Splitboard.com Forums

never heard of it...

They make two versions, a traditional and step-in. I'm unfamiliar with both but I've seen the traditional one and it looks...well...bomber. I hear it's much stiffer than the Voile Mtn plate too.

dackdescents uses them and modified them by removing the track on the binding and mounting the toe and heel pieces right to a Voile slider track. Pretty slick.

Whoa so do those heel and toe pieces screw off or did he have to cut the bindings?

Unscrew.....the pieces, that is. I've handled 'em at the factory, and like 'em. I don't like hiking with the Intec pins sticking out of the boots, though. They pick up a fair amount of scratches in anything other than snow. It may be the best stepin system out right now as far as long term strength, but the Fast system is better for those less than ideal hikes. I've taken my Fast heel/toe pieces off the plates and put them directly on the Voile slider tracks and have a very light stepin system for the backcountry. The Fast system has the pins in the binding heel piece, and the reciever holes in the boot heel piece, the opposite of the Intec. If I damage the heel piece, I can break out the multi-tool and rig up a temporary fix with the knife, whereas if I screw up a Intec pin, I might be up the creek with no paddle.

I played around with my bomber splitboard bindings some and this is what I found out:

The binding is HEAVY and STIFF (imagine that).
The toe and heel pieces DO unscrew from the sub base plate.
I attempted to mount the toe and heel pieces to a voile slider plate.
Two problems:
1) The holes in the toe/heel pieces and the holes on the slider plate don't match up. No biggie you just need to enlarge the holes on the slider plate until you can mount the toe/heel pieces. Best done with a round file.
2) second problem. on the toe/heel bales where they attach to the toe/heel plate there are very large round joints these don't allow you to mount onto the voile plates and sit flush. To make them sit flush you have to file a fair amount of metal off of the slider plate.

conclusion: not worth it
you loose ease of adjustment a and these bindings are VERY easy to
adjust and the Bomber Subplate is made of alluminum and is light compared to the rest of the binding which is steel.

The best plate binding I have found for split boards that I have used is a modified Burton Race plate binding.
Same Idea that I had with the bomber but much easier and very light.
1)Take the toe/heel pieces off of a Burton Race Plate
2) Determine where you want your foot to fit on the voile plate. Easiest way is to take the base plate from the Race plate and mount it on the slider plate. Mark the holes that work for your boot size by taking a sharpie marker and make a dot where the screws were from the toe/heel pieces on to the slider plate.
3) remove the burton base plate (you are eliminating this plate and loosing the wieght and bulk of it!)
4) take a round file and enlarge the holes on the slider plate until the sharpie dots are gone.
5) the toe and heel pieces should mount on to the slider plates once the hole line up. T-nut them on.

They weigh just over one pound each not much more than the voile mountain plate. They ride MUCH better than the mountain plate. Much stiffer and more responsive

Hope that all made sense

right on dack!

Thanks for showing up.
how about some pics of your mods? Pretty please.

Any improvments on these bindings or should I just stick w/ the Voile Mtn. Plates?

Yes, the '05 and up vintage are just toe/heel pieces that attach to the slider track. that eliminates some weight/height. They are also way stiffer than the mountain plate. If you are using a light boot I think it may be the way to go. However, I have had zero problems with the Voile Mtn. Plate, and if you are lighter in weight it should be no issue.

Thanks, for the info. I've got a set of mtn. plates on the way but have some concerns about them due to my size, 6'2" 220lbs. I might go ahead and lay down the coin for the Bombers when I've got the cash.

http://talk.splitboard.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=1510

CATEK mod. that works well for me.

if anyones looking for a cheap set of bombers check out this add. its in canada tho. i posted this in the swap section too
http://www.mec.ca/Apps/outdoorGearSwap/ ... 0296025166

Wow thats a lot of negative talk/speculation about the only binding i trust with my body. I will tell you why...

What i have used or examined:
+I have looked at most generations of the voile plate bindings (rode only 1)... all use plastic and thin metal wires.
+I have used the first generation of the Bomber Trench Digger Plate binding for 6 years on carving boards and normal boards (resort and snowshoe-up).
+I have used the Bomber split board plate binding (or this link)for 3 seasons (or 2.5) now.
-I have NOT used the step in conversion though i have many friends who say for resort boarding it is the best. just as rigid. It must be nice to not have to sit on you but every time you get off the lift. For backcountry the step in may compromise your ability to use heel bail crampons. I would investigate that before buying.
-I have not tried the newer T2 & Gold Digger designs.
-I have not tried the Bomber Telle bindings but everything i hated in telle bindings seams to have been fixed by that design.

Material:
I like the Voile Company and support them with a lot of my money however i think the use of plastic and thin gauge wires is not safe enough for my legs. A lot more moment/angular force exists on snowboard bindings then on cramp-ons. Yet so many plate bindings use the same engineering?

I recommend the Bomber over any other plate binding for both design and material reasons. Let me remind folks that if a foot breaks loose at top speed or on ice or bumbs, the other foot will likely not release and that could mean you loose a knee. IF any extra weight is associated with the bombers i will happily take on that weight knowing i have no plastic between my boots (yeah... ok.. those are plastic) and the board.

the bomber products use aircraft alloy aluminum or in the case of the gold diggers titanium. notice the toe and heal loops are THICK solid metal. Notice they swivel on over engendered bolted joints, not little bends or crimps in the metal like many plate bindings. Notice the Toe bail is METAL, i have seen plastic toe bails break on people. Notice the plates that bind to the slider plate are not PLASTIC.

Can you afford a disabling injury 2 days into the back country? What is the value in both dollars and weight that you are willing to trade for the assurance that BOTH you feet will stay safely on the board at all times?

Adjustable:
When i was comparing the bomber split bindings with the voile version i liked the Bomber's ability to better adjust how far forward of back the boot is relative to the slider plate. Both in deciding where i want the pivot point when in touring mode and how far toe/heel in boarding mode. It can attach at any point on the slider plate WITH OUT DRILLING OR FILING. It also has a adjustment the next plate up that adjusts finer increments. The slider plate movement in touring mode is limited only by the slider plate dimensions not the Bomber Plate bindings. And i am saynging this having my pivot point further back on my foot than most people

I have never needed the little adjuster screw on the toe bail lever. Apparently some boots need this.

5mm Alan wrench- All bomber products use 1 tool for all screws. A 5mm alan wrench AKA hex wrench. It is nice, I hope to switch all the voile fasteners to 5mm in the next few years. An alan wrench is a lot less bulky than a screw driver.

Compatibility with the Voile Split System:
I have had NO problems with my bomber plate bindings on the 2002 split73 board i own. I am not sure what the comments above are about But i will try to address them in later posts.


Locally owned, built, designed ect.
Again, i am not insulting Voile. I love them. they are a friendly company that hasn't sold out to the masses and have continued to help us minority back country enthusiast. BUT since i live in the USA, even more so Colorado, I want to support locally. I bought my first bindings in person from the Bomber shop in silverthorn, co. This was 6 years ago so i may be off. Bomber products are designed by the owner, a mechanical engineer who seemed to have amazing mastery of anatomy/physiology (i am a biologist). Based on the tour of the facility he gave me and our discussions on human to gear interface he put though into every detail of his produce and was interested in building the BEST even if that means you never get a repeat customer. He had a aluminum milling machine in the shop where he makes the majority of the product. I am not sure where the anidization happens. I trusted his insight, appreciated his contribution to the Colorado economy, his support of the carving community, and I felt good about buying a lot of expensive gear from him when i got into hard boot boarding.

What Boots:
I have used either the Bomber trench diggers or the bomber split board bindings on many boots:
-Raichle race snowboard boot (did Raichle sell it's snowboard boot line to "DEELUXE"?) Worked well on both the split and the trenchdigger models for many years. Also Burton Snowboard (hard) boots but they were crap.
-Numerous AT and one Garmont Telle(not worth trying) all fit perfectly stiff (except the telle but it was snug enough).
-2 alpine ski boots... what the hey? I think bomber says do NOT use ALPINE BOOTS with thier bindings so don't... but i did and it was plenty stiff.
Scarpa Sprits are the main boot i use on the split board version of the BOMBER plate bindings.
-normal alpine boots-I think bomber says you SHOULD NOT do this but i wanted to try a few ski boots and they help tight in it.
-old kolfach mountanering boots- boots are not stiff enough, but the attachment to the binding was perfect.

Anything i don't like about the Bomber?:
one thing. the trench diggers (plate bindings for normal carving boards) have a nice spring in the back that holds the rear heel loop up making it easy to put on even in deep powder or steep ice. The back country ones do not have this. But they stay in the position you put them, and that is better then the voile.

I will try to address some of the above complaints but will do that in a separate posts using the "Quote Feature"