I have ridden both hard boots (Burton Reactors) and stiff soft boots (Burton Drivers) on my all mountain/freeride boards. I prefer stiff soft boots since they are more comfortable and a bit more forgiving edge to edge than a hard boot. As far as bindings, I bought a pair of Flow bindings a few years ago and did not like the boot/binding fit (sloppy) so I returned them. I currently use K2 Cinch step-in bindings on my all mountain board (Burton BMC 166). I recommend K2 over Flow step-ins mainly because the K2 Cinch is more like a standard non-step-in binding and therefore you can easily adjusted them once they are on. I added Burton toe caps to my K2 Cinches for even a better fit and the toe caps make it even easier to step into the binding. With the toe caps I just loosen the top strap a little to make it easier getting into and out of the binding and can easily crank them down for a tight fit once they are on. I have the older Cinch bindings with the metal base and the only downside is that they are a bit heavy for a softboot binding. I'm an older guy and prefer step-ins since I don't have to sit down to put the bindings on. I need to save my energy for the ride down!
Stiff is sometimes better than hard!
Devon
