Has anybody here skied with the usgi Ramer cable bindings?

[mirabela]

Care to share your thoughts? I'm not looking to rip turns down steep terrain -- just cruise in and out to the bottoms of climbs. They look compatible with my plastic double boots, etc.

Pros & cons?

Thanks!

 

[sweeper]

Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!!!!!

I have been looking for a pair of them for a couple years now. I was looking for another brand also a Silverata, I had completely forgot about the Ramers

I used them at the Army's Northern Warfare School up in Ft Greeley AK.

Their a great little binding. We had to use the White Mickey Mouse boots. There's a clip that screws onto each the side of the ski so that when you have a long downhill you slip the cable under the clip and it locks down your heel. Most of the time we just did the outsides in varied terrain.

Their $10 a pair, Slap'm on an old pair of skies, what have you got to lose?

Thanks again I just ordered 3 sets

 

[sardog1]

Ft. Greely is located in terrain that may be fairly described as fairly forgiving with regard to this set-up. YMMV, and you may have ventured into some steeper stuff that I don't know about here. I will also acknowledge that you were probably carrying a monstrous pack on these endeavors.

I have also looked at these bindings in the past, actually had a pair in my hands once ready to buy at a ridiculous price. And then that small, insistent voice in my head finally got through to me: "Have you remembered what happened the last time you screwed up a knee?"

Yeah, I know lots of folks have used them with double boots, and yeah, the concept is intriguing, but still . . .

 

[Chugach001]

I pulled turns down Rainier with a pack and did fine. They are a cool and clever binding. Ramer was a genius.

 

[sardog1]

I pulled turns down Rainier with a pack and did fine. They are a cool and clever binding. Ramer was a genius.

I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing. I was referring to the GI binding that shows up on eBay. The Ramer binding that I recall was a more evolved design?

 

[mirabela]

I'm guessing the turns you pulled down Rainier were on one of his primitive AT bindings, kind of a precursor to the silvrettas. If you did it on the army surplus ones I was asking about, you get extra points ...

While we're talking antique ski gear -- does anyone know where I can find a mounting template for fritschi ft-88's?

If you haven't guessed, I'm trying to slap together a rough-cut, cheap-and-dirty, no-finesse heavy backcountry setup, and just sort of investigating my options ...

 

[TomD]

Have you looked into just getting a 3 pin setup? I have Atomic Rainiers with Voile cable bindings on their release kit. I wear Garmont Excursions ( light double plastic boot). I also have skins. My skis are waxless, but I tow a sled and skins are essential for that.

For backcountry non three pin, I'd look at Voile CRB bindings which are also releasable. There are others. You might ask on Telemark Tips about the template. www.telemarktips.com

You might find this interesting-
http://www.wildsnow.com/backcountry-skiing-history/binding-museum/

 

[mirabela]

Yeah ... and I probably will do that -- also. I have a hodgepodge of things around already, and reasons at least part of the time to want my Koflach's with me ... and if all that separates me from this is forty bucks and a diagram, then I can't see why I wouldn't at least try it.

 

[sweeper]

Ft. Greely is located in terrain that may be fairly described as fairly forgiving with regard to this set-up. YMMV, and you may have ventured into some steeper stuff that I don't know about here. I will also acknowledge that you were probably carrying a monstrous pack on these endeavors.


Yeah, I know lots of folks have used them with double boots, and yeah, the concept is intriguing, but still . . .

We did our training at the Black Rapids site. There wasn't any double diamonds but the instructors even in the MM boots could cut some nice tight turns over varied terrain and snow conditions.

 

[sardog1]

We did our training at the Black Rapids site. There wasn't any double diamonds but the instructors even in the MM boots could cut some nice tight turns over varied terrain and snow conditions.

[Warning -- thread drift alert] I was once on the Kenai for some avalanche dog training. We heard a commotion below us, and a troop of SEALs on skis came into view. They had come from Virginia for training. Half of them were having the time of their lives, as they either had some prior skiing experience or had picked up some skill in training. The other half were plainly miserable under their packs, as they lacked almost any skiing skill and clearly didn't enjoy the soft "pleasures" that Southcentral snow could offer in all its wet density. [/Thread drift]

 

[Spiny Norman]

Hi, Did we decide if the Ramer GI bindings work with DBL boots? Just for schwacking around.

Mirabela you may want to find some voile splitboard bindings. voile-usa.com

I've had approach skis with them. Either with the voile mtn plate or a strap snowbaord binding with the highback removed.

I may have an extra set floating around if you are interested.

ttfn

 

[mirabela]

Thank you, but I'll defer. I already have a pair of Fritschis and a pair of Silvrettas on the way so I can play around with them on a few different pair of beater skis, looking for what works.

I think I've decided against the Ramer cables, too -- a little too primitive ... maybe I'm missing out on something, but you can't try everything.

Happy snow --

MD