Snowboard Binding Reviews
The 860's carbons are the first bindings on the market with dampening pads connected to the base of your bindings.This allows a smother ride when chatterin gover ice or rough snow conditions. These bindings sold out before Christmas last year so get them while they last.


-- Jeff Park

Snowboard Binding Reviews
Great highback & baseplate. Looks super sweet. Awesome dampening system. Very responsive and adjustable.

-- Jeff Peterson

Snowboard Binding Reviews
Alot of thought went into this binding...I dont think the blurb you get when you look for info on this product does it any justice.
The first thing you will notice is that this binding has a foam pad underneath the baseplate itself which I have not found on any other binding out there. This EVA pad has a few purposes: First of which is to absorb shock; the second, to raise your boot off the board slightly to reduce the possibility of toe drag that can cause an untimely spill (similar to the idea of those Palmer power link add-ons that usually cost you an extra $80 or so); the third is to reduce strain and pressure on your knees by allowing for more lateral flex. The EVA pad does not affect toe to heel response, because of a "support" that runs vertically through the pad; it in fact increases responsiveness.
The CARBON FIBER high back is more anatomically friendly since it is curved slightly inward as opposed to being straight up and down like other high backs. After all your legs dont go straight up into the air like two skis, but angle inward right?
The next touch I noticed was that under the high back was a plastic piece that hung downward with serrated teeth (looks kind of like the teeth on the straps). When youre bound in tight, the heel of your boot will get pushed back into the teeth and help reduce heel lift.
The straps on this binding are nice too. They are pre-formed to make them more comfortable. The EXTRA nice touch here is that when you ratchet in, the left over end strap gets neatly "enclosed" inside the strap. No loose strap to snag your pants and look dumb! I'm not sold on the the fact the the ratchets are screwed in instead of riveted...it just means I will have to tighten them every time i go up. Not a big deal but its always better to have LESS to do. (The other option is to switch the straps out for another one you might like better.)
These bindings offer awesome control and response. Its a very good value if you get them for under $200 since they are last years models. Its also very cool that the EVA pad absorbs shock on landings. You'll love this on jumps. Performance is definitely top of the line and better than even most of the more expensive ones out there (i.e. Burton C10 and C14; and Drake Ltd,Podium, and Matrix--although all of this stuff is top shelf as well).

-- Joel Shrock