markwebster Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 My wife and I are investing in a modern telemark setup and we are looking for some advice. This stuff is super expensive. I bought a new pair of plastic boots: scarpa t2 eco and skied them once on some borrowed gear and they work great. Now I'm wondering what kind of bindings to get. With our 30 year old leather boots and 3 pin bindings we could fall and not get hurt, they would release in a bad fall. The new telemark bindings appear to be designed not to release. A few people say that they have busted out of some of the modern bindings like the voile switchback and the BD 01 in a bad fall, but mostly I am reading that people stay locked in. James H. very kindly lent me an older pair of releasable Voile telemark bindings (and skis), like this but older, no springs: http://www.rei.com/product/757994 but they popped out twice when they didn't need to, and made a lot of noise. They released correctly once, which I liked. In researching this subject I found this thread which talks about the 22designs Axl binding: 22designs Axl binding and debate I'm tempted by the Axl as it has a front pivot for skinning up and lots of control in the springs for going down. But if you read down the thread **See entry: (gonzoskijohnny January 21st, 2009 10:40 am)** people start talking about how non-releaseable bindings are dangerous and several people recommend the 7tm binding which is very expensive, but releasable: 7tm releaseable tele binding We ski mostly at Paradise with an occasional trip to Crystal. I've pretty much settled on buying the Karhu Guides for skis because of their no wax base. I really hate skinning up if I can avoid it in places like Mazama Ridge where it flattens out. I know this stuff is expensive, but so is knee surgery. Do you guys have any advice? Sorry for the long post. I've been tele skiing for decades, but this new tele gear has me in a dither. I thought cams were expensive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottP Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 A search here with the keyword releaseable found a slew of threads covering your subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastCoastBastard Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Ditto what Scott P said - this has been hammered to death at telemarktips. have a read over that and if you insist on releasable bindings, my recommendation is the Voile 3pin hardwire CRB - bomber, fully releasable, easy to get back into after a release, has brakes, easy to tour on just the pins, cheap(ish). http://www.voile-usa.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=608-27&Category_Code=Release&Product_Count=2 that being said, I use (and prefer) switchbacks now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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