Skin advice

[Patrick]

Looking at getting some skin,,,I mean skins.

Santa Claus brought me some BD Glidelite, I exchanged them (dimensions were wrong and they aren't highly recommended by some people).

The choice is between:

BD Ascensions and G3 Expeditions

What are the pros and cons on they two models?

I got expect to use them that much, I few times a year at most. Some ski areas, some slackcountry and a little backcountry. East, West and behond. Once I get them, I suspect that I might used them more than what I would consider now.

 

[Admin]

Functionally I think that both the G3 Expedition and the BD Ascensions are equal. One thing I did notice, however, was how slick G3's cutting tool has become as I trimmed a pair for Mira Sunday night (I noticed that she joined these forums the other day as a lurker, BTW). The old method was to center the skin on the ski, trim along one sidewall, then reposition the skin over by a couple of millimeters to expose two edge widths and trim the other side along the sidewall. That way, when recentered the skin would expose just both metal edges, and cover the base material. This new tool instead automatically trims back the proper amount to expose the edge without any repositioning whatsoever. The trimming was pretty brainless to do.

 

[J.Spin]

I've never used any BD skins, but we've got numerous pairs of G3 Expeditions around the house (I've never gone with anything but the full tip and tail kit) and none of them have ever let me down. I think our oldest pairs of G3 Expedition skins are probably 7 years old, and I haven't had to do a thing to those yet in terms of re-gluing, repairing tips/tails, etc. They have been absolutely maintenance free. I will note that they probably still only have a few dozen days on them at this point because they only get so much use with a bunch of other skins in the mix, but so far so good. I will second Marc's comment on the new trimming tool - it's absolutely a dream come true. After many trimming sessions with family and friends with the old trimming tool (which was actually pretty decent) I finally got to try the new tool when I was trimming Ty's Telemark skins earlier this season. I was ecstatic when I saw what they had done, adding an offset on the blade that lets you make one pass while trimming at the perfect distance back from the ski edge. Compared to the method with the old tool (as Marc described), this new one results in a cleaner cut because you don’t need to re-seat the skins on the skis, and the procedure is done in less than half the time. Other companies may have similar tools at this point as well, but it's a huge leap forward as far as I'm concerned. The only other skins I've tried are a pair of G3 Alpinists that I have on my Telemark skis. They seem to be lighter weight, and may have a bit more glide than the Expeditions, but I'm thinking they're not going to be quite as durable as the Expeditions. We'll see what happens with time. Anyway, there are nothing but positive experiences to report with the G3 Expeditions from here.

-J

 

[Patrick]

Thanks guys.

The MEC guy mentioned that they were easy to cut with the tool. He didn't mentioned anything else, except that I should get the G3 when I returned the BD Glidelite.

I know Lucky has the BD Ascensions, but he's somewhere in Northern BC right now.