@silver wrote:

Those are beautiful.

They also seem to be the same basic design as Sparks’ binders.I don’t mean to open up a can of worms but I’m curious if you could elaborate on the, at least perceived, deficiencies that inspired you to go the custom route and how you’ve addressed them? Or if that’s totally off base, what the other inspiration is?

Thanks!

p.s. I’ve been happily riding my ignitions for a couple of seasons now so this shouldn’t be taken as any kind of attack on Sparks. Or on you for that matter. I’ve got a lot of respect for what you’re doing there. Just trying to understand what these offer.

Thanks Silver

I guess I’ll start with this…I customize everything! I like my gear to work for me, not the other way around. Even old retired gear can become useful again and in some cases waaaay better. :thumpsup: I don’t pay top dollar for anything! I’m too cheap and find that in many cases I can do it better and cheaper than going out and buying it. These are probably my top 2 reasons for doing any kind of mod or project no matter what field of work or play I am involved with.

I have seen all the binders first hand and have been listening to all the complaints, problems etc… of all the systems, but I have never ridden on a pair of Blazes, Light Rails or Karakorams. I can read all the frustration riders are having with their inadequate gear. I saw some improvements I could handle taking on and these binders were the result. Having been working in a research and development environment for the past 7 years helped me to bring these things to reality.

My goal with my binders was to make them feel like resort bindings. Some of the things I chose to improve upon were very simple and back to basics changes. Not having a sidewall on a base is retarded. You lose a lot of strength not to mention foot roll while strapped in. Flimsy high backs provide little to no support. I am very keen on that flaw now having suffered a broken leg early in the season. In creating these binders I found that I also have the ability to customize widths! My boot and binding are such a good fit that they feel like one solid piece. Because of this, I believe that response will be significantly quicker and initiating turns will require less effort. I want peace of mind knowing what I am riding is reliable and up for whatever challenges I can throw at it. I think that there was too fast of a progression towards lightweight and not enough progression on comfort and strength. Just looking at these new systems have me doubting their capability and that isn’t what I want to be thinking as I am skinning up to some gnarly line out in the middle of nowhere… I agree with BG on the buckles, but they just happened to be the ones that came with the binders. 😆 I am actually looking into new straps, buckles and sublimated highbacks in the near future! :bananas: and come up with a good name for them :scratch:

edit: custom width promotes tight boot to binding interface. No more slop here.

@AK_Split wrote:

I highly recomend you look into welding little wings or supports on the sides under the toes and heels to increase board to binding contact and reduce the binding roll caused by the Voile pucks.

A quick study in force distribution and physics would reveal a flaw with adding any contact points directly to the board from the binding. Voile was very smart in how they designed their puck system. If the board is not allowed to flex because a contact point doesn’t allow it to, shear forces take over and snap your board right at the contact point. BS had this problem with his custom Sentury split. Also any sharp edges on your resort bindings that contact the board surface should also be rounded to allow your board to flex at the contact point. You just might find your boards will last a little longer.

Just when I thought they were done
hole drilled for a coated cable leash to be installed at a later date

brass bushing with new hollow ss pin

My first intention was to only use the slider plate “as is”. It was an ok setup and what anybody who bolts on slider tracks to their resort binders is used to. If you look at a binder mounted on a slider track verses the Blaze when mounted in touring mode you will notice some key differences.

First of all, the slider track fits inside the Voile touring bracket when the Spark bases fit outside of the bracket. The interface contacts are wider on the Spark setup allowing greater lateral stability. Ever seen the car commercial where they state “wider is better”? Well, it’s true!

Secondly, Spark came out with a new touring bracket that is only compatible with the Spark bases. They will not work if you are using slider plates. I wanted to take advantage of the weight savings that Spark accomplished using the new bracket so I was forced to create that welded toe piece which also turned into the new toe ramp. So, not only is the LT bracket lighter than Voile’s stamped steel touring bracket, it does less damage to your pins because of how they are designed.

The Voile touring bracket is made from a very narrow stamped steel plate. The holes are sharp and have very little contact area with the pins causing very high stresses to be put on your heavy steel pins and high pin wear is the result. The LT bracket holes are 1/2 inch wide and have a bushing pressed in to keep your pins from wearing down due to the added surface area contact. With the LT bracket, the stresses are reduced to the point that Spark offered an aluminum pin saving even more weight. Aluminum pins are too weak in my opinion so I opted for stainless steel tubing to get my weight savings and being a harder metal will last longer. I also pressed in a hard metal bushing made from brass or bronze (not sure which stock I grabbed) which wears less than the plastic bushings that Spark uses on their Blazes and rotates smoother while touring. When those plastic bushings wear or fall out, Blaze owners will find themselves having to replace their pins often or go back to the steel pins because aluminum gauls heavily when rubbing against another metal.

Third reason is all about Mr. Chomps… To put on a Voile splitboard crampon, you are forced to take the binding out of the touring bracket AND use a longer pin. What a waste! Spark’s Mr Chomps can be installed without even taking your foot out of the binding or removing the binder from the touring bracket and uses the same pin. This is way more efficient! Those Spark R&D guys are smart as hell, but with weight savings being #1, a few mods have to be made to make their gear last longer.

Sorry for the long explanation, but I have only touched the surface of the difference between the two setups. To go into full detail would require big words and a couple of pages and I’m not that dedicated. 😆