Skin Tech Tips II - Dynafit mod.

For ski mountaineering racing and speed touring, Dynafit has been at the forefront of innovation for years. Long ignored by the American market while we obsessed with that silly red-headed stepchild of skiing, telemarking, (btw, I was one of those lost souls for about 23 years!), Dynafit has really come into their own lately, slowly grabbing the lion share of the market with super-light bindings, skis, skins and, now, the must have boots for touring, the TLT 5 Performance. Sure, there are still plenty of folks click clacking along in their Fritchis, Dukes and other heavier bindings but the fast and light crowd is strictly tech binding equipped. That market is being flooded by small companies producing elegant versions of Dynafit's original idea now that patent issues have gone away but the company continues to push the technology forward.

Most skimo racers have developed their own attachment systems for their skins but Dynafit has always had a ready-right-out-of-the-box system that is simple and effective. Initially, the pull tabs were too light and rotted within a season or two and would then fail at the most inopportune moments during races. The new versions are much beefier and are replaceable due to a Velcro attachment system at the tip. All good news. The narrow slot at the tips of Dynafit skis lends itself to using their skin system, as well. Of course, this forces the consumer into buying their skins. Not necessarily a bad thing. However, if you have a set of skins that you wish to convert to the Dynafit tip attachment system, all is not lost. I recently did exactly that with a set of skins and thought I would share it here as an addendum to the previous Skin Tech post.

I had a pair of the newly designed rubber tips on hand. Although I have not confirmed this, I assume that one can buy these replacement tips from the company. Why else would they create the Velcro-based attachment system on the skin front? Seems logical but a call to Dynafit would confirm this. Once you are in possession of the tips, the process is straight forward.

First, you must prepare the front of the skin but cutting it appropriately. As I described in the previous post, I use a template as shown below. This works for any bungee system or this Dynafit one.

Then, with a leather punching awl, create a hole that is slightly smaller than the rubber tip you wish to pass through it. After that, cut a small slit that will allow passage of the tip. This slit should be perpendicular to the orientation of the metal retainer so as to prevent accidental slip through during use.

Once through, simply fold over and sew closed with heavy needle and thread. Finish with the usual blob of Seam Grip to complete the job.

The nice thing about this is that it allows you to use your favorite type of skin whether Black Diamond, G3 or anything else and still use the nice Dynafit pull tab. I have even done a skimo race pull on the front of my 180 cm Black Diamond Verdicts.

The "all-about-the-down" crowd don't know what to make of that. Speed up!- Brian
 

Comments

[Ray]

Brian, completely unrelated to the post.....but......I blew out a section of the edge to my SkiTrab Duo Race Aeros skis. I'm trying to look around and find just a single ski to replace it (the ski techs aren't too confident their fix will last too long). Not sure if it is realistic, but, I figure someone else out there may have busted a ski and has one sitting around. Any ideas? Oh yeah, they are 164cm.

[brian]

Ray,

Ouch! That has to suck. I keep waiting for mine to break. I'm skiing them a lot these days and they are on their 3rd season.

Anyway, the only person that comes to mind is Zahan Billamoria here in Jackson. I don't have his number but you should be able to track it down. He also works for JHMR (Jackson ski resort). He broke one of his a couple of years ago a replaced it. He is now on Dynafits, I think.

Also, did you try getting a hold of Mark Lengel at Trab USA?

Good luck.

B

[Nick]

I have been wanting to put in the tip notch on a pair of skis but I am a bit nervous about taking a dremel to them! Do you have any advice for doing this, having clearly done it before? Do you need to worry about water entering the core, or the edges zippering out from the tip? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

NF

[brian]

Nick,

Yeah, I know the prospect is scary but after doing it 3 or 4 times I just rip away now!

I have had zero problems. I have toyed with sealing the area with epoxy resin but have never gotten around to it. No issues yet.

I have been very successful with various configurations, regardless of the skin set-up I'm drilling out for and the type of ski. My Atomic race skis (3 pair, so far) have metal edges all around the tip. Use a Dremel cutting wheel to get through that after measuring the width. Once through that you can use any number of bits to finish the job. A drill tip can remove lots of material quickly.

My latest effort was on my wife's Goode 95's and I replicated the Dynafit tip dimensions perfectly. There is no wrap-around steel edge to contend with. The plastic tip guard came off first. I then simply measured the length of a stock Dynafit skin slot and used a small drill to get things started. The widest portion of the slot took a 1/2 inch drill bit perfectly and created a nicely symmetrical hole at the bottom of the slot. I then slowly carved out the slot from the tip to make a nice, not-too-tight entry for the rubber piece. You can then taper the opening to your desires and you are ready to fly.

I suppose with more fragile carbon boards like the Goodes this process could create some structural liability and certainly void any warranty. Actually, Atomic had no issues with my efforts when I splintered a pair just behind the shovel. But really, we ski mostly soft snow and don't crash much so the risk is acceptable to me.

Good luck. Don't be scared.

Brian