Strap-in
These are the most popular yet technically deficient concept in snowboarding. Strap-in bindings were conceived before snowboard specific boots existed. With the lack of proper footwear, snowboarders used any means necessary to attach their feet to their snowboards and gain the leverage needed for turning. Typical boots used in these early days of snowboarding were "sorels" or "snowmobile" boots. These boots were not designed for snowboarding and did not provide the support desired for doing turns on the heel edge of a snowboard. As a result, early innovators such as Louis Fournier conceived the "high-back" binding design which was later commercialized and patented by Jeff Grell. The Highback binding is the technology produced by most binding equipment manufacturers in the snowboard industry. The leverage provided by Highbacks, greatly improved board control but produced large amounts of strain on the riders feet. Snowboarder's such as Craig Kelly adapted by using plastic "tongues" to protect their feet from strap-pressure. In response, companies such as Burton and Gnu began to offer "tongues" to relieve the pressure caused by strap-bindings on the top of the riders feet.
As the snowboard market grew bigger companies began to produce boots specifically for snowboarding which helped to absorb the forces and pressure caused from Highback bindings with Straps. With modern strap-bindings, the rider wears a boot which has a thick but flexible sole, and padded uppers. The foot is held onto the board with two buckle straps - one strapped across the top of the toe area, and one across the ankle area. They can be tightly ratcheted closed for a tight fit and good rider control of the board. The downside for this is that the straps direct forces through isolated points on the top of the riders feet which can cause pain and permanent damage to the foots bone structure. Straps are typically padded to relieve the pain cause from these pressure points.
The other downside is that strap-in bindings take longer to put on, usually requiring the rider to sit in the snow and bend over to adjust the straps. Also, because there are two points of pressure, the strap locations must be adjusted for each individual rider, making it more cumbersome for rental operations. Cap Strap bindings are a recent modification that provide a very tight fit to the toe cup which makes excellent edge control. The drawback to Cap Straps is that they compress the riders feet from toe-to-heel, requiring stiff-soled boots to keep the Cap Straps from mechanically "scrunching" the riders toes when cap straps are over-tightened. Stiff soled boots can reduce the pain and resulting loss of performance caused by over-tightened cap straps . Such companies as Salomon, Rossignol, K2 Sports, Rome, Tech Nine, Ride, Flux, Burton, Union, Drake, and Forum have created different models of cap straps.
<<Table of Contents Snowboards are boards, which resemble a wide ski, with the ability to glide on snow. Users of such equipment may be referred to as snowboarders. Commercial snowboards generally require extra equipment such as bindings and special boots which help secure both feet of a snowboarder, who generally rides in an upright position. These type of boards | Next>> | Show All>>
