I have seen a few different foot bindings (surely not them all) and I would like to introduce my own take which I call a 3 point binding. I believe this provides superior board maneuverability while still being escape-able.
I use this binding for my front foot (right, goofy) for the tight heel and toe control. There are two anchor points (one heel, one toe) towards the nose of the board and a single heel anchor, behind my front foot.
The strap itself is low-stretch polyester, like a seat belt. It consist of two sections, one long and one short. The long section loops over itself by using a pivot at the third anchor point and attaches with velcro. I found using the long strap for the "toe hold’ was the most secure.
I’ve created a couple accessories for this design that you might find interesting. First I have designed a “high force release”. It is essentially two 3D printed pieces of ABS plastic that split under high force. This is attached to the pivot on the rear anchor point. This is how I keep from breaking my legs.
You can download and print your own here. I suggest ABS/ASA, 100% concentric infill.
I also designed this with a hand held, manual release, which I no longer use. This is based on the 3 ring release system used in parachuting, where you pull the pin and the strap immediately releases from the rear anchor point.
This is in the middle and probably more comfortable than hard plastic. I do question the abs piece breaking when I want it to and not at the wrong time
This is DIY… the beating heart of this forum… not sure what you’re implying with your comment, but in my eyes it’s refreshing to see people come at things from their own angle rather than just buying off the shelf stuff and bolting it together.
This is a safety feature that’s made to break… not your ankle. With a little science the abs tab could be made to break properly and for different size riders. MBS has gone the other direction to make their bindings even stronger. So how much force is needed to break your ankle or twist the ligaments off your bone?
I mean yeah, but channel trucks weren’t “broken” before Tito made a wildly different version of them but I suspect there’s some reason behind him selling out like 25 minutes after refilling stock.
I may be misreading your inflection through text but this feels pretty backhanded to me “sure, it’s DIY but…”
This is a really cool project and it seems like you’re being outwardly pessimistic because it doesn’t fit your needs as well as the standard. Others are allowed to prefer this over the standard. You’re allowed to prefer the standard over this. But this is a cool project and if it’s not for you that’s fine but you don’t need to try to convince anybody else that it’s not for them either.
But this doesn’t read as curiosity. This seems dismissive.
If you’re trying to communicate curiosity you can ask people questions but communicating only that “this seems unnecessary” carries very different connotation from communicating “I want to know why this is necessary”
I’m happy to elaborate (in a separate thread where this conversation belongs) and I believe you when you say you had no ill intent and were just curious, I also believe you’re capable of communicating that curiosity without being rude.
Tuning the abs release definitely took some time. I now have two designs that are in the link. One is regular and the other is extra strong. If it needs to be stronger or weaker you can expand or reduce it in the z direction which will add proportionally more/less release force.
So technically this abs tab could be incorporated into the L-bracket of a mbs binding and would function like a ski binding that’s not adjustable…well there are two presets for light and heavy riders. Riding style would also come into play.
