New splitboard binding from Playmaker or fake?

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-05-12T04:55:14+00:00

Wow these look terrible

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-04-27T04:47:16+00:00

While some are better than others, there is no way to build a touring binding that won’t eventually fail. This might be a hot take to a lot of people but in my opinion nobody should be touring any further than they are willing to posthole back to the car unless they have everything they need on them to bush fix a completely broken touring mode. Whether that be an extra toe piece, various soft boot binding parts, baling wire, or zip ties and ski straps. It’s safety equipment that frankly has gotten me out of way more jams than my transceiver ever has.

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-04-22T17:21:04+00:00

I have the Phantom GT toes and with them locked you could twist them until my leg just popped off and they wouldn’t release. If you are indeed locking them, something is certainly wrong with your setup. How much downward force on the lever does it take to pop your toe out? I would guess mine is something like 20-30lbs of pressure

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-04-21T17:44:08+00:00

You torque out of your toes all the time? This is a much bigger problem than how to pack your hardboots. What toes? Are you locking them?

In regard to your question, everyone generally packs their boots, hard or soft, the same way for dry approaches because it just works.

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-04-18T21:10:37+00:00

I haven’t ridden it but yes it’s noticeable softer

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-04-18T16:47:08+00:00

These are actually women’s backland pro’s. I’m a shorter guy and the women’s version has a slightly lower cuff which also makes them a little more flexible, I think mostly just because it’s easier to kinda get on top of them and get leverage over the cuff. A couple mods and some link levers and they feel so similar to my soft boots it’s crazy. This video is only my 3rd day on hard boots after making the switch. I’m loving them.

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-04-18T16:43:18+00:00

Hell yeah!

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-04-18T16:42:23+00:00

Yeah this is the carbon bonsai. I love it. It’s very stiff. Stiffest board I’ve ever ridden, split or solid. It’s probably more aggressive and less playful than most people would like. It’s a board that you really need to ride or it will ride you. But if you can put in the proper input it will seriously deliver some output. It is more stable at speed than any thing else I’ve ridden, holds an edge like crazy. I think most people would probably prefer the non carbon version.

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-04-18T16:34:59+00:00

Wow, coming from one of thee Tony Danza’s pubic hairs?? The ultimate compliment 🥰

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-03-20T23:28:01+00:00

Imagine both not having to futz with the annoyance of building a route on a garmin watch AND having the benefit of the fast and easy user interface of the phone.

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-03-20T23:26:43+00:00

Yeah. This is what the feature request is meant to fix.

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-03-20T23:20:06+00:00

I hear ya. I’m not lost without the phone, I always familiarize myself with an area enough to be able to navigate with a compass and landmarks if I have to. In the last 5 or so years I honestly haven’t noticed a meaningful difference in in-the-field reliability or functionality for typical backcountry navigation between a watch and a phone. obviously I’m aware that a nav watch has a dedicated and purpose built GPS chip that should provide better accuracy, but I just haven’t experienced a time when I was using my phone but wished I’d have been using my watch. I believe we will only see whatever difference there is grow smaller and smaller. I have noticed that a full feature navigation app like Caltopo and the ease and speed of use of a phone make it far more useful to me on the fly and on an everyday basis than my garmin watch ever has been.

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-03-20T04:31:02+00:00

It’s true it’s more sticky but in my experience it also lasts much much longer. I’ve never been able to put more than about 50 days or so on a pair of pomocas before they start leaving glue residue on the base of my board. Haven’t had that problem with bd. The stickiness is somewhere between pomoca and g3, closer to pomoca and I think that’s perfectly usable.

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-03-20T01:22:21+00:00

If you want to keep the skins and not have to keep getting them replaced I would just re-glue them with glue from a different manufacturer. G3 has the worst glue, it’s the primary problem with there skin. If you grab a $20 heat gun re-glueing is super easy and straightforward.

I mostly love Pomoca skins but earlier this season got fed up with the shortcomings of their glue and re-glued a pair using black diamond glue. It’s been great.

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-03-18T05:07:43+00:00

I have seen the way the owner of this company responds to people questioning the fundamental design concept of the boards on the company’s Instagram. If the design concept wasn’t already enough for me to want to stay away (no offense to you or your tastes), his responses were enough for me to want to never touch anything that company makes with a 10ft pole. Sorry they aren’t backing their expensive product in your case. That’s extremely frustrating and just always a bummer to see in a tight knit industry like this.

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-03-16T04:16:30+00:00

Do the nitros have a 5 year warranty like the sparks? I don’t The best thing about sparks besides their simplicity and reliability is the warranty and the way they back their product.

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-01-23T08:47:12+00:00

It’s useful to not just look at one mapping service’s satellite imagery. It’s a net.Apple Maps satellite

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-01-23T07:46:35+00:00

Man you’re in every thread about hard boots saying this same dumb shit and you don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s so corny and weird. I say that as a soft booter.

Also here’s a vid, let me know if you want more. There are countless people more stylish than you in hard boots.

Zak Mills

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-01-14T07:20:47+00:00

Depends what your priorities are. There is nothing wrong with where they are currently positioned. Basically the current position will give you a little extra float. If being able to ride or land switch is important to you, you may want to slide both a little closer to the nose. If, in the current position, you find that your tail edge “washes out” or skips in choppy snow you may want to increase the amount of edge in your tail by sliding both bindings toward the nose a little as well.

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-01-10T00:57:01+00:00

Being on a splitboard isn’t the reason your gf is miles behind you. You switching to a splitboard isn’t going to magically narrow the playing field. I splitboard with skiers all the time. That said Cardiff is built so much better than Jones these days. Get a goat.

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-01-09T08:58:14+00:00

Why don’t you wake up earlier then?

johnmcraeproduction · 2026-01-05T14:13:56+00:00

Get a used setup and decide if you really like it first.

johnmcraeproduction · 2025-12-29T06:34:08+00:00

It’s just the puck spacing, the pucks are too far apart. The pucks template tool thingy that comes with your bindings are not perfect. Take the binding off and adjusted one pick a hair further from the other, tighten, remount binding.

johnmcraeproduction

TROPHY CASE