Rainey Designs HammerHead
Our original review of the HammerHead, published
in the Summer of 2001, began like this: "Beneath a full
moon and alongside an Oregon meadow, the discussion at the end
of the first day of testing the new Rainey Designs HammerHead
continued: "When this gets out it's going to rock the tele
world" said one tester quietly, almost reverently. And so
it was, the general consensus of all on the mountain after the
first day of putting Russell Rainey's new production version
of the HammerHead binding through its paces." Now it is
more than a year later and time to update our review. We are
happy to report that our view remains unchanged.
And how did the prediction of the tester (from
the now-it-can-be-told department: Dave Waag from OffPiste mag)
quoted above pan out? He was dead on. The HammerHead buzz last
season was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. Before
Rainey could even get started shipping his new binding a near
clone of the HammerHead beta version had already been announced.
One especially enterprising Tt.com reader and contributor designed
his own HammerHead-like modification. He wrote an article
about it he titled "Hot Rod Rivas."
Design and Features: The
HammerHead is a radical departure from any telemark binding that
has come before. The riser actually sits on top of the plate
rather than below it and they both screw directly to the ski.
This innovation provides the strength of a double mount without
the complication of a double mount design. With the cable stresses
removed from the sides of the binding and the plastic riser plate
spreading the load equally over the six screws, the HammerHead
stays mounted to the ski come hell or high water.
While the binding plate design breaks new
ground, it's the twin, movable underfoot pivots that are at the
core of the HammerHead's excellent performance. These movable
pivots allow the user to customize the feel of the binding according
to personal preference and/or intended use. The pivots can be
removed for a free-hinging AT binder-like feel for touring or
positioned in any one of the 5 possible settings for increased
forefoot retention as they are moved aft. By increasing forefoot
retention the skier gains more control by getting the back ski
boot to flex like it should, but there is more than that going
on...we'll get back to this in a minute.
Performance: Why
do so many tele skiers carve the lead ski and skid the rear ski
in non-powder conditions? Technique and a too spread out stance
certainly is a big part of it but even with parallel knees it
can still be a serious challenge to start and maintain a strong
carve on the back ski. The reason is simple and it gets back
to something alpine skiers have known for years: initiating a
carve and keeping the edges engaged during the first half of
the turn is a whole lot easier if the skier can get significant
forebody pressure on the skis. The firmer the snow the more important
forebody pressure becomes. In alpine we were taught to get forward
and push our shins into the tongues of our boots to crank on
this ski forebody pressure. Shaped skis have made non powder
carving easier, changing much of the focus from flexion and extension
to lateral movements, but the need to pressure the forebody to
engage the edges and to vary the turn radius remains. In the
telemark turn most skiers have found it relatively easy to get
forward and weight the forebody of the lead ski, but the rear
ski is another matter. Even skiers who get a lot of weight on
the rear ski are challenged to get more of that weight on the
front half of the ski than on the rear half, it's in the nature
of the stance. The answer to this dilemma is found in the use
of what we have termed "active" tele bindings.
On one end of the active spectrum are bindings
that transfer very little of the boot and boot bellows "resistance
to forward flex" to the front of the ski in the form of
forebody pressure. This would be best illustrated by a 3-pin
binding, those of you who may have attempted a tele turn in an
AT set-up would also be familiar with this feel. The HammerHead
with the pivots removed is also at the lower end of the active
spectrum. Forefoot retention and boot flex activity increase
with the HammerHead as the pivots are moved back, culminating
in the aft-most #5 position. This and the positioning of the
pivots under the foot near the ski edge are the keys to what
makes Rainey's binding so special from a performance standpoint.
Few tele bindings approach or equal the activity level (and resulting
forebody pressure potential) of the HammerHead in the #3 pivot
position. Move the pivots back to #4 or 5 and your in a whole
new world. A rocking tele-world of power and engaged edge control.
Big powder day? Want a more neutral feel?
Move the pivots forward a bit before heading out. No matter where
the pivots are positioned you have a binding with a smooth spring
action, a tight fitting toe piece with outstanding geometry for
enhanced control, and cable routing along the edges for exceptional
feel and response.
Issues: Last
season the HammerHead set a new standard in first year tele binding
performance with no reoccurring parts failures and barely a handful
of breakages. The unitized, one piece, no welds or rivets stainless
steel toe piece (a Rainey innovation) proved to be indestructible
out in the field and the rest of the binding stood up to the
rigors of the telemark turn with big boots and skis. It passed
its first year test with flying colors. The only issue of note:
owing to variations in boot heel design, the heel throw does
not fit in all boots as positively as it does in the Scarpa line.
Some users have taken it upon themselves to enlarge and deepen
the heel groove on Garmont and Crispi. Others (especially Garmont
owners) have used the heel ledge rather than the groove, with
good results. Rainey himself has recommended the use of nylon,
around the ankle safety straps, especially for those with a narrow
stance who have had problems with kicking the heel yoke off,
though this is a problem we have not had ourselves and we have
never used that type of strap. The only other issue is the heel
lifter. A number of skiers have reported failures and trouble
with collapsing bales. Some users have had success with reverse-mounting
the heel piece, with the bale folding down towards the ski tip,
others have simply replaced the heel lifters with one of the
beefier after market models available.
Conclusion: Russell
Rainey's HammerHead is a binding that every serious tele skier
owes it to themselves to at least demo through a range of pivot
positions. We believe that its basic construction represents
a big breakthrough in freeheel binding design, allowing the skier
to easily and efficiently adjust the activity level of the binding
for the conditions as well as their own personal preferences.
The HammerHead can be made to tour like an AT binding with very
little resistance, or it can be set up to provide an active interface
between boot and ski that helps stiff plastic tele boots flex
properly, allowing the skier to get maximum performance from
the rest of a modern tele rig. And with less effort.
This versatility, combined with the HammerHead's
outstanding performance, continues to make Russell Rainey's creation
a sort of touchstone, a binder by which all other telemark bindings
are judged. It's that good.