Should I turn down my bindings for park skiing? If so how much?

ESAND

Active member
Its spring and around this time of year I always get it in my head that i am going to go learn to throw down in the park. So my question is right now I am running my bindings at 12 toe 13 heal on my normal freeskiing skis and am worried that my 175 lbs self will not be able to put enough forces on the binding while skiing park to release in a fall so I am thinking of running the bindings on my park skis lower. Is this a good idea? How much lower should I be looking at?
 
should be fine, I put mine at ~8/9 even though shop puts me lower, I noticed I pop out way too often and got really annoyed with popping out so much.. that and i dont plan on sueing anyone if i break a leg cause its my fault
 
i definitely wouldnt have them at 12-13. im not the same same as you but it just seems real high. thats like race ski high so you dont pop out in the middle of a gs turn in deep ass ruts. i would turn them down since its better to come out early then not at all, i think personally. too may ways for your knee to get screwed up...
 
start with 8 or 9 and ifyou keep on popping out go like 1/2 up untill you only pop out when you need to. it worked for me.
 
im 185 and i ride park at 11-12 big mt 12-13, dependings on your BSL i would drop it to 9-10 it really depends on how hard you are pushing yourself, i find im still still fast enough and falling hard enough that my skis still eject when i fall, but stay on when they should
 
dude if hes 175lbs thats really low. Im 145 lbs. and mine is on 13 toe/heel.

racers have theirs on like 18 - 35 and even non release bindings
 
where do you get that 18-35 numbers. I used to ski with a kid who was pretty hard core into racing and quite abit hevier than me and he ran speed events with a din of 16 on his 185s
 
no my Fischers are on 12. my FKS bindings on my JP Julains are on 13

as for the racing, I know a bunch of kids up here with those beefy bindings. they all have p18s, some have Marker 25s, and I know Bode Miller amogst others race on special bindings that dont release.
 
My park bindings are at 10 while my freeride setup is at 9. Honestly, it depends on the binding and the skier, but I prefer my park binders to be set higher so that I stay in unless I really have to pop out.
 
Some of you fuckers are crazy. I'm 5'11" 170 lbs and my DIN on my p12's is at 8. Works perfectly fine for me, even on bigger stuff. I can't believe some of you guys my size and smaller are riding park with DINs at like 13.

 
see thats what im scetched about. I need 13 to hold me in while freesking but when im in the park im not so sure that 13 will release me in a fall
 
6 foot, 150 pounds, dins on 12.

although I did almost break my ankle inside my boot because of that a month ago....

 
I hope for the sake of your knees you never fall bad... and bode has bindings that dont release? I distinctively remember him popping a ski off in a downhill event and skiing the rest of the course on one ski... so your info is shit
 
8-9 sounds good. thats what I use for park and I'm 175lbs too. they come out pretty consistantly, although I might crank them up a tad, like to 10, since in the spring its annoying if you land sketchy and could get away with it but your ski gets snagged and comes off. but yea i like mine rigth now i think i have them at like 8.5
 
you guys realize that most of the info you guys are posting is pointless unless you post a boot size too, right? I'm 6'2" 230 with a 29.5 boot and I'm set at 8 and do fine in the park... so take that into consideration when lowering your din for park riding.
 
no you idiot, of cours he can click out of them, but only if he pushes the heel thing. What I mean is that theres no spring or din setting, the only way out is if he steps on the lever. I have been racing for most of my life and all my ski friends are racers so shut the fuck up, you don't know what you're talking about. I also met Bode and I asked if he really had "Lockdowns" and he said "yeah."

and why would I not want to have my din high if I fall bad? The reason my din is high in the first place is so that they ONLY pop out when its a gnarly crash, not if Im just tumbling down the hill.
 
werd

for park, i am 5'8" and 145lbs with my din at 10. Works great because i dont pop out if i just tumble or start rolling down the hill, but does pop out if it is really forced to do so.
 
yeah some people like them to come off when they ragdoll...I dont. I only like them to come off when my knee/foot gets tweaked all wierd quickly.
 
thanks... so I don't know shit huh tanaka? I hope you fuck your knees and ankles up, its ignorant ppl like you on this earth that need to be served, so fuck you
 
hmmmmmmm....yeh i think u might want to turn them down. personal preference though...becasue i didnt change mine all season, after being professionally mounted, i had a tiny bail...1 ski popped off, and i hyper extended my knee to the point where i need to go for treatment 3 times a week and cant play soccer or rugby this summer.
 
why do u have to act like a prick? so what if he likes his dins up...who the fuck are u to tell him what to do? he was simply expressing HIS opinion...not yours. see the way a forum works...is you post what u think a possible solution would be, and maybe even some reasons why...and then others do the same! what a novel idea! so what if tanaka might have been wrong with the whole "lockdown" or w.e bindings...(i am not saying he is)...again, his thoughts and his opinions...no reason for you to be all gay about it. if you want things done your way...start a cult in real life...and then arrange a mass meeting where everyone drinks their kool-aid to really show those fuckers like tanaka to not express their opinion and not to express their right of freedom of speech. then u will say " i will drink first" since you are the clan leader, and everyone else will realise how dumb you are after you drop dead, and will walk away.

ya doubts on that. how about u just let people add to threads their own opinion and thoughts...so no...fuck YOU.
 
I cant even watch that video. And no matter what, does it ever occur that maybe Bode has more than 1 ski setup? I saw his skis in person, they were lockdowns dude. And how am I ignorant? All I said is that he has lockdowns dude, chill the fuck out, its just bindigs. and even then, I still dont believe for one second that you know as much about bindings that you say you know.

and today my park din was on 12 and I kept popping out whenever I fell. fuck that dude, I want to save my SPINE. popping out on mediocre falls is what fucks me up.
 
to each his own... but to tell me I am totally wrong... well I wasn't wrong, thats why you are ignorant... maybe he switched to lockdowns after that shit went down (so maybe Im ignorant?) Just saying it seems kinda unreasonable to have your dins on 13 when you weigh 145, but to each his own... and yes I realize pre-release is bad, Ive fucked my knee up pre-releasing before but Id say theres a happy medium, dont know why you'd keep popping out at 12 but whatever

oh yea, and the whole cult and koolaid thing, that was pretty hilarious
 
DIN is also dependent on bootsole length, as someone who actually knows what they are talking about already said. i know guys that are 6'7, 200 some pounds that ride a din lower than me (6', 160lbs) because their foot is so much bigger than mine. the bigger your boot, the less torque it takes from the ski, since the toe and heel are closer to the tip and tail of the boot. you can think of it in terms of swingweight. when you hold a ski dead center, its easy to swing. when you hold it at the tail, its harder to swing. smaller boots are like holding the ski at the tail, since with a smaller boot, you have more tip and tail to work with on the ski, if that makes any sense. if the shop uses the DIN chart to tell you that you should be riding at 8-9, then base your decision off that. if you're riding a look/rossi binding, go with what they say for the toe, and one higher on the heel. for salomons, go one higher in the toe, two in the heel. that's what i've found to work out pretty well for park riding. if you're riding a pair of markers, then god help your knees...
 
There is a huge personal preference here. You can find the manufacturers suggested DIN setting and figure it out from there. Its whatever you are comfortable with. I would suggest trying lower and working up rather than starting high and working down.

For the people who say its ridiculous to have your DIN set high for park, on Jon Olsson's website it said that his park skis DIN is set at 20. Theres something else for you to bitch about.
 
seriously tho tanaka, what the fuck. 13 din on fks? my park skis have fks and my DIN is at 8 and im 125 lbs and they come off when i murk bad.
 
Ya, DINS are based on a lot, and it has the a lot to do with height, weight and terrain.

Eg. I'm 190lbs, 5'11, and I park DIN 10, big mtn 11 or 12.

If I was taller, at the same weight, I'd drop my DINS. [Lankier guys need to protect their ligaments more. Longer = greater moment forces on your joints.]

If I was shorter, at the same weight, I'd raise my DINS.

Heavier = higher DIN.

That's mostly what you need to know.

Whether you go for 8 or 12 really has to do with when you want your ski to pop off.

Doing 13, you will hurt your knees at some point.
 
first of all, my FKS bindings are on my powder skis. Power riding for me requires much sturdier bindings. I also weigh 20 lbs. more than you. I also have a size 26.5 boot.
 
what kind of pow riding? just curious. and i wear a 25.5, so my DIN should be even higher than yours
 
yah, agreed. people crank their bindings waaay too much today. it's not as necessary with a good binding (Rossi Scratch 120 / Look PX12). racers have entirely different ski dynamics than freeskiing. there's no comparison. you only jack the bindings when doing proper big mountain where losing a ski is not an option. even then, you DO want a release. it will save your life more often than not. I rarely go above 10, and ski mainly big mountain, and rarely release.
 
+ after reading the rest of the thread, scratch that, obviously there are simply more factors to make any kind of general statement. obviously some people need higher DINs, nuff said. but I feel at least over the last 10 years that DIN has come down significantly as bindings have improved.
 
Exactly! I'm 6'1 and 155 and I'm at 8, and i tore my mcl becasue i didnt pop out at 8. I'm scared to go any higher for my own goddamn safety.
 
yeah there are some crazy people on here im 200lb and i ride at 9 front and back for pretty much every where cept i go up a little in pow because searching for skis in deep pow sucks dick(done it plenty)
 
Why would you worry what other people have their DIN set at, you care too much. Let them do what they want. You do what you want. Some people would rather not pop out unless absolutely necessary cuz sometimes you can get more hurt when it does pop out. Some people want them to pop out for any wipe out cuz they think thats more safe. Its really whatever you want. I find I get hurt less having my DIN turned up, Im 5'10" 175 26.5 boot with Scratch 140's and I am set at 10 everywhere. I have never been hurt from not popping out, I did get hurt a few times when they did pop off before I turned them up. I actually landed the jumps too but the impact was too big and the ski went flying, I tumbled and got pretty banged up, happened a few times.
 
hey that might be what it takes tanaka... just saying I outweigh you by 50 lbs, same size boots and I dont think I'd be over 12 or 13 riding big cliffs, I've only ever dropped small like 20s and been fine at 10 front, 9 rear solly s-912ti... which everyone says suck and dont hold you in...
 
just start with them low like 8 or 9 and ski a little park, if they release when you dont want them to, crank them up a little...problem solved.
 
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