New Binding's - Ditching Rear Boot?

[SpartanSki]

So I've been on the Connelly Enzo's for a few years now, and in terms of a good, form fitting binding, that adds a lot of control, these are amongst the best I've tried. However, while they rank high on control, I think they're a little short on safety, I've never been ejected and I don't think I can be without breaking the binding (which I've done) or myself (which I haven't thankfully). So I'm in the market for something new and I need some suggestions.

 

On to the second part, in doing some basement, stacked position training, I noticed my rear foot has a natural tendency to come up on the ball when I push my front/ankle knee forward. When skiing, I've cinched my rear binding tight which I think has become a crutch/hindrance to getting off the tail of the ski. I skied this morning and left the rear binding closed but the laces loose and it did seem to help, my posture was better and my turns were hooking up better as I had more pressure on the front of the ski.

 

So should I ditch the rear boot? Is there a shorter/softer rear boot I should try? A guy at my local shop has a Reflex front, Strada rear that piqued my interested, but I don't really have that kind of coin to spend. I've skied dual Strada's and didn't like the looseness of the front, but it might be what I was looking for in the back binding.

[Stickman]

I switched from using an Animal rear to a Strada with a FM front. The Animal would cramp my foot after six passes, but I can leave the Strada on to eat lunch if I wanted to. There is some heal slip with the Strada but that is what I wanted, and I've been able to get used to it.

[bogboy]

Before you ditch your rear binding you might want to try inserting a generous, closed cell heel lift wedge. Wilys has them in two thicknesses. Go for the thick.

[andjules]

For what it's worth, it didn't take me long to get used to the RS-1/Strada 'looseness', so you may not want to give up on dual stradas. It only bothered me until I realized I was skiing better ;-)

[Justin_C]

For what it's worth, I was looking for new bindings last year and I have always skied with the rtp and was thinking of changing to double boots because of the safety issues. Many people suggested I stay on the rtp as I have a tendency to move my back heal a lot. I ended up getting the Radar Vector boot which I find I can leave surprisingly loose without noticing and paired it with the HO lace up rtp (the Radar one is pretty well the same thing, I just liked the look of the HO more). The lace up allows me to cinch my rear foot in pretty good yet still move my heal. Whether it really helps in a crash has yet to be determined (thankfully), however it does give me more piece of mind.

[SpartanSki]

I tried on the Vector and I did like it, haven't skied it yet though. I'm taking off the rear binding this weekend and trying out a toe plate. Bogboy, I looked on Wiley's and didn't find what you were talking about. Is it just a wedge to go in the boot?

[bogboy]

Spartan, the lifts may not be on their website, but they have them in their shop in back where they build the bindings. The main technician's name I think is Robert. He speaks with a German accent. Call wilys, and ask for Darren, the owner. My lifts are yellow closed cell foam.