Skis w/ metal vs. skis w/o metal

[DanoT]

I wonder which dunes? The geek in me thought about Great Sand Dunes Nat’l Monument -quartz sand - which has a hardness of 7, versus White Sands National Monument which is gypsum, which is much softer at 2. I’d rather ski the gypsum. Easier on the bases. Less rash when you fall, too.

Probably the sand dunes along the Oregon coast where they rent quads, and dune buggies or sand rails or bring your own. I have done spring skiing one day at Mt. Bachelor and then driven to the coast and go out in the sand dunes the next day.

In summer the sand dries out and most late afternoons the wind picks up and moves the sand around covering the tracts. The next morning it can be a blank slate and fresh quad tracks. They have a dune patrol that goes around rescuing stuck quads/buggies.

 

[tomahawkins]

The bonding thing is kind of an urban legend when it comes to smaller companies. What it boils down to is cost and minimum purchase quantities, and the one company that makes the product. I know 2 smaller companies who are using metal actually went in together to buy their titanal.

Is AMAG the only company that manufactures titanal? Would a monopoly explain the cost barrier?

I've been pondering Liberty's vertical metal strips (VMT 3.0) and noticed they make no mention of titanal is their latest offerings. Since the strips are vertical in the layup and are capped by carbon on top and bottom, perhaps glue adhesion is not critical and they can get away with using aluminum 7000. Maybe vertical metal has good performance characteristics, maybe it is a clever way to bypass a monopoly and still market skis with metal, maybe it's a combination of the two. Regardless, I plan to spend some time on some Evolv 110s this season.

 

[markojp]

I'm definitely in the 'regardless' category.