D.Roe

That's also my concern with the Mix G.A.R.A. binding. (BTW, the G.A.R.A. is now on sale at 10% off.) I'm wondering whether the excessive heelcup overhang could be reduced by moving the binding farther to toe side, and adjusting the highback closer to the heelcup -- there seems to be a lot of wasted space between the highback and heelcup on the product page's photo. The ear or tab for the spring piston appears to be wide enough to allow the highback and spring to be moved farther back. Has anyone who possesses this Mix G.A.R.A. tried adjusting the highback closer to the heelcup? Is it possible? BTW, I'm not concerned with losing the ability to fold the highback for transport. Thanks! David (...who managed to get 4 days at Stubai, May 7-10, before it got really hot -- probably the last this season as it's looking like a hot, dry Spring/Summer)

Glad you weren't hurt, Corey! I would have yelled a lot at them too! Softbootsurfer makes a good point tho that they likely won't change their behaviour if there are no punitive measures beyond a public scolding. I had a very similiar close call. But I was the bad guy, riding across the front of a guy's skis. That's when I learned to never ever ever go over a ridge on my toeside (esp. with my flatter angles), having my back toward the downhill slope beyond the ridge! My most unique close call was 25 years ago as a beginning skier - just good enough to be dangerous... (yeah, also my fault). So I'm approaching this ridge where all the skiers stand to assess the steep descent. I guess I was target fixiated, and slid into this gal, knocking her off her feet. She landed on me and I was on my back with my left arm under her thighs and my right under her shoulders. At that point I realized I'd knocked her over the edge, and that we were sliding down. She rode me like an innertube for a good 200 meters, as I was apologizing and asking if she was ok, and explaining (with my poor German) how embarrassed I was and that my wife was probably watchings us... Neither of us lost a ski or pole, so all was good! :-) Cheers, David

Ryan has talents beyond the realm of snowboarding! Good one, thx!

Attached is a photo of the Phiokka straps on my old model. They are quite comfortable, and the heavy-duty ratchets are the easiest such to open that I've ever used. One strap broke -- brittle, likely from old age? The metal edges on my bindings cut into my boots at a couple of points. Other than that, my only gripe is the small round spacers on the corners of bindings -- they press dents into the topsheet. I replaced mine with larger spacers I made from a clear lens used for covering a welding lens. A better material would probably be 2 mm rubber, to match the ring at the center of the binding. Cheers, David Edit: PS... the straps (and some other parts of the binding) are held by carriage bolts. You could attach your own straps if you prefer.

Definitely Corey, for EC -- which I avoid... That said, had I been on hardpack last week, I would have adjusted the bindings closer to the toe, which had no overhang. Being all metal, they can be modified, like Arnaud did. The new model doesn't look like it will have this problem. David

Thanks Arnaud! I noticed that the Mix product page hat not changed in a year, and I now see that the events page has the Carvers Days announcements only up to 2016. Is PHK currently building any bindings? (I know their focus is on hardboot bindings.) When you refer to "the new model Mix 2", you are referring to both the new Mix.1 (normal) and the new Mix.2 (splitboard) bindings, right? Yes, I will stay tuned! David

I really like my older Phiokka aluminium softboot bindings. They are rock solid and extremely responsive (though the vibration notoriously causes the nuts and bolts to come off). The highback is somewhat "wrap-around" and allows me to exert some forward pressure. Does anyone have the new model of the PHK "Mix 1" softboot binding? PHK's website only shows a photo without straps or highbacks: http://www.phksnow.com/en/snowboard-soft.html What does the new highback look like? Attached is a photo of mine as well as the new ones from the PHK website. (These are the split-board version, as the other photo on their website is blurry.) The newer version is not as bulky/clunky as mine, and has only one highback forward-tilt bolt instead of two. As I don't expect to find new Catek Freerides, the new Mix 1 may be my new next binding. Thanks, David

Hi Corey, Thanks -- that's the point I had hoped my post would convey: ensure that new clothing doesn't inhibit your movement. I ordered my jacket online on sale at end of last season and didn't pick it up till months later when visiting family in the states, and even then only slipped it on for size, but did not consider evaluating how it could restrict my movement. I discovered that last week on the slopes... Zippers are a good idea I hadn't thought of. I probably won't replace the front with a 2-way zipper, but may install a couple of 1-way zippers (or just slits) on the back corners to make a flap on the back of the jacket -- otherwise, on each heelside I bend only part of the way at the hips and must do the rest of the bend with a stomach crunch! BTW, thanks for graciously not mentioning Option 3: that I could eat and drink less calories, and move more, so that I don't have a butt big enough to get stuck in snowboard jackets! ;-) BTW2, a belated thanks for your many efforts in keeping an interim forum going during BOL's recent outage! Cheers, David

I suppose the problem began with the incarceration industry not providing inmates individually-tailored pants, meaning many ended up with too large of pants, which slid halfway down their buttocks. This became a part of the hip-hop fashion that many snowboard clothing manufacturers adopted, resulting in low-cut snowboard pants. So to bridge the drafty gap, we now have long snowboard jackets. Unfortunately I discovered this after buying my new Lib Tech jacket. Great quality and lots of pockets. But I have to hike the jacket up about 10 inches when I sit down to tighten my rear (soft) binding. Ok, that's not a big problem, but I can hardly get deeper on the heelside than in the attached pic when wearing that long jacket. On the bright side I guess there's less leg burn... :-(

My primary objective on the hill is to experience many big, face-stretching grins. Or even just a few...! Besides differing approaches to carving down the mountain, some of the emotional interference in discussions may be due to differing ways people tick. And then some of us are just stubborn old farts. :-) "Cool?" Yes, great thread -- thanks! We're all where we are, in part due to our circumstances. Some were born on the mountain. I'm still peeved that I lived from 1983 to '90 in California and never really heard of snowboarding. I never saw myself fitting into the skiing crowd and stayed away from the mountains. Then I married my German skier wife... And wasted 10 years skiing before -- at age 40 -- someone convinced me to try snowboarding. I didn't ski again from that day forward (and my wife has also only boarded for the past 10 years or so). For me, despite(?) being a softbooter, snowboarding is about carving -- so that's why the site attracted me. Comments on the forum and resources like your "The Norm" papers were a great help. My "vote" is #4: "Aggressive softboot carving", but minus (was that a minus sign or a dash?) Knapton style... as late risers, we've never seen groomers like on his vids! "Amateur GS" fits my preference for large radii. When slopes are crowded, I grab a 182 or 192 Tanker and try to change my mode to #5, casual/soulful carving... Cheers, David

"But this thread is kind of silly, this board belongs on a wall." Hey Jack, I actually heeded your advice! Well, sort of... You certainly influenced my decision to give the Safari to a friend in Neustift Austria who owns a ski/board rental shop and ski/board school. I missed the 2016 revival of this thread. Coincidentally, it was exactly at that time that I gave the board to my friend. On his walls he had old wooden skis from the beginning of the sport, and I thought he should also have a snowboard from this sport's beginning... However, I did say that I might be borrowing it from him for a day or two each Spring. I know, I know... it should stay on the wall. But what choice does a softboot carver have nowadays for a board that is wide enough for softboots, but also has a radius of around 20 meters? I also have Sims 1711 Blade and a Mistral Carving edge 170, neither of which had been ridden or even had binding holes in them, before I put T-nuts in them -- they are fun to ride! ;-) Look on the bright side - of all the boards hanging on a wall or ceiling, my former Safari Comp III is the best tuned board of them all! :-) Two days ago, I sharpened the edges and waxed it with Hertel's FC 739. So it's ready for a little cruise in April! Attached a pic of the Safari Comp III. (Hanging from the ceiling, it acts as an arrow to point into the snowboard nook of the shop...) Cheers, David

Thanks a lot Eric, and everyone! Your comment "like any Volkl of similar vintage" got me to take a closer look at my much-ridden 182 of the same year -- and I discovered that it indeed also has a number of random cracks on the topsheet. But it has less cracks than the 192, which is supposed to be "unridden" (the 192 base looks original and has no scratches). On both boards, the cracks appear mostly to be random -- mostly not occurring at specific stress points. So I'm thinking that the cracks in the 2000/01 vintage are not primarily related to stress/use, but more to age (and storage situation). So you're right -- I should ride the board before it gets any older!! ;-) Regarding epoxy... You are probably right that it can't stop cracks from lengthening. But regarding the viscosity of epoxy, and getting it into cracks: I met an interesting guy here in the Pfalz who was a Burton rep and team tuner at Burton's beginning here in Europe who gave a good tip on getting epoxy thin enough to seal relatively narrow cracks... My 2008/09 Tanker 200 has had a slight, narrow separation between the steel edge and the sidewall. He said to heat the epoxy to get it thin -- so I mixed it on a tin can lid, held it over a candle for a few seconds, and it did in fact become very thin! Cheers, David

No, these are hairline cracks, not feline scratches... :-) The carnauba wax idea is interesting -- thanks!!

On an older thread, someone suggested trying sealing such topsheet cracks simply with clear fingernail polish. Anyone ever actually tried that? My current plan is to mark the cracks, ride the board a day, and inspect for lengthening of cracks. If the don't get longer, I may just try fingernail polish. If they do get longer I'll lightly grind them with my Dremel tool and then put epoxy on them. JB -Weld dries to almost this dark if you don't sand it...

Here are a couple of pics of the hairline cracks...