Dukes

[JakeK-T]

already pestered JD and Paul about this, but anyone used/using them? how do they go in-bounds, relative to say a p14/916...?

[Paul Oberin]

I would really love to hear peoples thoughts on the AT bindings.

[JakeK-T]

yeh actually, lets not limit this to dukes... perhaps Paul can use his powers of moderation and make this an AT bindings thread??

[Paul Oberin]

I know a little bit about AT stuff, but most of it I picked up from listening to discussions with JD, and a bit from the trade shows, but I am seriously considering getting into it myself, as I have always been a keen bushwalker and have walked and camped in the snow often, it makes sense now to do it on skis with skins and AT bindings.

[Officer Schmenz]

do it paul! you know u want to! and u can come with us hooligans!

[Officer Schmenz]

i have whatever bindings paul put on my skis... my brain is having an empty moment..

ooo fritschi freerides... that sounds familiar.. but i might be making things up.... theyre good tho.

1. you can moonwalk in themm
2. can whithstand jumps and other crazy activities... DISCLAIMER: unless you come flying off a cliff onto a flat cat track at high speeds theyre ok... and even then its only a minor fixable injury to them.. aint that right SA!?

3. you can fall flat on ur face at a moments notice like ur ready to slide down the hill on ur belly penguin style.

perfect i say

[SA]

redface.gif

We'll see this season if it was 'minor' or 'fixable' graemlins/cold.gif

I really don't want to think about the force required to deform that bolt.

[ 15.06.2008, 03:38 PM: Message edited by: SA ]

[Officer Schmenz]

i was watching the video yesterday and i still giggle at that splat.. u were flying.

[John Deere]

My blurb on Dukes:

My opinion on the Dukes is that they are unecessarily heavy. I believe a Freeride is ok for 90% of the things Dukes can do, the last 10% is cliff hucking and the like.

There are other disadvantages of them, you cannot switch from touring to ski and back without taking skis off, and in the Backcountry this could get you in trouble! They are also first generation and I have heard of some problems such as bindings pulling off skis(never witnessed or read about any first hand so that is heresay.)

Having said that, IF you will use them around 95% lifted terrain and 5% tour they would be ok.

By the same token if you dont do cliff hucks, freerides are fine, and a proven design, plus cheaper!

[Officer Schmenz]

hell im even going for if u do cliff hucks theyre fine.. as long as its not onto a hardpacked cat track.

[John Deere]

Cliff hucks into pow would be fine! Heck, we've done it and they were ok!

The flat landings will kill anything! And I would rather a binding break than a knee!

[ 15.06.2008, 08:31 PM: Message edited by: John Deere ]

[SA]

I wasn't hucking tongue.gif

[Officer Schmenz]

flying out of control ? ? ?

[Taxman]

Dukes, love them. With an ISO soles boots, they perform as well, if not better than any high end alpine binding. AS JD has already said, they are heavy and they are not easy to switch from tour to ski mode, i.e. the skiis have to come off.

If you are after a great slack country binding they are the best. If you are after a light weight setup, go Dynafit.

[Paul Oberin]

So correct me if I am wrong, the Dukes are heavier, harder to use and more expensive than the Diamir Freerides.
I have to ask the question why would anyone choose to buy them over the freerides. ?

[SA]

Maybe if you were 100+ kgs, and did some jumps.

[John Deere]

I think the consensus is that they are for occasional touring, they are stronger and sit you closer to your skis. They are an Alpine binding with a tour mode, where I describe the Freerides as a robust touring binding that is adequate in bounds.

[John Deere]

Remember the saying:

High strength
Low weight
Low cost

Pick any two!

[Paul Oberin]

So the Dukes are tougher / stronger.
I have seen what you guys do on the Diamir's how much tougher do they need to be.
Like you said already if you were 100Kg+ and jumped a lot, then maybe the Dukes.

[Taxman]

If you do a lot if on-piste skiing and are looking at one rig, the Duke would be the way to go as it has much better release characteristics than any of the other AT bindings; as JD said, an alpine binding with a tour mode.

By way of comparison my G3 Baron skis (184cm) and Freeride + bindings weigh 5.5kg pair, whereas my Stockli Stormrider XXL skis (178cm) and Duke bindings weigh 6.5kg pair. 312g of difference is in the binding and the rest is in the skis.

A good table that compares the weight s of AT gear is at Wildsnow (http://www.wildsnow.com/articles/weights/backcountry-skiing-weights.html) .

[ 16.06.2008, 11:32 AM: Message edited by: Taxman ]

[JakeK-T]

it's sounding like dukes are the option for me, thanks guys