Boot Safety. Stay in them or come out of them?

[aswinter05]

I know when it comes to taking a fall, you either want both feet to come out OR you want both feet to stay in.

 

I have HO Basis bindings. They are extremely comfortable. Im worried about their safety though.

 

Should i tighten those babies all the way up? Or should i attempt to keep them loose enough to slide out of a fall?

 

I've taken a couple nasty spills in them. One time both feet came out, the other time they both stayed in.

 

April Coble recommended tightening the toe area and leaving the ankle strap a bit loosened. She said if you want to come out of the boot this will help.

 

Future tumbles are inevitable. I just want to do my best to avoid injury. I love the sport too darn much to risk missing the season.

 

Does anyone have suggestions for me? Even better yet, does anyone else have experience with the Basis boot?

 

Thanks!

[fu_man]

I have the Radar Vectors which look like the same thing. I do just that...make the bottom laces snug and keep the top ones loose. My foot comes out with no problem. I only made the mistake of overtightening the top laces once...and fell. Foot did not come out and l luckily I was not injured.

[BraceMaker]

Out for me as well, make sure you get the binding and foot good and wet when getting in.

[Razorskier1]

I want out on a hard fall. I don't want the stick anywhere near me. Importantly, I have endeavored to quit making bad decisions, and that has drastically reduced the number of hard falls!

[Wish]

What @Razorskier1 said. Not making bad decisions to "Go for it" has been key to my health as well. Lots of tossing the handle the past several yrs maybe more. May leave a little more out there in tournaments but not practice. Had a sketchy 35 today (not getting out much at all) and that was enough for me to go right back to 32 and stay. No need to be a hero in Feb.

[sb_dc_mbs_13]

I'm also interested in hearing some thoughts on this. I had a bad fall that injured both of my ankles that had me off the water for a few weeks during this past collegiate season. I was on HO Attacks. I normally tighten both straps as much as possible because I don't like the feeling of feet moving around while I'm out on the course. On my crash, my heels lifted but were unable to come all the way out of the binding.

I ride an A2 and am considering trying out some EXOs once the water warms up again.

[crashman]

I had a bad ankle injury a few years ago while on radar vectors- back foot came out and front foot stayed in. In retrospect I think I must have had the front boot a little tighter than the back. Now I'm on stradas- I'll tighten them to where I'll come out of the ski only with a pretty hard fall. The last thing I do before I jump in the water is lift up on each foot and make sure the boots are symmetrically tight.

[aswinter05]

@sb_dc_mbs_13 , that's exactly what happened to me on one of my falls! Luckily no injury but it hurt quite a bit. Heels came up and almost made it out of the boot. I also hate the feeling of my feet moving around while skiing. Guess I'll just have to get used to it.

[Chef23]

I want out. I am on a Strada front and an RTP and I usually wind up with both out on a good fall.

[Razorskier1]

@Wish -- what's the weather usually like in Orlando late March early April?

[wilecoyote]

I'm on Animals, I've been leaving them as loose as they go, and had my front foot come out and back stay in on an OTF at the second wake. And I still sprained my ankle. (the one that came out) I'm with @Wish and @Razorskier1 I stopped making (or mostly stopped) bad decisions on the mountain bike a couple of years ago, now I have to learn the same thing on the ski.

[Wish]

@Razorskier STUNNING!!!!

[Waternut]

I used to have double Connelly sidewinders which won't release at all in a hard fall. After a bad injury of one out and one in, I thought this was best. After a hard fall with both feet in, I realized you can not only hurt your ankles but you can also hurt the rest of your legs. I had problems with my IT band for months because it got pulled so bad. Felt like someone stuck a knife in the side of my leg every time I skiied.

[addkerr]

@danspence can tell you about injury in HO attack's that are pretty much the same thing. In my opinion you can injure yourself in any binding. We had a member couple weeks ago break a bone in her foot in T-factors. Basically bigger gap around the ankle allows more room to come out, and if you do injure yourself, then maybe out for 4/5 weeks rather than a season if its super tight :)

[liquid d]

Whatever you decide, try to take as much video as possible.

[6balls]

I have the issue of liking a binding to be very snug, but wanting to come out. The strada's felt like a low top tennis shoe and if I snugged 'em up tight enough I would not come out. Stuck w/D3 leverage up front and RTP. Despite being a RTP skier, I'm 40 and have had 1 ankle injury to front foot, no knee/hip injuries. Like others, I do give up earlier (mostly) not that I'm wiser (not really).

[danspence]

@aswinter05 I had the attack bindings both front and back boot and I did like them to start with, very comfy and lots of edge control and then I changed the laces for some better bunjee and felt much more secure but did feel that they may not release me as well as they should. I dropped a tip around the buoy at 4 ball at 28 off and the front binding did not release however the back one did (foot still never came out). I had stretched all the ligaments in my ankle, the two major ligaments that attach your foot together at the front and also stretched my Achilles very badly. Took me about 8 weeks to recover and then it happened again in the same position and rope length did even more damage this time but thankfully nothing broken or snapped. I am on a pair of double Wileys now and I'm very happy but I agree with @addkerr you can do injury in any bindings. I don't feel the attack bindings would release every time as I first thought.

Something to think about because I know the basis bindings are similar to the attack.

[One_Ski]

I learned the hard way that, for me, bindings that release are best. I used Enzo bindings for a couple of years - they clamp down firmly, and make it nearly impossible to come out in a fall. First bad fall, I got stood up on the wakes, came down and caught the ski tip in the water. I did a face plant like you wouldn't believe, and my feet stayed in. I think I bruised a rib, and my knees hurt for weeks. Second time was around five ball, I hit some small rollers and my the front of my ski skipped a couple of times. The skipping seemed minor, except I took three hits from my front binding on the top of my right foot (again, bindings stayed on) that had me limping for a month. Now I use Radar bindings; they fit snug, but my feet come right out in a crash.

[Chef23]

Those Enzos are dangerous. One of our friends broke his ankle on them.

[Horton]

I want out!

[GaryWilkinson]

Then there's the debate whether or not loose bindings contribute to the fall? And another side is that during a fall, do we want our feet in the bindings for protection?

 

The obvious is that we'd love to have the fall result in either both out or both firmly in. If I can't hit some sort of James Bond eject button to get totally clear of the wreck, I'd rather have both in tightly to protect my ankles and knees from the torque.

 

My cousin Steve had a terrible otf fall last year resulting in 3 detached ligaments, spiral fracture of tibia and an operation with 3 pins. He's a rtp skier and that just confirmed my preference for my 2 boot system. (Hope your leg's healed well my ski-buddy!)

 

I, like some other Ballers have become more cautious and any medium size bobble results in my immediate handle ejection. Easy to do for rearward falls, not so easy going out the front while approaching the wake.

[Spesh]

@chef23 Yes the Enzos are dangerous, had many tweaked ankles from them myself. I was never happy with them, other than the fact that they were extremely comfortable.

 

I switched to a Reflex system this summer and have been much been much more impressed with it.

[Johnbrad]

You should study Aluminum Boat Guide to know more about boats!

[Rez]

I had a good adventure with my buddies enzo's also, dug a tip in coming into the first wake, feet didn't come out, ended up with the tail of my ski hitting the back of my head and giving me a nice little head wound, wasn't too bad, just a bit of blood, back skiing the next weekend!

[andjules]

I can't say enough good things about RS-1s/Stradas. The recommendation is to wear them snug-at-most (not tight), and for many of us who are used to stiffer/snugger bindings, it takes a few sets to get used to that feeling. But worth it - no meaningful sacrifice in performance and they seem to get the release balance right (release easily, but not too easily). I have trouble imagining a fall (I've certainly not had one yet) where one foot releases and not the other. No binding at the moment is perfect, but to me, these strike the right balance (performance/simplicity/safety/predictably release/symmetrical release [both in or out]) & leave my mind feeling more confident than I think interloc ever could.

[allycat]

yep i reckon come out of the boots i run wileys high rap and rtp it has its disadventages but went over the front yesterday foot came out okay did a bit of a summy landed okay only problem is the ski landed on my head .have a hard head so had a cackle lost a bit of claret and kept sking.by the sounds of it some of these modern bindings are a bit dangerous from what i have read on this site

[Brady]

I definitely want out! I tore my MCL and my labrum in my hip because I stayed in. Ask @Garn how it is to stay in....he was out all last year because he stayed in!

[Dacon62]

I want to come out. Have Strada boots. Fairly snug bottom, not tight at all top. Don't need to crank the top because of the fairly stiff sidewall for good lateral support. Always do a heel lift test on both before jumping in the water.

Last crash ended up with one liner on my foot. The other one stayed in the ski. Had them loose enough.