(Another) Dynafit Binding Failure

While Dynafit celebrates 30 years of 'tech' style alpine touring binding/boot systems, some users are simmering with frustrating failures of Dynafit products. I have experienced two binding heel piece failures in 17 ski days, and one of my ski buddies suffered an essentially identical failure during this same period.

These failures occurred on the 'Radical'-style heel piece. The top portion of the binding, including the heel pins, separates from the lower portion of the binding. In the most recent failure, it appears that the failure initiated with the two screws connecting the top plate to the lower portion of the heel piece.

Intact Heel Piece on the Right

The two screws forward of the heel elevator mechanism connect the binding top plate to the lower portion of the binding. In my most recent heel piece failure, remnants of these two screws were still present.

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I believe the two screws failed, and then the rear portion of the binding plastic failed due to the upward force on the heel pins

Dynafit was one of the most significant skiing innovations in my lifetime. But, the failures described in this post, and other failures not described here, indicate that we need a more robust, yet still lightweight, binding/boot system for alpine touring.

Heel Piece Plastic Fracture Surface in Red Polygon