Animal bindings

[River Rat]

Got out on the water for the first time today--awesome!! My buddy got a new ski over the winter--an S1 that I think he will love. He put large Animals on it --he has a size 10 foot--and he barely got them on using a bunch of lube! His rear foot cramped after just a bit. Do these bindings stretch out after some use? I think he needs to go up in size--he had to get on the platform to get them off. No way they were coming off in the water.

Other than that, a good day back in the water!

[NorCaliBu]

Were the Animals tight laterally (too narrow?)? Or were they too small?

I haven't checked on the newest versions of the Animals but the Animals used to be adjustable for width. Anyone know for sure about newer Animals?

[Woodski]

I have a size 10 foot and use a Small Animal, but I do have a very narrow and flat foot. The bindings will cramp at first until you kind of mold them to your feet, you can soak in warm water to help that out. I assume a new Animal, the latest ones the wraps are tighter than previous versions, so they will be a bit tighter. They also improve in fit feel after a few sets, I never like a new one better than a previous one until I wear it a while, there is a break in period. I use dish soap and make sure I have it on both the binding and foot to slide in the binding.

My feet will cramp if I don't get to skiing, once going I am good for about 8-10 passes in the course before they cramp. Free skiing is no problem, wear out prior to cramping. The trick to getting out is to get the laces really loose, grab the tip of the ski and pull it towards you to get the front boot off. Loosen the rear and use the free foot to push the back of the ski away to pry the foot out. In really cold weather, I have to do it on the platform as the boots are too still to remove.

You can adjust the wraps for snugness and also the strap over the ball of the front foot is adjustable using the velcro.

[NorCaliBu]

I just reread my post and I wasn't very clear. On my last set of Animals if I removed the binding from the ski and then removed the base plate from the binding there were adjustments that could be made to the binding on the bottom of the footbed. One of those adjustments was for width.

[Malibudude]

No don't go up a size, they need to be stretched using a tennis ball or bottle shoved down the ankle and the feet area. If anything he should use mediums, trust me the Animals are horrible and caused me to damage an ankle. They will stretch and if h moves up he'll be sorry, trust me. You can get some width as Mike mentions but it also will make the top of the foot tigher....

[River Rat]

Thanks folks--I will pass this along! He will be relieved to hear that they open up a bit!

[Lieutenant Dan]

You can loosen the animals up but only if the overlay straps have any spare holes on them from where they are set now.

Tell him to take my advice....loosen them up!

I had mine cranked down last year. Late in the year I hooked up too soon for 4 ball, hit the buoy, my ski stopped and I didn't. Major faceplant and rough release from the ski. I got a terrible high ankle sprain that I think has developed arthritis now (I'm 51 years old).

[tomas]

Be careful with the Animals, I hit a small roller last year and flipped side over side with no release and ended up with torn ligaments across the top of my foot. I have read alot of similar stories with these bindings. I switched to RS-1 from Radar and love them.

[CedarLakeSkier]

I have a size 10.5 foot and have no problem with Large animal bindings (double boot).

Where is it tight? across the front of the foot? There is a strap that can be adjusted.

You probably already know this, but animals are specific for left foot forward or right foot forward, does your buddy have the correct ones?

Finally, I've fallen more times than I care to admit. My feet come out of the animals on bad falls.. trust me here.

[Malibudude]

Be careful with the Animals, I hit a small roller last year and flipped side over side with no release and ended up with torn ligaments across the top of my foot. I have read alot of similar stories with these bindings. I switched to RS-1 from Radar and love them.

Agree 100% that's why I moved to the Approaches.

[Lieutenant Dan]

Be careful with the Animals, I hit a small roller last year and flipped side over side with no release and ended up with torn ligaments across the top of my foot. I have read alot of similar stories with these bindings. I switched to RS-1 from Radar and love them.

I'm thinking of picking up some leftover RS-1's for whenever I get a chance to try to ski again. I'm curious, how did the fitting go? I mean, did you get the same size boot as say you wear for a running shoe, or did you go bigger/smaller?