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.

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.

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

CATEK mod. that works well for me.

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”

@dacksdescents wrote:

…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.

I commend dacksdescents for Pioneering a Bomber split binding before (2004) the Bomber split plate was available but for those considering the proper Bomber Split Binding Product most of this tread is not up to date or fare.

1) The holes :Simply removing the toe and heel off a trench digger WILL not fit the Voile slider plate. When you buy the ACTUAL Bomber Split Binding (see pic) it has an other plate that matches the Voile slider plate holes. NO DRILLING NEEDED.

I am guessing that with out this plate you/dacksdescents also had problems getting touring mode to work. The store bought BOMBER plate bindings in no way hinder movement of the slider plate in touring mode.

2) second problem FILING. OUCH, DUDE, you filed down a $300 bomber plate binding just to give info to the forum? wow that is dedication. Again just removing the toe and heel off a trench digger is not comparable to the product being sold for split boards. The (happily) over engendered bolted joints do not need to be filed in any way shape or form if you buy the ACTUAL Bomber split board product.

Hello all,

FYI: I asked Chris if it was OK to post the latest on our Bomber Split Board bindings here and got his OK.

Appreciate everyone’s input and opinions on the Bomber Split Board binding. However, some of the reviews and comments here are quite dated (close to four years now) so just wanted to give everyone an update on the bindings:

The newest split board binding does use a two piece (instead of one single base plate) mount. This significantly reduces the weight.

We did go with a two piece mount (sole block to sub-plate to Slider Track) as it allows quick and easy adjustment. Also you can size boots much larger then the Slider Track will allow.

All Bomber Splitboard bindings come with a “wide” toe bail assembly. This allows all boots to fit including AT and tour type boots that tend to have a wide toe box area.

Don’t forget, the toe clip is a bottle opener 😀

With some creative machining and “on hill” testing the final version now comes in at 842grams/1.86lbs for the set. Our lightest version so far! Maybe I need to think about a Ti model next 😉

Thanks again guys for the support and let me know if you have any questions or comments. I’ll do the best I can. More information and photos http://www.bombersplitboards.com/Pages/bomber_split_bindings.cfm.

Cheers,

Kickin’ this one to the front…I finally rode a set this weekend in less than ideal conditions, but they impress me. Pluses are simple to set up, strong and stiff, fit my Dynafit boots well. Downsides? Stiff for my light butt, I will have to loosen up the boots a bit under some conditions, but these things will drive an edge in icy conditions! I am happy with them. I would think for a heavier, aggressive person they would be needed, not optional. Glad I got ’em! 😀