty high percentage - so high, in fact, that I'm willing to give it a shot.

However I'm not really into skiing across the parking lot at the end of the day, nor am I into skiing into the bar at the bottom of the lift when I want a beer.

So the best thing to do, as far as I can tell, is GET ORGANIZED!

I made a list:

1) circa 1986 Nordica rear-entry boots (purple if possible)
2) 3 pairs lumberjack woolly socks (for parking lot walking pleasure)
3) 8 1 1/4" woodscrews
4) 6-month-growth 'scary drunk' beard
5) 1 pair heavy gardening gloves to protect against rope-tow rash

What am I missing? At the effective DIN of 23-26, how much speed can I expect to carry while holding onto the back bumper of my brother's '85 Suburban, before prerelease?

WWMD!?!?!?