Pole tips / Binding damage.

Being relatively new to the sport and only having first hand experience of a handful of skis and poles i may be wrong here......

Do most pole tips have serrated edges?

In the past i can't say i have noticed this 100% but i am sure all the poles i have used in the past are pretty blunt at the sharp end.
The reason i ask is that my new Atomic Nomad poles have sharp teeth cut into the tip. Now i can see why this would be done for cutting in to icy pistes but i now have a real problem with them.
They have really chewed up my binding release clips.
Doesn't everyone use their pole tip to unclip their bindings?

Well at the point where i have pushed down the binding clip is a mess. Now i may be just being picky as they are new skis and i love them and want to baby them but is this normal?
I didn't really notice it until yesterday when i dropped my skis off to be prepped for my next trip. I was slightly gutted at the state of them.
Surely the manufacturers know we do this and could have made a better clip with a metal insert or something.

Not happy.

Snapzzz wrote:Being relatively new to the sport and only having first hand experience of a handful of skis and poles i may be wrong here......

Do most pole tips have serrated edges?

In the past i can't say i have noticed this 100% but i am sure all the poles i have used in the past are pretty blunt at the sharp end.
The reason i ask is that my new Atomic Nomad poles have sharp teeth cut into the tip. Now i can see why this would be done for cutting it icy pistes but i now have a real problem with them.
They have really chewed up my binding release clips.
Doesn't everyone use their pole tip to unclip their bindings?

Well at the point where i have pushed down the binding clip is a mess. Now i may be just being picky as they are new skis and i love them and want to baby them but is this normal?
I didn't really notice it until yesterday when i dropped my skis off to be prepped for my next trip. I was slightly gutted at the state of them.
Surely the manufacturers know we do this and could have made a better clip with a metal insert or something.

Not happy.

Morning matey.

Wear and tear, I think its called. Yes the poles have rough points to them to help you stick them in the ground, but they'll wear smooth after time.

Like you, I use a pole to release my bindings, and like you my bindings do show some signs of the effects of this, but the alternative is what I see some people doing and stamping on their binding with the other ski, which surely has to be more difficult and also more damaging?

Its one of the facts of life. You pay tax, you die, and your bindings get damaged when you release them with your poles.

Don't worry about it. Old battered poles are way cooler and shiny new bindings suggest long lunches and mornings in bed :wink:

How about turning a pole upside down to release one binding and then using the sole of the released boot (sans plank) to release the other?

Owen.

:shock:

Good point Snapzzz (literally :twisted: .), I think I may just have to apply some sort of padded covering to my bindings now you have pointed it out. Something nice and non slip too, so I don't slip with the poles when releasing them.

Snapzzz - New stuff always suffers the worst wear and tear when its new.(If you see what I mean)

You'll soon get accustomed to seeing the skis looking used.

The alternative is hammering a couple of nails in the bedroom wall and admiring them!!!

Brucie wrote:The alternative is hammering a couple of nails in the bedroom wall and admiring them!!!

You say that like it's a bad thing :shock:

O.S.

Snapss,

That is a "badge" of a "pro" those marks on that tail end of the binding! Wear them with pride!

Other indications that you really are a ski pro ?
-cut marks on inside ski trouser leg
-duct tape on thumb od ski gloves
-knots at elastic string for powder jackets
-Left / right marks on skis
-and so on,,,,

Ski on with pride !

Pavel

Hi Snapzzz,
I'm sorry to hear you've damaged your bindings with your ski pole :cry:

Up until my most recent ski holiday I also released my ski bindings with my pole. However - the pace of my ski lessons has increased so much that I found I was getting left behind at the gondola station by doing this, as the others (including the instructor) were stamping on the binding with their ski.

So, I've joined the gang and I also stamp on the first binding with my ski and use the released boot for the second. For me anyway, it's definitely much quicker to do it this way.

I shouldn't think it damages the ski or the binding because otherwise the instructors wouldn't do it. But I have to admit I hire my skis so it's not my problem anyway :oops:

Plus, I had adjustable ski poles and one of them shrank to the size suitable for a five year old whilst I was using it to release my bindings, and I had to ask the instructor for help to expand it back to normal ( I don't know how he managed it without a screwdriver but somehow he did - aren't ski instructors wonderful!).

Ally