Trying hardboots in the pow again

[digger jr]

On 5/1/2018 at 6:54 PM, Corey said:

Step ins rule in powder - but only with a Spike stomp pad.  I learned that one quickly. 

True. There is some technique involved and every once in a while I get the dreaded 

can’t step in cause of snow/ ice build up which is usually followed by a few choice words. The best is to click in while still on the chair and just ride off.

[Corey]

Riding the good stuff with the Callens involved a little hike.  Then the cursing started.    Shortly after my cheeks hurt from all the smiling!  

[queequeg]

I set up my pow 'n bumps board with those soft plastic f2 bindings last night (getting ready for next season a bit early I guess!!). Replaced all the pozidriv screws on my F2 bindings with 4mm hex (I do this with my virus bindings too, so that I can adjust literally everything with just one tool). When I went to replace the stiff tongues with the soft red ones the anchor bolt in my left boot spun and would not release the screw that holds on the tongue. I guess I will have to deal with that too. I've got to find a way to get that anchor to stop spinning (it's in a difficult spot to grab), and then permanently anchor it  in place so that this can't happen when I am swapping out tongues in the future. While I'm at it, I'm going to see about replacing that screw with a 4mm hex as well, since it irritates me to have to use a special tool for just this one solitary bolt.

[Corey]

1 hour ago, queequeg said:

I set up my pow 'n bumps board with those soft plastic f2 bindings last night

Have you done some carpet surfing?  I'm interested in your impressions as I'm considering the same.  

1 hour ago, queequeg said:

When I went to replace the stiff tongues with the soft red ones the anchor bolt in my left boot spun and would not release the screw that holds on the tongue.

I used a small adjustable wrench (like https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/3197in%2Btm%2BL._SL500_AC_SS350_.jpg), angled down through the tongue opening.  It's not perfect with only the corners of the jaws on the square flange, but it worked. 

[queequeg]

19 minutes ago, Corey said:

Have you done some carpet surfing?  I'm interested in your impressions as I'm considering the same.  

I used a small adjustable wrench (like https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/3197in%2Btm%2BL._SL500_AC_SS350_.jpg), angled down through the tongue opening.  It's not perfect with only the corners of the jaws on the square flange, but it worked. 

I didn't do any carpet surfing last night but this is not my first go with these bindings. They are pretty soft. I'll see how it all feels once I get those red tongues in there. 

Thanks for the tip on using a small adjustable wrench. Will give that a go.

[queequeg]

A quick update on this thread. I managed to extract the tongue-anchor screws from the spinning anchor (used a pair of right-angle pliers and a clutch driver to remove them). Subsequently I permanently fixed the anchors in place with a bit of epoxy so that they won't spin the next time I want to change tongues. With that done I went ahead and changed all the hardware on the boots from the annoying star-driver screws that UPZ supplies, to 4mm hex. I also replaced all of the F2 binding hardware with 4mm hex. So now I can adjust my boots, my soft F2 bindings, and my firm Virus bindings with just a single tool  — no need to carry around a two star-wrenches, two different hex wrenches, and a pozidriv just to make simple adjustments on the mountain. 

With the tongue anchors firmly epoxied in place, swapping tongues from stiff to soft is like a 3-minute job. No carpet-carving yet but maybe this weekend.