AT bindings - school me.

I need a binding for slacker country. Mostly skiing lifts, but occasionally dragging my but out of limits or up Cypress/Seymour. Most of my skiing is blacks and blues and I don't get nearly enough powder days (who does?). I know I'll never intentionally drop a cliff, or straight-line a chute.

I'm leaning towards Marker Touring F12's, as they're lighter than Baron's and Fritchi Freeride Pro's.

http://www.marker.de/en/product-guide/compare-bindings.html
http://www.backcountry.com/black-diamond-fritschi-diamir-freeride-pro-binding-108mm

In order of weight, it's Barons (2480 g), Freeride Pro (2190 g) then Touring F12's (1810 g). All have way more DIN than I need. Is there any reason not to get the Touring F12's?

Is there any reason not to get the Touring F12's?

Yes. The mechanism for switching between touring and ski mode sucks. IMO.

I rode Fritschi's for years, and would recommend them for what you are looking for. It's a proven, reliable, easy-to-use system. And you can switch between ski and tour mode with your skis on.

I only used the Markers once when I took out demo skis. I wish I could remember the specifics, but I found them awkward and fiddly and spent a lot of time swearing about them thinking how much simpler Fritschi's are. Oh, and they are f*cking loud.

But then again I have Dynafit bindings on my touring skis :)

I have Fritschi, Baron's and Dynafit + DH specific bindings as well.

thanks BMW! I really needed someone to answer with hours on both types. I totally hear you on the toe release being important. :beer:

and what's this about mechanized touring? I'm in.

Cheers RG too! I'm not looking to win any rando races.

I'm 170 lbs and slowly getting lighter.

well shit, the sale on F12's at backcountry.com sure didn't last long.

well shit, the sale on F12's at backcountry.com sure didn't last long.

How much were they? Local ski shop has a few of last years pairs for 30% off.

$278 for the F12's 4 hours ago, but now they're out of stock. ($429 reg)

$324 for Freeride pro's. ($499 reg)

A dirty little secret for cheap ski gear Canadian style is the ebay store ASO Sports. Awesome service (you can even phone them and ask questions), based in Ontario, free shipping, no tax (as it's out of province), and great prices. You'll usually have your gear in 10 days. http://stores.ebay.com/asogear_Ski-Bindings_W0QQLHQ5fSellerWithStoreZ1QQLHQ5fTitleDescZ1QQ_fsubZ11QQ_sasiZ1QQ_sidZ118178354QQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em322

F-12 is a great binding for 60 lift served/40 back country. If it's more like 90/10 and you're a big guy, look to the Baron's. Yes, the Markers are a mild PITA as the tour lever is under the boot, but you get a robust alpine style binding that can tour with no chance of accidental release into tour mode. You also get a binding that works well with an alpine DIN sole.

If you ski hard or aggressively (does not necessarily equate to skiing well), then I don't think the Fritschi's are near robust enough for day to day resort pounding with some slack country thrown into the mix. I'd take an F-12 over any Fritschi Freeride model (regardless of which generation).

If money becomes no object, then also look into the new Salomon/Atomic Guardian alpine-based touring binding that is out this year.

Good luck, and take an avy course if you don't have one in your pocket.

it will be 90% lift/10% work out and I'm 170 lbs, 5'9". I don't consider myself a big guy, but I do ski reasonably aggressively.

what's your reasoning to look at Baron's for 90/10/aggressive?

I have my avy course, but it's a few years old now, probably to a refresher.

So the F12's would be no good for someone pushing 200 lbs suited up?

Baron's and F12's both say [HTML_REMOVED]120 kg (265 lb) for skier weight. I can't figure out why you wouldn't go for the lighter F12's.

the 1st year of those marker F10's and F12's had troubles with the binding pivots wearing AND breaking when people fell forward in tour mode and ran out of binding travel which broke the pivot, I did meet a guy sitting in the bar at rogers pass who had broken his rental F10 …he wasn't real happy

http://www.wildsnow.com/6034/marker-f12-f10-review/

this ^^ thread talks about some of the probs and what they have changed so if you are going to get the F10's or F12's make sure you have the upgraded design but for your app I think you might be better off to give the F's a pass until we know more about their durability and if you are 200+ I would go with dukes

and as always wild snow is THE best AT binding info source

For your use I would recommend the baron. Resort use is abusive and the barons will hold up longer than the f12. The duke just gives you a penis extension over the baron.

For what it's worth I'm 6'2" and 195lbs with the skill and grace of a freshly branded bull in a china shop. I have barons for my resort set up with the odd slack country or, if I'm feeling like a suffer fest, full BC day. I also have fritschis for just touring. For the odd day of touring barons and the like are fine but long term in the resort is where they will shine.

Agree with all said here. Baron and F12 have same DIN and performance characteristics, but weight savings with the F12 come from reduced use of metals and more plastics. This comes at the compromise of long term durability if beating the crap out of them daily in the resort. In a blind test, you'd likely not notice a skiing difference, but in overall durability, you will. The Baron/Duke is the resort/slackcountry line from Marker. The F10/12 is the "aggresive" AT line, as they don't make a truly lightweight AT dedicated binding.

Baron/duke is a proven sidecountry binding for people who are rough on gear especialy the duke

The first F's broke literally "just walking along" I supose YMMV but personaly I would take a Fritschi FR pro/ FR+/eagle/ even an old damiar II or III into the BC before I would take either of the F's

there are some new sidecountry bindings this season that might be a much better idea than the F's like the new Salomon