Skin Steeper, Lighter and In Style With B and D Ski Gear

The cat’s meow in heal plates and cones.

My busy holiday work schedule is just about wrapped up and I’m psyched to start getting a bit more free time to go skiing. (It just needs to warm up a little now.) In preparation for the rest of the ski season, I’ve been remounting my ski setups that have Dynafit TLT Speed bindings on them so they fit both my TLT5 Performance boots (size 27, 297mm) and Black Diamond Quadrants (size 26.5, 300mm). And while I’m at it, I’ve been customizing them with B and D Ski Gear parts as well. The best of both worlds, really.

Cones/volcanoes are available in standard, tall and short.

In addition to the remounting of my heal pieces, I’ve also acquired some custom B and D Ski Gear Top Plates with tall-volcanoes and have been swapping them out with the stock ones. I’m right-handed and the “Comfort” style cones/volcanoes are easier to manipulate than the standard TLT Speed binding posts. I’m not saying I can’t twist them with my right hand/pole, but the volcanoes make it just a bit easier. They may not be as durable as the stock TLT Speed posts, but I think user error is the most important factor with some of the older Comfort style volcanoes breaking.

Tall cone height comparison to TLT Speed climbing posts.

Not only do they make heal height adjustment easier for righties, but the setup is lighter as well. The B and D Comfort Plates with the “tall” cones weight nearly 20 grams lighter than the stock TLT plates with one button, and even more if you use two buttons. (Dynafit TLT Speed binding used to come with two buttons, but now they only come with one.) The height of the tall cones is also a benefit for those that like steep ski tracks and are 1/4” taller than the stock Comfort volcanoes and lie somewhere between the one and two button configurations on the TLT Speed.

Not only can you get these top plates in a variety of colors, B and D Ski Gear had silver, black and red in stock when I ordered mine, they can also engrave whatever you want on them with the font of your choice. I opted for my name on mine, in the Serpentine font, but now that I think about it, “Live to Ski” may have been a good choice on a couple of them as well.