Does anyone have experience with Knee brand ski bindings? I tore my ACL and MCL in a skiing accident a few years ago. I now ski with a brace. I am about to buy new skis and am considering getting Knee bindings on them. Any advice would be appreciated.
I met the two engineers who founded/own the company (one at least is the current chairman) at the SIA show last january. I talked at length to them and saw real life demonstration of the way that binding releases when others will not. Really impressive. The videos on their website are excellent inormation sources. If I still used conventional bindings I would seriously consider these, and not just because they gave me some free minis of vermont maple syrup.
http://www.kneebinding.com/KB-InformationCenter3.aspx
An indication of how effective these are is that several resorts have started equipping patrollers with their bindings because of their proven track record and reduced insurance claims
I'm curious about them too and have talked to a couple shops and read a lot about the controversial owner/inventor and his story and battle with a second knee binding inventor. Lou Dawson had a long interesting read on WildSnow and I found some other stuff elsewhere. I've forgotten the details, but I gathered that one of the players is seriously angry at other players.
Talked at length with Brian at Leesburg Pro-Fit about them. I'm coming from telemark where I feel my knees are inherently safer. Now I'm splitting my time 50/50 with alpine and may plunge for the knee binding at some point too. Brian also suggested the Look rotary binding for my skiing "style"
Cost wise, do they compare with the conventional bindings by Marker, Rossy, etc?
snowsmith wrote:
Cost wise, do they compare with the conventional bindings by Marker, Rossy, etc?
I think they were more, in the $375-450 range?
Thanks to kemperski and camp for thier posts. Not many retailers in this area sell Knee bindings. REI and Pro-Fit in Leesburg are the only ones that I found. I'm going to wait until next season to get new bindings (and skis). When I do, I'll go to Pro-Fit because I believe they will do the best job of mounting and subsequently servicing the Knee bindings. I'll post my thoughts about the bindings after I have had a chance to use them several times.
Other companies have psuedo-knee bindings. I have some Tyrolia bindings that have a lateral release. They are effectively the same as knee bindings without the same brand.
I haven't had a lateral release yet, but I've messed around in my garage and can get them to release in that fashion. The only issue is they can be a bit of a pain to snap into. You have to make sure your heel is perfectly straight. The bindings will click in at an angle and then pop up quickly.
oddballstocks wrote:
Other companies have psuedo-knee bindings. I have some Tyrolia bindings that have a lateral release. They are effectively the same as knee bindings without the same brand.
I haven't had a lateral release yet, but I've messed around in my garage and can get them to release in that fashion. The only issue is they can be a bit of a pain to snap into. You have to make sure your heel is perfectly straight. The bindings will click in at an angle and then pop up quickly.
The Knee bindings clicked in perfectly just like any quality alpine binding. And to my knowledge no other companies have the release that knee provides. There is no Tyrolia binding that does the same thing that I know of --- which binding are you referring to?
When I was talking to those guys last spring I mentioned that tech bindings (Dynafit,etc.) had the same principle in the way the heel releases. They became very spirited and touchy about that. It doesnt matter because tech bindings basically lock the toe and let the heel release up and sideways while traditional alpine has sideways release in the toe and mostly upwards release in the heel; the knee binding allows effective side to side release in both heel and toe, and standard upward in the heel; i don't think they have upward release in the toe but perhaps they do. No traditional alpines do as far as I know although actually dynafits do to some degree
I would still like the data though about Dynafit style bindings, assuming you don't lock the toes on descents they seem at least as safe as traditional alpine bindings.
I'm still sold on the knee binding except all my gear is set up for tech now
kemperski
Here is the Tyrolia page: https://www.tyrolia.com/en-US/technology/safetyfeatures/
It's the diaganol heel. They say it reduces pressure on the knee and ligaments. It isn't a full knee binding replica, but it seems like it's a nice addition to bindings. If a simple pivoting heel can help reduce injury it's something that should be incorporated into most binding designs.
the tyrolia diagonal heel has been around since at least early 80's. took a slight up to go sideways.
Guys , I don't know the exact terminology but it seems clear the safety features of the Knee binding are better than that other alpine bindings .. If you are worried about your knees, can tolerate a slight weight penalty and perhaps an extra hundred bucks, I would say buy this binding. Also their stand height is higher than some bindings.
Squaw Valley, Smuggs, and Cataloochee are a few who have shifted their working skis to knee bindings.
For more money you could go with Howell bindings by the original designer now apparently on the market.
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Also diagonal release is not true lateral release and thus doesn't really protect from the flat side rotation that causes most ACL injury.. The knee heel releases up or diagonally like most bindings but also relase directly sideways, that's what distinguishes them.
again I would say that that is what Dynafit heels do as well (in addition to the "up") but the non rotating toe I guess removes that advantage.
Here is a cool article on ways to be proactive in how you fall to help reduce injury.
https://vermontskisafety.com/research/tips/
