Corey

On critical fasteners the bolts are usually preloaded 70-90% of their yield strength. In a properly-designed joint (i.e. one in which the bolt is never pulled so hard that it relaxes the clamping force of the joint) the most stress the bolt will ever see is during the final torquing. I don't think it matters at all for a snowboard though as 4 M6 bolts are overkill... ;) Using four is nice for the rare occasion when one gets loose without us noticing. I was surprised at how tight the guy in the cowboy hat at the Bomber SES demo tent (sorry, can't remember his name now) cranked the TD2 screws. We're talking 2 hands on a T-handle wrench and a good amount of effort. It was easily twice the torque I'd ever though of putting on mine.

What does "dismissed with prejudice" mean in practical terms? Glad to see this over! I'm sure the only people that came out with money were the lawyers and the court.

I've often wondered this as well. I believe that we operate so far under the breaking stresses of the 4 bolts that it really doesn't matter from a bolt preload view. That makes sense as I've never seen a broken binding-to-board bolt. Other higher stress applications need to have the bolt preloaded to a certain extent to keep the bolt from fatiguing due to varying stresses. The limiting factors are likely the insert itself and the core that the insert is in. They're likely to be damaged by undertightened fasteners, cross-threading, or foreign debris. I found this: http://www.misumiusa.com/uploadedFiles/Technical/METRIC1847-1848.pdf They suggest 138 kgf-cm (about 10 ft-lbs) for an grade 12.9 M6 bolt lubricated with oil in steel. They show a k value of 0.45 for a dry bolt in stainless steel. Running the numbers gives 365 kgf-cm or 26 ft-lbs! That seems really high! My gut feel is that anything between "snug enough not to loosen" and "doesn't strip the insert" is just fine. Defining those upper and lower limits is tough... ;)

I have very asymmetrical forward lean settings on my BTS kits. I have a mean limp/gallop when walking with them. No injuries yet, thankfully! ;)

Yes, we certainly need more safety regulations to prevent injury and/or death on the slopes. I mean, look at how extensive safety regulations have eliminated injury and/or death on public roads! Oh wait... ;) We have rules, they're called the skier code. They work well and should be enforced more. The fact that most North Americans feel that they have no personal accountability for their choices is pathetic.

He's saying that he made two transactions: One with PayPal and one with Catek. One (or both) of them was hacked. He didn't blame Catek's online system, just mentioned that it was a possibility.

How are softies any different than riding in walk/powder mode? Soft boots don't have any mechanical stops to limit ankle flex. I don't see how riding in walk mode could increase the risk of ankle injury over what's present while riding in soft boots. How many people have played with the standard forward lean adjuster out of the boot? You can pull it apart with two hands when in walk/powder mode. The little plastic tabs that keep it together seem to be designed to keep it from falling apart during assembly, not to provide any hard stops while on the boot.

It's not the usual reality show crap either, I quite enjoyed it. Much Music is playing it really heavy right now. I have it in a digital format too, not sure how I can share it though.

Happy B-Day! Have some chocolate and play with a dog. :D

Have the base plate outer dimensions changed? i.e. was the outer ring of material strengthened at all to compensate for the material removed in the middle? Also; if the toe/heel blocks were made 4mm lower, it seems like it would be a good idea to put a 4mm shim under the TD3 steel heel Intec receiver (with the appropriate longer bolts) when putting them on a TD2.

+1 to the idea, but it sucks when you and seller are using different currencies. As a buyer you lose out BIGTIME when you send a payment and it gets rejected, you get the currency conversion losses both ways. Cry as much as you want about it being a virtual-only transaction, you still get nailed by PayPal. Been there, done that, lost a healthy chunk of money into the PayPal void. If you tell people that the first person that pays will get the item, only serious buyers will contact you for your PayPal address. Once they contact you, give them a fixed (and small) time frame to send the money before you move on to the 2nd person in line.

We drive 2.5 hours plus customs clearing (could be 2 or 30 minutes depending on the US guards feeling that day) to the closest 'good' ski hill. Most of my money goes to gas over the season. I can't even buy the cheap US gas while I'm down there as the small town near the hill doesn't have premium. :( It's about $150/day for my wife and I to hit the hill; that's including gas, lifts, food. We typically get between 5 and 15 days a season on the boards. We do a couple trips a year to another resort that's about a 4-hour drive away but much better with some decent steeps and wider runs.

Beautiful bindings! They continue to get more refined and simplified with each iteration. Two thumbs up! It looks like you'd need longer mounting screws too. Getting a 2nd board kit is a bit redundant now as it's only 1 more screw to remove the whole binding. I guess it would still be useful swapping between boards that you run different angles on. I really like the steel heel receivers. If they fit a TD2 I'll be buying one to replace my worn rear one. The FinTec heels will definitely be on order for me!

Hey, 3mm allen keys are great ... for removing snow/ice from 5mm allen key holes. I likely won't even be buying TD3's this year but I'm still giddy in anticipation of seeing them. I will definately order the heels though!

Who moved Christmas to November? :D I'm wondering how long the legal disclaimer will be for the heels... Sad that it has to come to that but that's North America for you.

Yeah, 'intimidating' isn't the right word for it. It's downright 'playful' compared to an Oxygen Proton and 'reliable' compared to a Burton Alp. If you thought the previous Burton was soft, this will likely feel great to you. :)

Just because you have Schizophrenia doesn't mean everyone isn't out to get you. :D

I don't understand the fascination of going on an enthusiasts' board and being a troll. It sounded from your previous posts that you have your head screwed on mostly right, then this. But, you do have a minor point. At my small local ski hill I've got a few complaints from people that 'tripped' over my ruts, there just aren't that many runs to choose from so they have a hard time avoiding them. The local ski patrol stopped short of laughing at them because most of them are also carvers - but on skiis. There still is a vocal minority that is going to complain about everything out of the ordinary. If anything should be banned, it's morons (on any equipment) straight lining the runs and running into the back of others.

I came from a Burton Alp 169 and an Oxygen Proton 178, the Volkls were a nice step right in the middle. I have both 168 and 178 RT boards (my avatar shot is me on the 178 RT). They're pretty fun for me at 205 lbs, they're a little softer than I'd like but not bad. They do much better in icy conditions than my Donek FC1 171. On a good snow day I'd pick the Donek though. If the price was right you'll have a lot of fun and learn a bunch - assuming it's not too stiff for your weight.

I cut up a pair of paddling socks. There's tons of neoprene left over to stuff between toes and pad any other hot spots on your feet.

You don't have to measure or count turns. I had some old Cateks as a first binding. I adjusted them until they felt good. Then I measured and did a little trigonometry to find out what the angles were. That said, I'd buy a set of TD2's again in a second: they're much more repeatable, feel very robust, and are dead-simple. To the original poster, you need to choose if you prefer simplicity or infinite adjustabilty. TD2: simple, but only discrete steps in adjustment Catek: very adjustable, but like assembling a Lego model every time you want to remove the bindings

I use one of these bullet cameras with one of these cameras for car stuff. I'm going to try it on the slopes this year. When connected to the bullet camera, the Aiptek camera records in 640x480 mode. Note that the little add-on options on that camera start to add quickly to the cost. The Aiptek only records in .mov format, which is annoying but liveable for the low cost. "SUPER video converter" is free (google it) and works pretty well. Example video: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=6YmTuK_mNM0&fmt=18 - not full resolution but pretty indicative of the quality. It will need some automotive window tint over the lens to drop the brightness a bit. The brightness of the lipstick camera is turned down as much as possible in the above video, it'll be very washed out in the snow.

Kris and I will be there, we've been talking about it for months. :D

100% true. People that understand and practice that may not gather as much attention from the trolls, but the silent observers (and there are lots of them!) pay more attention to their posts. I do also agree with Steve P's points though, you shouldn't have to post your resume to get respect. Mix that with Jack's advice and you have a winner. See you at the next SES Billy!

Cool and fun video! :) Off-topic: What software did you use to get the steady-cam effect on some of those clips? It worked amazingly well!