Splitboard bindings

A snowHead

Have a pair of really old spark bindings, that are just about hanging on but looking a lot worse for wear. Probably time for an upgrade. Initial plan was for another set of sparks, I'd probably get the full package as my picks are the old rubber and plastic disk rather than aluminium, and also pretty beat up. However, a brief look online suggests the karakorums are not that much more expensive, and I've always thought they make for a quicker and easier transition.

As much as the hard boot set up intrigues me I'm not willing to shell out that much on a whole new setup I might not actually like, and have no way to try some out. Also I'm expecting most of my touring to be done in Kyrgyzstan so no boot fitters to modify the boots if they don't fit well.

While I prefer something more stiff than playful I don't need the "ultra gnar" versions. So was thinking maybe karakorum nomads. Am I really missing out on anything other than a bit more stiffness and a tiny bit extra weight compared to the prime?

Perhaps there's a reason to not go with the karakorums and stick with spark?

A snowHead

Fruit boots are worth the extra coin imo. There’s not much to dislike about them as long as the boots fit. Much nicer for the uphill and I reckon they ride great / I’m using phantom slippers. If you do get convinced to go with hard boots avoid the spark tech toes at all costs. They explode. Plum pekye are the way to go.

No personal experience of Karakoram but I know a couple people who have had massive (ie bin them) issues with the latest versions of their bindings - basically a big drop in quality control recently and they just fail a lot with things bending and breaking.

Sparks are bomb proof and easy to keep going with a few spare parts. I use surges on my soft boot setup.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I’ve had the whammy bars on my sparks fail a couple of times which can make the bindings not lock on to the pucks, so I always carry a spare set.

It’s happened from stomping crampons down real hard, so if I need to do that I just throw boot crampons on instead.

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Thanks for the info. That's not good to hear about the new karakorum stuff. Maybe I'll reconsider sparks.

I do think hard boot set up is probably best
for touring. However it's a lot more expensive and the boots worry me. I've seen too many skiers suffer with their boots and I'm not going to have access to a boot fitter who can modify them if there's a problem. I also don't have enough space in my baggage to take an extra set up and getting some decent kit in Kyrgyzstan is not particularly easy.

For boot crampons are you using the g10s? They fit on your soft boots pretty well? I use grivel for my mountaineering boots and have been happy with them so was looking at getting some g10s.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

None of my mates riding hard boots have had issues, maybe it's a skier thing? It's a hefty investment though.

Using semi automatic G10 wides on thirty two Jones TM2's for soft boots and they are all good. Have used the usual strap ones on malamutes previously with no issues.

Just got these for the hard boots, haven't tried them yet, but they are a lot lighter and fold up small.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Phantom do have "demo" locations across Colorado and Utah, but I don't know of anywhere else.
That doesn't get around the cost of entry, but reduces the risk. Hard gear lasts longer than soft, so if it works, you can amortize it over a longer period.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Haven't ridden the Karakorum stuff myself, but clients seem to have no problems with them at all. I'm on Spark, which has been excellent for me. I did break a set of baseplates by metal fatigue during the covid no-lifts winter (100+ days touring!). Local Spark distributor replaced them super-quick, no hassle.

I use Grivel Airtech as my boot crampons, but I've just bought a set of Petzl Leopards to lighten the load a bit. The toe opening is a little tight for snowboard boots. Just debating whether I should bend them out a little or swap the crampons for a set of Grivel Airtech Light.

After all it is free

@phil_w, unfortunately I'm in UK so nowhere to demo. In fact I think I'd struggle to even find a pair of phantom boots to try on. I don't mind paying more for hard boot set up as I think it is probably the better approach. The massive thing putting me off is not being able to try it, it's too much to put into an alternate system I might not like when I'm pretty happy with soft boots, they are not really hindering me.

Thanks for all the advice. After this thread I was pretty set on another set of sparks. However, (from my brief look at UK shops) once you add the pucks the spark surges are coming in about £100 more than the karakorum nomads, which could go towards boot crampons. Will mull it over.

@boarder2020, I just got a new splitboard from amplid which was a bargain. They had some real cheap spark bindings which include pucks I think on their outlet store.

Shipping to Nz was reasonable so would think Uk isn’t too bad.

Also phantom boots are just atomic backlands with a phantom link lever. A lot of people buy backlands and just get the lever off phantom. Atomic backhands shouldn’t be hard to find to try on.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Aye, I have standard Backlands (well, the carbon fibre ones...) with Phantom Levers. IMHO the game changing combination is the levers plus the zero-friction ankle pivot, not the placement of the boot clips etc. But there's certainly a risk/ cost bump for anyone. I'm off to Iceland in a few days and last year there the locals were very much getting into the Phantom stuff, so I'd guess it may get easier to find equipment to test/ borrow over time.

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Splitboard bindings

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