StraightChuter.com - Backcountry Skiing & Beyond » bases http://straightchuter.com Backcountry Skiing & Beyond by Andrew McLean Wed, 23 May 2012 17:31:30 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= The 10 Minute Tune – Tools http://straightchuter.com/2008/06/the-10-minute-tune-tools/ http://straightchuter.com/2008/06/the-10-minute-tune-tools/#comments Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:00:36 +0000 Andrew http://www.straightchuter.com/?p=113 Tuning backcountry skis is important, but doing a good job at it is not.  Backcountry skis take such daily abuse that you could easily spend more time tuning them than skiing on them if you insist on a perfect World Cup racing tune.  It is a matter of quantity, not quality, and the secret to quantity is to make it fast and easy.  Giving your skis a ten-minute quick tune every few times you take them out makes them a lot more fun and precise to ski on.

Stripped down tune-up only requires the most basic tuning tools.  The goal is to clean the bases, sharpen the edges, put some wax on them and give the bindings a visual safety inspection.

 A basic backcountry skiing tune-up kit.

Tools of the Quick-Tune Trade:

Rag
Base cleaner (lacquer thinner works)
Metal scraper
Plastic scraper
10″ file (worth getting a good one)
File card/brush
Medium Diamond Stone (coarse)
Wax (warm weather bulk wax)
Iron
Scotch-Brite pad
P-Tex repair sticks

For bulk wax, find a generic all purpose version as you never know what kind of conditions you’ll find in the backcountry.  On the file, even if the $20 version looks the same as the $8 one, the difference is in how hard they are.  Ski edges are heat-treated to a high Rockwell hardness rating which will ruin a cheap-o file in a tune or two. Even though it looks like you are getting a lot of metal filings with a cheap file, they are actually coming from the file, not the edges.

________________________
15% off a Swix starter kit from Backcountry.com

]]> http://straightchuter.com/2008/06/the-10-minute-tune-tools/feed/ 4 Love Thy Bases & Bindings http://straightchuter.com/2008/06/love-thy-bases-bindings/ http://straightchuter.com/2008/06/love-thy-bases-bindings/#comments Sat, 21 Jun 2008 11:00:40 +0000 Andrew http://www.straightchuter.com/?p=94 Skis and bindings have a hard enough life without getting sandblasted by road salt, grit, acid rain and polluted snow while riding naked in a roof-top car rack.  Ski bases can be cleaned off, but road grime is especially damaging to bindings, and much harder to clean.  Transporting your skis inside the vehicle is the best way to keep them clean and lovely, as well as upping your gas mileage.  If they must ride shotgun on top, at least put them in a ski bag.

 Not feelin\' the love here...
Naked and exposed on top of a car – how NOT to love your skis, bindings and skins!
 
________________________
15% off ski bags from Backcountry.com

 

 
]]> http://straightchuter.com/2008/06/love-thy-bases-bindings/feed/ 0