chadx

Don't get me wrong. In some instances, bottled water is the best choice. If you are out at a restaurant or on the go, it might be the best source of water rather than some unfiltered tap water they are otherwise offering. I just think that lugging home cases of bottled water from the grocery store is a waste when you could put several different types of filters in your home to avoid throwing away all that plastic, do it way cheaper at home, and possibly avoid throwing out your back lugging around cases of water. :D In some ways, any type of water is better than no water. If you are scared to drink the water because of what is in it or because of the taste, then you will not drink water, which is the worst thing you can do. So in some ways, you need to filter to satisfy your peace of mind or whatever it takes just to get you to drink it. What type of filter you use at home is a personal preference thing. If you are pretty sure your tap water is fairly safe, a person might only want a micron and carbon filter to get out the chlorine (or chloramine in some cities) and some of the other junk. If you are on a well and don't test, you don't know what the heck is in there. Even tested city water isn't tested for everything or has a pretty high tolerance for some things that you probably don't really want to drink consistantly. RO and distilled are the best. There are still a few things about distilled that I'm not too sure about. Lot's of different opinions on that. You definitely don't want to use it if you are fasting or if you are not eating a nutritious diet (because of it's ability to pull minerals, etc out of your system). But that can actually be viewed as a benefit, I'm told, during short turm fasts or cleansings. Basically, if you get a balanced diet otherwise, it should be fine. My other concern about distilled is how, when stored, it picks up carbon dioxide which turns it acidic. You body and blood are slightly alkaline, so hits of acidic cause all types of problems. This is not a huge deal. We eat acidic foods or foods that cause an acidic reaction all the time, but it is one of the concerns with high volumes of distilled water. Oh, and definitely use glass, or at least lexan, to store your water. RO isn't perfect either, but I tend to like it over the other choices. I haven't had one set up in our new house, yet, so have been drinking (is it true?!) tap water that is micron and carbon filtered. I don't like to waste water but that is a fact with an RO system. For every 1 gallon made, there are so many gallons that go down the drain from the system. Some of the poorer quality systems will dump 10 gallons for every 1. Some of the better ones maybe only 3. Still, I hate to waste any, but such are our daily lives. Full of choices. There is a ton of research out there on RO and distilled. You can make up your own mind from all of that. It's hard to know what to beleive sometimes. But just realize that the worst thing you can do is let it all overwhelm you and keep you from making a descision. After all, the main goal must be getting yourself to consume more water. When I was an IT guy for 14 years, it was a lot easier to stay hydrated. I always had water at my desk and would sip it all day. Now that I'm not a cube dweller, I have to consciously think "Hmm, I should drink some water". The easiest way is to fill up a big lexan bottle first thing in the morning and just have it sitting around. If it's there, you will grab it and take a swig now and then. If it's not, it's out of sight, out of mind. That's my take on it anyway.

Bottled water? That is just bad on so many levels. Throwing away a million empty plastic bottles every day, many of the sources are just municipal water supplies, much of it is filtered no better than what your fridges filter does it, the cost, the insanity of shipping water across the unites states (not to mention from other countries) and the associated waste of fuel to do so, and the list goes on and on. If carbon and micron filtering (like what your fridge does, or the sink canister filters. Basically remove chlorine and other things that make the water taste funny) doesn't satisfy a person, then go for a Reverse Osmosis system. It will even take out fluoride (please, don't get me started on the absurdity of using a fertilizer-production-biproduct, that happens to be a neurotoxin, to fight tooth decay by ingestion). RO systems are a bit pricey up front ($200), and the $50 filters have to be replaced every year or so, but it is still cheaper than bottled water, you know the quality, and without all the wasted plastic bottles and other problems with the whole bottled water thing.

C. Baines, Alexeyga is being straight with you (Nice to see someone be honest rather than try and push their sale). My feet are 27.5 and 27.4 cm. Mondo 27 Suzuka were too big (and that was with thermoflex liner). I had to get rid of them after 6 days on the mountain and now wear a perfect fitting pair of mondo 26 suzuka on my 27.5cm feet. Foot shape makes a difference, but, as alexeyga said, they seem to run big for their size (meaning you might take a smaller mondo size than you would expect).

Yep, I lost about $100 on reselling my mondo 27 thermoflex suzuka that were too big for my 27.4cm and 27.5cm feet. I used them for about 6 days of riding. But they just wouldn't work. I did wait to sell them until the mondo 26s arrived, were molded, and I put 6 days on them. It only took one day to fully appreciate that I needed the 26 all along. But again, each persons feet seem so different that who knows until you receive them and try it. Don't sweat it until they arrive and you try them. They'll either fit or they won't. If the do, you worried for nothing. If they don't, then...well..then you can start to worry/fret!

Didn't Mike post his feet measured 26.5 - 27? And wearing a 25. So isn't that only 1.5 to 2 cm difference? Not three? (unless that was in reference to his statement about the 25s starting to feel a bit roomy?)

My feet measure 27.5cm and 27.4cm at the bootfitters. I bought a pair of Mondo 27 Suzuka with moldable thermoflex liners. I did the shell test and they seemed they might be too big, but I molded them anyway. They were way too big and after 4 days of riding (and shin bang, etc), I ordered some 26 and molded them and they fit perfect with a mid-weight sock. Not sure if they would be snug enough if I had chosen to mold them with, and ride with, using only a liner-sock or no sock like some do. It's a 1.5cm size difference with my midweight sock, so not sure 'off' the mondo sizing would be, for me, if I wore only liner-socks. It seems that some people have a foot that just comforms exactly to the boots inherent shape and they tend to need a smaller size that one would expect. Also different preferences in snugness and what thickness sock make a difference. I like my boots very snug. I also don't run them in walk mode, and prefer the stiffness of the Suzuka shell. Some like less snug and perhaps that preference sometimes goes hand in hand with those prefering softer shells and/or running in walk mode, soft BTS, etc. Just speculation on my part, there. But the mondo size thing seems to be right for some, but at least one size off for many. And apparently further off for others. A good indicator of that is the number of boots you see in the want ads, here, that folks are selling because they are the wrong size, even though they had their feet measured for mondo. Measuring will get you a starting point, but trial and errors seems to be the best way to find the right boot for you.

Different boards used for several different reasons. Slope conditions being the most obvious. Others being (as already mentioned by others) who you are riding with, etc. Also, snow and slope conditions change throughout the day. Also changing is my energy level. Sometimes it's nice to have the hard core board for the morning hero snow, but after lunch, switch to an all mountain board and be a little more casual in the carves. Or go explore off-piste since the groomers are tracked up.

gee, bobble, what's the golden hoof award?

Bob, Exactly right. Somewhat similar to a Walmart coming into a small community and all the mom and pop hardware stores, etc. having a hard time of competing. Even more so perhaps because, as you point out, the prices can be manipulated. To clarify, I wasn't saying the farmers were getting rich with the subsidies (in actuallity, most barely scrape by). All I was saying is if the profit were to remain the same without the subsidies, the prices would have to go up considerably. I think we are on the same page on this. Background: We (my folks) lost our hog farm in the early 80s when the bottom of the market dropped out. We had just built a couple extra farrowing barns and a long-pen barn (keep in mind this was a small operation) and the drop of the market killed us. My dad started driving over-the-road semi to try and help pay our loans while we ran the farm. After almost two years of low hog prices, we couldn't get back on top of it. Subsidies might of saved us. Then again, maybe not. We just picked a really unfortunate time to expand a bit. If our timing hadn't been off, we would have made it through alright.

My diet is tailored quite a bit from the norm, but still omnivorous. I love my dead animals! I just try and avoid all the worst of the worst. Try to eat meat that is not pumped full of antibiotics and fed a more natural diet and free ranging. I grew up on a small hog farm in central Minnesota and still love my pork to this day. We had our own chickens, geese, rabbits (for a while) and would raise one cow for butcher each year. That is good eatin'. You know where the meat came from, know how it was treated, what it was fed, etc. Wild game is good, too. The problem I have is when people purport to be 'animal friendly' by not eating meat but then every other product they use is animal based or has animal products (like many non-meat foods, clothing, make-up, lotions, and other toiletries, and on and on. The real vegans that I know say it is realy quite hard to find products that do not contain animal products. Just something to think about. I have no problem with the lifestyle (actually, admire their commitment) as long as they follow through with what they say rather than 'posing'. You want to get controvery started, though, start talking about removing all the farm subsidies that the government pays out annually. I knew about it from friends in Minnesota in the Dairy industry, but having just moved to Montana, I'm amazed at what the beef farmers are paid. Subsidies for everything from feed, to hay, to water for livestock and irrigation for feed crops. The articles I've read said hamburger would go to $10 - 20 a pound if the subsidies were removed and the farmers wanted to get as much profit as they do now with the subsidies. That is money coming from your pocket whether or not you eat beef. Of course, that is the way of the government and it's spending (no matter which party they are from). ...and let's not discuss the lack of testing for specific diseases in the beef industry. Of course you aren't finding it! You are not testing for it!. OK, there should be enough in there that I can get flamed from BOTH sides of the subject. :D I just fall somewhere in the middle I guess. To each there own. I'll never dis' anyone for their choices...but I will call out a friend if they are a poser, as you all should. ..aaaaaaand discuss.

A lot of ATV guys spray the inside of their fenders with various lubricants to keep as much mud from sticking and building up. I've never tried it and I'm not sure what is the best. I've heard of using WD-40 (yes, I know, not really a lubricant), PAM, silicone sprays, rain-ex etc. Not sure if any of those would work for snow and most would probably be bad for the board or, at a minimum, a heck of a mess. I just wipe as much snow off, as I can, at the bottom of each run and call it good enough. Some of it does get quite crusty, though, even in one run and become hard to knock off.

HK, That is so true. Luckily, my cousin did just that with my grandparents about 2 years ago. It turned out great. He sat both of them down together but then interviewed each of them individually (but let the other pipe up with input on each subject which occasionally turned out quite comical). It turned out really great. My cousin would prompt them with one question about a certain person or time period and then let them talk about it for as long as they could think of stories. Then ask another question. They started with everything that each of them remembered about their grandparents and parents (which came over from Denmark), then to my grandparents childhood, school years, on through when they met and married and what they did since (including my grandfathers time in the Army). There are lot's of stories that we hadn't heard, even though we'd talked about the subjects before. We should really repeat the whole thing again because just the act of reminiscing will surely have them recalling new stories that they didn't the first interview. My cousin made DVD copies of the video for everyone to use. We also have several archive copies on various media to ensure it is never lost. I highly recommend everyone do this. Before their grandparents (or parents) memories fail. It doesn't have to be a big fancy production. Talk to them first to get a quick life outline. Write that down. Then think about it a few days and write down any good questions you can think of to prompt them when the stories stop. Sit them down, roll the tape, and go. Oh, when you first start, you might want to shoot for a minute of test interview, then rewind to make sure sound and video show up good. It would be a bummer to shoot the whole thing and then discover the sound didn't pick up. Setting up a secondary audio recorder isn't a bad idea either. Since you will not be in the tape and it just points at them, you can set the camera on a tripod. When you sit off to the side, I suggest trying a few different distances so your voice volume records the same volume as the interviewies. In our case, my cousins voice is quite loud because he was right by the camera and my grandparents were 12 feet away on the couch. Don't limit this to your grandparents or parents. Get your brother and sisters, children, family friends, other people important in your life, or anyone that just has a good story or insight to an important event or interesting time period. This advice I need to follow myself. I sit and think about family friends and relatives that have passed away and the stories slowly fade from my mind. We only have photographs. Video is such a better media to pick up the body language, the voice and it's inflection, etc. All of which really make a person.

I've modded my first post to retract the 'call Michelle' statement. I should have known better. Sorry Michelle! :D Yep. Great update. And here's hoping that next year, there is less demand (or more made) so there are enough to go around. I'd held off ordering last year to see how people liked that first batch. They must work great because I think I've only seen one set offered as 'used' on the site and I think that was more as a favor done by someone that had purchased several pair and was willing to sell one of their non-primary sets to get them in the hands of someone that didn't have any. That's one of the great things about this community.

I'm sure Fin has taken last years (and pre-order) demand into consideration while getting this years batch ordered over the summer and all is not lost. Stay tuned. I'm sure there is another batch brewing if not already incoming. When in doubt of anything the website says, best to just grab the phone. Michelle can give you the scoop. [update: I retract this last statement! For Michelle's sake. ]

Hi Skatha, It depends on the DVD. There are archival quality DVD that far outlast the 'regular DVD' lifespan of 3 - 5 years, though they are still not ideal backup media. You are right in bringing this up, though, as many people think the average CD or DVD will last a lifetime, which is incorrect. Actually, DVD is not my electronic backup media preference (I hadn't mentioned DVD backup in my post). There are plenty of other electronic media besides DVD that are less prone to time-induced degradation. As with all electronic media, multiple backups help minimalize risk, particularly if kept off site. My main concern is to make a 'backup' copy of the physical pictures to both lock the aging process and to have that backup copy in case something drastic (fire, etc) happened to the originals. Not to mention to ease future viewings and the use I'll get out of them for other projects. It will also be a good opportunity to get the originals into a better situation as far as archiving compared with their current 'cardboard-box-in-the-closet' method. hehe. Thank you for the concern. It's appreciated! Luckily my photography background and my IT background give me enough knowledge to perform this reliably and correctly myself rather than paying a 'professional' to perform the same job. Being as I'm referring to my grandparents entire photography collection, it is going to be quite a project, to say the least. Once archived, I'll probably also put copies on a media useable by them (such as DVD) because I know they will appreciate having them on media that they can pop into a player and view compared to trying to drag out a cardboard box or a slide projector that is buried in 6 feet of storage in their closet. :D The other logistical challenge being that I'm in Montana and they are in Minnesota.

Over 200cm? ...just make sure you can fit it inside your car/truck or in your vehicle's rack shell or rack bag! Unless you use an open air rack, then length would not be an issue. But then, I personally dislike open air vehicle racks because, as you drive, your boards are exposed to the weather, low flying grouse:D , rocks, salt, and road grime kicked up by the vehicle in front of you. Ick.:(

Excellent! Now that I'm out this way (we moved to Belgrade, MT this summer), I'll have to try and figure out a day or two to head up that way. Would be fun for some of you guys to head down this way, too (Big Sky and Moonlight). Last I checked, only 10% of Big Sky slopes are open, but they are planning on starting more lifts this week. I've been tempted, but wanted to wait for the base to get a bit thicker.

I was USAF at Military Airlift Command (MAC) later renamed Air Mobility Command (AMC) headquarters in Southern Illinois from '91 - '97. My grandfather was in the big II. The photos he took while they cleaned up the 'camps' still haunt me. I really need to go through all his photos and digitize them before they deteriorate, or are lost, forever.

Hi Voodoo, Time difference depends on what part of the USA we are in. There are 4 different time zones in the contiguous US (a.k.a. U.S. not counting Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands). I'm in the US. Mountain time zone and when it is 5:15PM here, it is 1:15AM in your time zone. Remember, the US is quite wide. Around 2800 miles across driving from New York, NY to Los Angeles, CA. To compare that in Europe, it is approximately 1400 miles from Slovenia to Portugal (that is a very rough approximation). Since we have such a large land area, we have very diverse weather depending on which state we are in. Some have had several feet of snow while others have had nothing but rain. In some southern US states that are not in the mountains, they never receive snow no matter what the season and those people, if they have not traveled much, have only seen snow on television or in movies. With this much land, the weather is quite diverse depending on what part of the country we talk about.

Wow, we've gone molecular! Of course, I think pebu was just joking since the london dispersion forces have no bearing here. And as for being more prone to breaking, I'd disagree. Possibly more prone to getting the top sheet dinged by people in the lift line, but not weaker in any way than a shorter board (construction methods account for length). I've wanted to try out a long board, too, but haven't been on anything outside my various 180s. It would be interesting to compare a 180 to a 200+ with the same waist, SCR, and 'effective' flex to see where the effects of length show up.

Well thank you for the 'special offer'. You are too kind, sir! That coiler is sweet. If I hadn't spent my board money on a similar Coiler this summer, I'd be all over it. I love that top sheet. Someone snap that up so I don't have to fawn over it!

Quick. Alert the typo police! For the asking price of $1,700 for the snowpro bindings, I would think you would kick in shipping for free. :D

Not just off the lifts. Out and back in when you encounter those flat spot or slow snow, on cat walks and transition runs, too. Then once moving, you can click in without stopping again (though some may be able to do that with tow clips, too). Also, some say a bit of stiffness difference between intec and regular, but I've always used intec so I can't compare. I don't think anything as noticable as the difference between TD1 design and TD2 design (of same bail type) but still, some difference.

Yes, please post a picture (or email me through BOL). I'd like to see the font used for the text. Thanks.

Ah, so basically a long island ice tea without all that pesky triple sec, sour mix, and coke to water it down. Just the 4 main liquors. The instructions should read: Mix contents in a 46oz big gulp glass, consume on an empty stomach, wait 20 minutes, then try to stand up and make it to the board rack. Fall down and don't move until the paramedics arrive to stuff a tube down your nose to pump your stomach. Repeat. I don't know if you'd remember where your knees were during that time, though.