It’s been 5 years, time for some new gear!

Posted: 02 December 2013 03:46 AM

Hey everyone!

It’s been five years since my last new board, bindings and boots, and with a canadian heli trip coming up this year, I think it’s finally time to pull the trigger.  The problem is that I haven’t been paying attention at all to the industry so I’m not even sure where to start.

I’m an expert boarder and spend most of my time on varied terrain (everything from groomers to off-piste, trees, steep and deep, bumps…pretty much everything except the park and pipe, although I’ll pop in from time to time).  I like to ride fast and hard, so I prefer equipment that allows me to hold an edge at speed but is still super maneuverable with little effort.  As a result, I like my gear fairly stiff.

My current setup is all Solomon—a 162 Burner board, F24 boots, and Relay XLT bindings.  I really like this setup but my biggest issue is the boots have a bit of a hotspot on one ankle which gets annoying at the end of the day.  I’m totally open to any other brands or other suggestions, though.

Thanks in advance.  Happy to answer any questions that might help with guidance.

Posted: 02 December 2013 08:56 PM

Hi there,

regarding boards, I’ll make a few suggestions and you just check them out and tell us how you liked those: (in no particular order)
- Amplid UNW8
- NeverSummer Premier F1
- Arbor A-Frame
- Rossignol Experience

Regarding bindings: You will be happy with a firm and robust binding like the Union MC-Metafuse or the Union Charger. Of course you can also go with bindings from Burton or Nitro or whatever, just go for the stiff ones and you won’t go far wrong. Quality-wise they are all very strong!

Finally, when it comes to boots it’s all down to personal preference. Tom loves(/d) Salomon boots, Rich digs Vans and I am rather happy with my Nitro boots. So the only thing I can recommend you is to pop in a shop and try on as many boots as you can. Walk around with them, strap into bindings with them, test them as good as you can and then go for the one you liked best.

There also is a binding and boot buying guide you might to check for a couple more details:
Binding Buying Guide
Boot Buying Guide

Hope this helped, cheers
Tobi