Waternut

@mr_pretzel, When I was looking for releasable hardshell bindings that kept both feet together, I was able to find 3 maybe 4 companies that made them. The most popular are the Goode Powershells but I personally hate the idea of the interloc tape. Constant swapping at $50-$60 per replacement and dealing with tape residue each time. Forget that, especially since I enjoy allowing new ski friends to use my ski who may take an OTF fall. Connelly Stealth bindings look awesome but they were outside of my price range so I didn't look too hard at them. Fogmans looked like they released together but are they still around? I settled on the HO EXO bindings and have been happy so far but have yet to trip the release system even after dialing back the tension and taking an OTF fall (it was a fairly slow speed fall though).

@Bulldog I have considered just that concept. I think in an OTF, your legs would go crazy and you'd come out. When I go over the front on a bike with clipless, I come out of the pedals. The problem I see is steering the ski and getting on edge. I feel like I would twist my feet independently while skiing causing accidental release.

After reading one of the other posts about bindings not releasing when rotating, it got me thinking. So on the way to work, I dreamed up a couple binding systems that would release if rotated or if pulled up. I'm not really out to make money on this but more to get other people and possibly the ski manufacturers to consider a new design for the masses. I could possibly hammer out a prototype this winter if it would help but realistically I'm just looking to get people to start brainstorming on this. I think the top system would be easier to implement. It would use a metal or composite loop like the reflex bindings in the toe. The rear would have two spring adjustable arms with rollers at the end. In a side release, the arms would swing open and allow the boot to release. To keep the boot on the ski normally, the boot would have to have a rounded bump on it that sits below the rollers. This bump would force the roller arms out in the event of an OTF fall and allow the heal to lift off the ski. Maybe even be adjustable to allow heal lift? The lower system would be closer in design to a clipless pedal system that bicycles use. I think this would be harder to work the bugs out of but it's just a thought. I was thinking kind of a hybrid design between the HO EXO concept and bike clipless pedals. Anyway, thoughts are welcome. Maybe between us all, we can help someone mass produce a safer binding for the masses.

Agreed. My elbow pain with a straight handle was usually short lived and would go away that night or the next. When I needed a new handle I went to a curved handle and haven't noticed any elbow pain since. Thumbs up for the radius handles!

If you use slow resins and/or work in cooler environments (ie not a hot summer day in FL), you can have upwards of a couple hours before the resin starts to gel much less heat up. Your total cure time will take longer though so you need patience. Prepreg makes life less messy but considering the amount of material in a ski, you aren't going to be saving weight or adding much strength with it compared to a wet layup and vacuum bagging. IMO, vacuum bagging is a must if you're building anything where weight and strength are critical. If anyone near middle GA wants to try their hands at this stuff, I've got the vacuum bagging equipment and the know how to lay up composites. However, I don't have the knowledge of edge angles, stiffness, widths, etc. I read stuff here and there but it's hard to know if it's just marketing gimmicks or science and my skiing ability isn't consistent enough to say that worked or that sucked.

I'm sure homemade ski's are based on production ski's with small tweaks thrown in. I made my own standup jetski this last winter. Based the mold off of another jetski, modified the things I wanted changed, and vacuum bagged the entire thing. It's light, strong, cheap, and works well. The cloth/resin parts aren't that hard. I'm curious what these guys are using for core though and how they are shaping it.

I love getting up with a RTP and never felt insecure in it but I had an accident where I rolled and the ski didn't which about snapped my ankle. I was a teenager at the time and although I fully recovered from the accident, I'm mentally scarred and can't ski aggressively with a RTP anymore. I took about 6-7 years off when I went to college and picked it back up and used a RTP again for about a year because I was broke. Never really felt comfortable and always rode the tail. Now I ski with boots that either don't release at all or boots that both release from the ski together. It's like driving without a seat belt for me. It's unlikely that I'll wreck but I don't feel safe so I'm more nervous about it. Doesn't Marcus Brown ski double boots because of an accident?

I've got a set of Starrett dial calipers in my desk at work. No thank you...they are tempermental and fall apart all the time. I'll take my harbor freight calipers over the Starrett anyday. Caliper brand name aside, consistency is the key here. You should be using the same calipers every time. If I ever make a change, I know that I should double check my baseline first because my methods can change and something could've knocked the fin out of place. I even put scribe lines on the ski and fin so I know that I'm always using the same line and angle when measuring. When you switch calipers, you are switching standards. If you put the end of 4 different calipers up against the back of the ski for DFT, you're likely to get different numbers because the back of the ski is angled and the calipers aren't going to be the same thickness and width. A tall (top to bottom at the depth side) caliper will sit further back/up on the skis tail angle which will give you a longer DFT reading. Maybe one has a slightly sharper corner on it and another is slightly rounded making another few thousandsth. If you put both perpindicular to a surface and measure depth, I bet they will be the same.

Well your core will be engaged naturally if you're in the right position at the right time. The problem is finding that position in the first place place and knowing which muscles to use to counter the boats forces. I'm sure there are hundreds of ways to think about getting in the right position behind the boat but only a few may actually click for you. If tensing up or engaging your core will help you use the right muscles behind the boat, give it a try.

I would say you have to consciously keep your glutes and abs tight initially but once you've trained your muscles appropriately, it'll be automatic and you can focus on something else and make the next thing automatic.

I know I wouldn't wipe that beast down. Give it a wash once every month or so and that's about it. In fairness though, that SUV looks like it's hurtin' way more than the trailer.

My opinion is that "engaging the core" is resisting the natural tendency to bend at the waist. When I go rock climbing, those guys use the same term of engaging your core when you climb on negative inclines. If you're hanging by your hands and feet on a ceiling, it takes core strength (back and stomach muscles) to keep your body from folding down in a V shape. Same thing with skiing only you're vertical instead of horizontal. Your ski is out in front of you and you're hanging on by your hands. If you stop using your core muscles or they get weak, the boat will pull you in a V shape. This is the first year I really started getting into the course and just yesterday I felt like I was skiing really well. Almost had my 32mph pass but I'm getting weak and tired by 4-5 balls. So really, the muscles I should be using are still developing for skiing the course. Well last night, my abs and obliques were just shot and it hurt to lean forward enough to get up from the sofa.

I noticed the Carbon Pro boat has something similar and I honestly don't see how it helps. I understand the concept but it just seems that by the time you can use those guides to check your position, it's already too late to make any adjustments or worse...you make an abrupt movement of the boat at the last second. Maybe I'm wrong here.

The racks have rubber inserts to keep from scratching the ski's. The rack I linked would at least be able to mount vertical or horizontal because their clamps are square. If you look at all the other racks they have for sale, many can actually be mounted in 30° increments. The purpose of that was really to allow them to be mounted horizontally on angled tower legs. I bought a wakeboarding tower and wakeboard rack from those guy and if you call to ask questions, they're actually pretty helpful.

@igkya that's pretty much been the concept for a while. The older senates were 0.2" wider than the old RS-1 and when the Strada came out, they became 0.2" wider than the strada. It sounds a little cheesy that the majority of Radar's ski's are based off of one top end ski and just modified slightly but at the end of the day, they work well and a lot of people like the ski's.

I've been seriously considering one of these for simplicity but mine can be tucked away in the sides of the boat if I'm really careful with placement. http://www.diywake.com/shop/shopexd.asp?id=685

They're all great ski's. I'd say find a deal on a 67" ski and look for all of the ski's you've mentioned. Heck, you can even look for deals on the Radar Annex. The Annex is the same concept as the Vice only it was based off of the old RS-1 instead of the Strada and it was all carbon instead of 50/50 carbon/fiberglass. The difference in the Vice C and the Strada is still the core. The Vice is meant to be more forgiving.

Tons of optimism out of the box, tons of pessimism on the open water test, and finally the glorious feeling of everything falling into place like you actually know what you're doing in a course.

I use the Sanyo Xacti on my trakker mount and it's really nice. I noticed when I used it behind a friends boat that it was difficult to watch the skier and shoot video thinking I was cutting off the skier a lot. When I watched the video later, everything looked fine so the camera takes more than what's on the screen.

Although I do wish I had a nice ski shop and pro's to teach me locally, I will say that I enjoy being able to go to a friends lake and pay $10-$15 a set with all the coaching from the boat crew that I can handle.

I 'used to' own a GoPro. I attached it to my ski to video my form one day and never saw it again. I never actually took a real fall either. I almost went out the front but saved it and then just fell back at the apex of a turn. I wouldn't consider either to really have an effect on the camera but it was gone. I haven't replaced the gopro just because I was always depressed with the video when I downloaded it. Always jumpy and the view always seemed to display a lot more of the stuff I didn't care about no matter what angle I had it. IMO a gopro would be totally worthless in the boat. I want something with an optical zoom for that (no digital zoom BS). I'm personally waiting for the new Sony POV cam to come out before I think about buying another one. The Sony HDR-AS10 os AS15 is supposed to have image stabilization built into the camera which is what any POV should've had in the first place. Yes I understand you can do it with software but I don't have the patience to spend hours on end editing and stabilizing hours of video from a recent bike trip or skiing session.

Well I'll share my most recent experience with ski sizing. I've been skiing on a 66" 2010 Radar Annex for the past two years. At the beginning of this year I started skiing a course but was struggling heavily to make a full pass at 28mph and even when I did make it, I was inconsistent at best. My PB was 3 at 32mph and I had run that maybe 2-3 times but never ran any complete pass back to back. It usually took me 6-7 passes to get there. I'm 6' tall and weigh 175lbs so I'm right on the upper edge of that Annex but the Annex was designed for 32-36mph which I wasn't running so realistically, the ski was a hair too small. I just bought a 67" 2008 Radar MPD. For all intensive purposes, the old MPD and the Annex are the exact same ski but slightly different materials were used to achieve the same result. The MPD and Annex were both considered slightly slower than the RS-1 and came out of the same molds. That said, I always felt out of control on the Annex and could NEVER get my hips up. Both ski's were set up with the same factory specs minus boot placement which is obviously different. I got on the MPD and my first set was awesome. I ran 28mph on my first pass which I've never been able to do. I was able to get my hips up and I was early at every single buoy on my 28 and 30mph pass. Usually my 30mph passes, I was just barely squeaking by the buoys and 5 and 6 were usually hook turns just to say I did it. My second set on the MPD, I was able to run 28 and 30mph passes back to back which I've never been able to do and then matched my PB on the 4th pass. On the 5th pass I pulled 4 balls at 32mph but got stood up at 4. Could've hooked 5 but was already happy enough that I didn't feel the need to push it. The wake didn't really bother me any more and I was no longer about to go out the front in my turns or wake crossings. I'm not trying to say that equipment is the source of all my failures but I'm truly humbled at how much of a difference a properly fit ski has made.

I've noticed that the intermediate level ski's and below usually come in the 65, 67, and 69 sizes while the pro level ski's add in the 66 and 68 sizes as well. I'm not a ski designer but I can certainly see where a ski with a wider body and wider tail can support someone on a 67" ski that would've required a 68" ski on a pro level ski. Additionally, if the ski company has to pay to make 2 additional molds for the 66 and 68 sizes, those costs of mold making and storage of additional ski's are going to get passed on to the customer making the intermediate guy unhappy who's just looking for a quality ski at a low price for open water.

My practical mind tells me that weight is the only thing that's important. My engineering mind tells me that weight is critical but when stepping up your game, your height will play a large factor that may need to be addressed. See if you're a 190lbs person that's 5' tall, as you lean forward or backwards on the ski, it has an effect on how the ski rides in the water but not a large effect because your center of gravity is lower over the ski. As a shorter person, your head and shoulders can move more without affecting the way the ski rides. If you're 6'7" and 190lbs, your body position will be more critical because your center of gravity is further away from the ski. So smaller movements of your head and shoulders will produce the same rides changes of that ski. To minimize the effects of your body movement and give you more wiggle room, a taller person needs a slightly larger ski. In case that didn't make any sense, I'll try to explain it a different way. We're all about leverage in skiing right? As a tall person, the boat has a greater leverage advantage with a tall person because the pull is coming from your shoulders which are further away from your ski. Think of it like pulling a small tree down by tying a rope at the top and tying a rope in the middle. It takes less effort to pull the tree down when pulling from the top. Well to help counter the boats additional leverage advantage, the skier can increase the size of ski which makes his base more stable. The bigger ski is like that same tree having larger roots which helps resist you trying to pull the tree down.

Agreed...unless your ski is broken, I would wait a little longer. I don't know that a new 2011 model will come down much but a new 2012 model will. If you're considering buying used, then it's a gamble if people are going to be dumping their 2011/2012 models for the latest and greatest.