climbingskinsdirect.com review?

[altasnob]

Does anyone have any experience with climbingskinsdirect.com skins? They make skins up to 130 mm (versus 120 mm for Ascensions) and sell for $60 less. Out of Jackson, US made; seems like a stand up co.

[Pow4Brains]

I see a large amount of orders headed their way.........

[keksie]

some info:
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=71845

[altasnob]

I bought a pair of the 135 mm skins from climbingskinsdirect.com and cut them to fit on my praxis. Tried them out today and they worked great. Much lighter and more supple in cold weather than the BD Ascensions.

[wilcox510]

So how is the grip and glide compared to Ascensions? Does the glue seem as good? Can you actually notice a weight difference?

[laseranimal]

is it possible to not use the euro tip attachment? ie cannibalize tip and tail hardware from an old pair of skins?

[nate s]

Only one day so don't want to judge too much but so far-

-lighter and smaller than ascension
-easier to fold
-nap seems a little shorter, better glide, maybe not as much grip?
-widest tip is pretty skinny, not usable on fatties
-glue doesn't seem as sticky, big strip down the middle without glue
-will need to sew on rat tail, they were coming undone from the back tip

[altasnob]

The glue seemed just as sticky and the glide seemed the same as the Ascensions. They are thinner (and therefore lighter) than the Ascensions, so maybe you give up some durability. I'm not sure what the euro tip attachment people are talking about. I simply folded the skin through the tip loop back onto itself as they explained on their website (I use the same system on my Ascensions). I don't use a tail attachment because my skis are wide enough that its not really an issue if the tail end of the skin comes off a bit. Also, the black glueless strip down the middle is pretty essential to be able to pull a 135 mm skin apart.

I agree with Nate S that the wide tip loop is small. It worked fine on the Praxis, which are 135 mm at the waist but have a narrower tip. The tip loop would not work on my Seth Pistols because of the rivets. If it doesn't work on your skis, you can always buy a black diamond wide tip loop for cheap.