 Poster: A snowHead
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A couple of months ago in a slight moment of madness I bought a splitboard in the Amplid sale, now I need bindings. My local snow shop have some Union Explorers on offer, anyone used them and have good/bad experiences? Various internet people say they're pants and to go Karakorum or Spark R&D, others say it doesn't matter if you're new to splitboarding, others still say they're great.
Any opinions?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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No idea about the Unions but I am selling some Karakorums in good condition if you are interested.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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https://www.curated.com/journal/1251000/expert-review-union-explorer-split-snowboard-bindings
In my case it was all about going up so if a choice existed Id look elsewhere .
When its minus 20 on a ridge in high wind you need gear that just works to get up, change over and get down in daylight .
Most do spring rather than dec in the above case but you may see my point .
Both Union and Burton have a long track record of updating features or whole bindings in following years because initially they didnt make the grade .
The good news is burtons customer service here .
This doom and gloom is not always the case but it happens so let some other mug test anything new long term as its far better to buy what is already tested and proven .
Secondhand may be a option .
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Explorers are absolute poo-poo. Speaking from unfortunate experience. They fall apart and give you disco feet in ride mode.
My daughter had them too. Liked the downhill but quickly came to the same conclusion that they can’t be relied on, and you need to rely on them. It doesn’t matter how you set them up, the pins always seem to come loose. And the toe brackets break, and the crampons don’t work that well.
I’ve heard the new chargers are no better.
Sparks or nitro/burton variants are probably the best option. Have heard not great things about the most recent karakorams in terms of reliability.
Also, if you are tempted to go fruit boots, spark toes are garbage. I’ve broken 3 pairs of those in 2 years.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Also - great choice on the amplid split. I’ve got a milligram and a surf shuttle, they are really nice boards 
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Thanks everyone for the advice, deffo some food for thought there, I think I'll leave the Explorers for now then- I'm in no desperate hurry so I can wait for the right bit of kit to come up on sale or until I can justify £££ on something not on sale.
@hang11,
Thanks dude, I'd heard good things about Amplid, looked at the Milligram but went for the Tour Operator in the end as it seemed more suited to the sort of riding I'm likely to do
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If you get a chance to demo a hard boot setup give it a go. Uphill and downhill are really good. My soft boot spark bindings have been gathering dust for a couple of years since I got fruit boots.
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Yeah I chatted to the guys on the Backdrop Journal stand at the Snow Show a couple of years ago and they're big fans of hard boots too, I'm concerned i'd struggle to find ones that fit my mutant feet, it's only in the last couple of years that I've managed to have a pair of soft boots that don't cause my feet to go numb or get really painful, I'm dreading the point they fall apart and I have to start the process all over again!
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