Expensive Divorce - The Split Thread

[Spenser]

Phantoms are rad. I want them, but $$

[pow_hnd]

Phantoms are rad. I want them, but $$

After going to Wasatch Touring and trying them on, I think I'm gonna go all in and give them a go. I was just worried mainly about them being too stiff for my preferences, but they really aren't that stiff. There's things you can do to stiffen them I was told, but all in all, they felt pretty damn close to my DC T-Rice boots, maybe just a hair softer to be honest.

I think that getting used to them will not be that big of a trade off for how much better they will be on the up.

When they were in "walk mode" you have an incredible stride, even more than you could get by leaving your top BOA undone, and I do know that the physics/geometry of the toe piece makes everything so much more efficient and then you also ditch about 1.25lbs off of each foot on the up which is a lot.

Sigh, I never thought it would come to this, but age is making me give it a go.

[Spenser]

Haha, it’s okay, we are here for you.

I have two friends with them, who love them. One is Lars the Stranda dude who uses them on his splits, and the other is a local friend who uses them for both. I see a lot of benefits, really. People overlook them thinking they’re ski boots, but of course they are not.

The local friend modded the spring thingy on the heel to work better for him - I forget what he did, but could ask. I believe he’s the same size as me, so I should try them on some time..

[pow_hnd]

I’m gonna go back to Wasatch Touring on Saturday with my custom insoles. If they drop in without issues, I’ll pull the trigger and buy them.

Make no mistake, this is an expensive experiment when it’s all said and done, but I need to put up a fight against Father Time.

When I split by myself or with people my age, speed isn’t necessarily an issue, but damn when I’m out with the young kids ( Milo shop kids ), which is fairly frequently, it’s getting harder and harder to keep up with those 20 somethings and even the dudes in their early 30s.

Even when speed isn’t an issue, it will be nice to just use less energy.

[pow_hnd]

I’ve decided to slow my roll. Will wait till this winter and demo a setup. Thankfully Wasatch Touring is a Phantom demo center. Dropping about $1300-1400 to “try” is just too steep.

Still super curious to try though.

[kimchi]

I’ve decided to slow my roll. Will wait till this winter and demo a setup. Thankfully Wasatch Touring is a Phantom demo center. Dropping about $1300-1400 to “try” is just too steep.

Still super curious to try though.

I may do same next time I come out and visit. I've been curious about hard boots since I have separate split boots anyway and am down to invest if I see a meaningful benefit. But gambling that much money just to see if I can tolerate hard boots is a steep barrier to entry.

[picasso]

I have wanted to get into splitboarding for a couple years now and it looks like it will finally happen this year. What is the word on Karakoram vs Spark bindings? Or any others that I should be aware of (besides Phantom)?

[benjinyc]

I have a few Karakorams, I'm not going to say they're better than Sparks, they each have their advantages.

I am curious about Unions new pin-less charger binding. I'm sure someone here will guinea pig

[casjcade]

The people who did reviews on the new Union Chargers, have had problems with binding detaching from the board while breaking trail in deep snow and kickturns. This is when you go past 90 degrees angle on bindings, which shouldn’t happen often, but still do. Can probably avoid it happening with some awareness, but losing a ski when going down a small hill or something because you drop a knee can’t be fun.

[pow_hnd]

I have wanted to get into splitboarding for a couple years now and it looks like it will finally happen this year. What is the word on Karakoram vs Spark bindings? Or any others that I should be aware of (besides Phantom)?

Just buy Sparks. They are the easiest and most reliable to use. Everything else is a "specialty" or boutique item. Don't ruin your introduction to splitboarding by having to dick around with some bindings that aren't 100% user friendly.