SierraSurfer

My approach is to try to not let it happen in the first place. I watch those around me in the line like a hawk and when on the board pivot around and use my free boot as barrier and my arms as gates to keep people off the board. And when on the skis I use my poles as planted barriers and try to keep my skis slanted so my tails are going outside the ropes so the tails can't get run over. It's a constant battle! :D Polite yet firm dialogue usually works too - "C'mon maaan! Don't tell you'd like the tops of your skis all scraped up?! PLEASE don't ski on my board man that is just completely uncool!" It is usually pretty easy to shame someone out of bad behavior when it's obvious to all around in the life line that messing up someone's hard-earned expensive equipment is just a major party foul.

You gotta remember, big dudes can put a huge amount of force on gear. I am in your boat and weigh 155 so I usually don't break stuff but we have to consider ourselves lucky. I ride bikes a lot too and big dudes are constantly breaking gear in that sport. There is only so much fatigue life in material that is not steel, and steel is freakin' heavy.

Thanks for the suggestions all. I picked up a pair of the Nidecker carbons that someone was selling used in my area over CraigsList and I got a steal of a deal, so I'm good to go on my softie freeride setup.

The Catek's look bomb-proof but they are expensive, not surprising since they look to be a very specialized small custom shop. Fortunately I found somebody selling a pair of used carbon Nideckers in my area so I may be snagging a pair of those tomorrow. Curious if anyone has tried those Flux SF45's I was initially planning on going with. It sounds as if my gut feeling that they are not going to be stiff enough is being agreed to by most of you folks, but I would love to be proven wrong as they look decent, especially for $250 full retail. Next up, who is making good hard boots these days? I've been out of the loop and have only been skiing for the past 6 years or so, and only 2 or 3 times per season at that. Glad I didn't sell my carving board - it's a Burton Alpe 168 with Burton Race Plates. Vintage collectors gear now, as I recall both board and bindings are a 1997 model! :lol:

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> Hi all, I'm putting together a freeride all-mountain soft boot gear setup that I'm looking to make pretty aggressive, stiff, and carving capable. I've already done a lot of research and feel good about my board and boot selections but I'm not so sure about my bindings. For the board I ordered an Elan Vertigo in 162 and I found a pair of 2009 Burton Driver X’s for boots. For bindings I ordered a pair of Flux SF45’s but I’m just not sure if they’re going to be stiff enough: http://www.thegoodride.com/bindings/good-ride-favorites/400-flux-feedback-binding-review-.html If anyone has some feedback on bindings for a solid soft boot setup I’d appreciate it. I’m thinking I’d like something very stiff that can tip the board over quickly and of course hold an edge at speed.