Comments on: Skin Set Up – Part Two

By: Justin

Justin — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 23:17:14 +0000

Sewing the tips closed is easy with a speedy stitcher (which is very helpful for all sorts of gear related repairs or modifications.)

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:58:32 +0000

Oooh rivets – that’s an excellent idea! Those two part mushroom style rivets from the old tip & tail kits would be prefect. Less mess, clean & strong. Sewing them works alright, but getting the needle through the sticky skins is a hassle.

By: Seth

Seth — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:56:10 +0000

For some customers (and for my own skis) I have installed a few low-profile rivets to keep the tip loop stationary.

Pretty easy if you have access to a riveter…

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:10:38 +0000

Hi Patricio – Cutting off your tip fold-over flap and stitching it on (as shown in the previous posting) will help with that. With just the fold over method, you need enough glue-to-glue to make the skins stick together, but at the same time, it creates a glueless “pocket” right at the front of the ski, which inevitably gets a little snow, then a little more… then they fail.

The G3 clips look like they would serve the same purpose, but then again, you’ve got four parts (two clips & two rivets) which are fixed vs. a single sewn on steel loop, which can be moved if you really need to.

By: Patricio

Patricio — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:56:35 +0000

Sometimes (especially in deep pow) I’ll get snow/ice building up under the tip. It progresses further down the ski with each lap until the skins are held on by the tip/tail attachments. Do you know if the G3 alpinist tips help avoid that? I was thinking of sewing a tip pocket onto mine so that no snow could get under it. Any thoughts?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 05:15:30 +0000

I’ve had pretty good luck getting rid of goop and grease just by using them a lot and it eventually goes away. The base cleaner sounds like a good idea, especially the citric version.

By: CesarO

CesarO — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 05:02:31 +0000

Any special tricks for removing sap and other (say on-water soluable) goop from skins that will often collect in the plush when touring in “dirty” spring (and sometimes early summer) snow. I’ve sparingly used ski base cleaner to successfully dissolve the goop from the skin hairs, but I’m always worrying that this will ultimately degrade my skins sooner than normal. Is there a better and safer cleaner to use?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:53:19 +0000

Although I’ve never used the BCA skins, I feel your pain. There are a lot of little details that go into making a good skin, including how many plies it has, what kind of plush is used, how the plush is formed, glue quality & durability, how much water they absorb, etc.. I wouldn’t say they are complex, but definitely fickle, especially considering the temperatures and environments they operate in. My skins of choice are the BD (pretty much any of them) with the G3′s being a close second, although I don’t like their attachment systems. I’ve also heard good things about https://www.climbingskinsdirect.com/ although I’ve never used those either (hmmmm, maybe I should hit them up for a product review sample…).

By: Ralph S.

Ralph S. — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:43:49 +0000

Thanks for the insights. Part of the reason I ask is that I have BCA “Low-Fat” skins and they don’t perform up to my standards (and my standards are pretty low). This is their second season and I am wanting to upgrade to BD Ascensions or Glidelites. But before I do I want to make sure that I am not prematurely ditching the BCAs. The main problem is that on the second (and subsequent) lap the skins allow quite a bit of snow along upper edges. I figured that the moisture and temps were the problem, so I stash them in my jacket and use my fleece glove liner to dry and give the skis a friction rub to help. But it’s marginal. I store them with skin savers at home. Could it be shitty glue? I’ve heard mixed reviews of the BCAs.

The second issue is they have zero glide. I mean zero. I could probably walk down a 30 degree slope! That’s why I enquired about randosteve’s hot wax job. I’m desperate, man! Sorry for the diatribe…

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:29:30 +0000

Hi Ralph – I just slap them together and don’t use any sort of skin saver. Part of the reason for this is that I use a tip & tail kit, so the adhesive doesn’t have to be overly tacky or clean. I also stuff my skins inside my jacket when skiing, which helps melt off any frost crystals and keep them a bit warmer, which makes them stick a bit better.

I’ve experimented with hot waxing skins and thought that it worked better on Mohair than synthetic. For me, unless I’m racing, the potential damage that can be caused to your skins by repeatedly hot waxing them doesn’t seem worth the little bit of extended glide you get out of them, so I prefer just rub-on wax.