Just ordered the Head e-V10 with Protectors. Wish more mfg's would get on board with similar bindings.
We just need to vote with our wallet. All the manufactures are closely watching Head's sales performance and comparing it to their own. As for me, I'm swapping out all my family's bindings this season. This will be a trend no manufacture wants to fall behind on. And as
@Swiss Toni points out, mechatronic smart release is the next frontier. Those just making regular bindings in a few years time will be dinosaurs.
Good news is the expense of Protectors is not that much considering one pair can be shared across a quiver of skis with brakes available in 85, 95, and 110mm. However, sourcing extra tracks is currently problematic.
Whoa, you put Protector on a 104
Plz Keep us posted with updates as the season progresses
The Peak 104s absolutely ripped in today's conditions at Mt. Baker. Would they rip harder on a binding with a lower stack height? Maybe, but maybe not. No other binding has the lateral heel elasticity that this binding has. These could very well be the smoothest riding bindings on the market, which also happen to have arguably substantial and demonstrated safety enhancements. Why would you choose anything else?
Performance testing today for me was pretty conclusive: I dialed down from my normal DIN of 8 to 7 and was still pushing hard on a lot of steep terrain: short, ~50 degree sections, scraping over rocks and frozen waterfalls, dropping some small cliffs. Zero pre-releases. And the one time I absolutely needed to come out of the bindings, I did with a smooth release. Climbing 20 ft back up the hill to retrieve my ski, I notice the heel binding in the locked down position. So I most likely released out of the toe. But who knows? Maybe I punched out laterally with the heel. Maybe this binding saved my ACL today.
Test track: The Chute at Mt Baker.