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To objectively pinpoint the best splitboard binding, we've tested a dozen models in recent years. For this update, we purchased 7 of the top splitboard bindings and tested them side-by-side to see how they stack up across our strategically selected metrics. We hit the skin track to assess each product's merit by sidehilling on bulletproof ice, transitioning in 50 mph winds, and riding in just about every condition imaginable. Our comprehensive and thorough testing culminates in an objective and field-supported review designed to help you find the perfect binding.
Editor's Note: We updated this review on January 23, 2023, with a new review of the Spark R&D Arc Pro. We've also updated the individual reviews for several bindings to share technology updates.
Weight per binding: 1.25 lbs | Field weight: 3.4 lbs
REASONS TO BUY
Lightweight
Transition System
Easy to Use
Resistant to Icing
REASONS TO AVOID
Heel riser can be challenging to deploy
Aluminum hardware requires tightening more frequently
Forward lean adjustment
The Spark R&D Arc Pro wins our top award based on its downhill performance, light weight, and efficient transition system. The reduced weight and user-focused feature set of this uncompromising product enhances the efficiency and user experience of the already impressive Arc. The T1 System resists icing, and the simplicity of the design makes transitions quick and easy. These user-friendly bindings offer great stride quality with a low friction pivot point and plenty of negative lean. The athletic uphill performance of these splitboard bindings is complemented by a rather fun, responsive, and surfy ride on the way down.
The latest version of this binding is the Arc ST Pro, which we are linking to in our review.
The Spark Arc Pro is an incredible binding, but we found a few manageable cons worth considering before purchasing. The aluminum hardware needed to be tightened more than other bindings on the market, especially after riding firm snow conditions; fortunately, this is an easy fix with some Loctite. We love the Rip 'N' Flip Highback to provide negative lean, but we find it tricky to obtain the same amount of lean for each highback; there are no defined steps to ensure the same angle on each binding. The heel riser can be challenging to engage with soft pole baskets, but it can be done with some accuracy and an out-and-then-down technique. Throughout our testing, it has gotten easier to engage the heel riser as the product breaks in. If you're looking for one of the best bindings for the up, down, and in-between, this is the splitboard binding for you.
Weight per binding: 1.40 lbs | Field weight: 3.78 lbs
REASONS TO BUY
Downhill performance
Uphill performance
Lightweight
Value
Efficient transitioning
REASONS TO AVOID
Heel bar is slightly particular to deploy
Might be soft for larger riders
The Spark R&D Arc is a standout model in every metric and value. Its simplistic design puts efficacy, usability, and reliability at the forefront of the user experience. The T1 Snap Ramp system is resilient to icing and is one of the fastest transition systems on the market. We appreciate a simple and smooth transition, especially when you find yourself atop a stormy peak. The negative lean on the highback provides the largest degree of lean in the industry for maximum stride on flatter terrain. These features have direct efficiency benefits, which are also accentuated by their light weight. This can help you go further for longer and enjoy the responsive yet playful ride even more.
The Arc is great. However, we noted a few things to be aware of with this product. The heel riser is tricky to deploy with soft baskets. It requires a fair amount of accuracy, but once you figure out the technique, it is more consistent and fluid. The highback can be soft for larger riders or those looking for a very stiff binding; these individuals should check out the Spark R&D Surge Pro. The Spark R&D Arc is a great option for light to medium-sized riders looking for a performance non-pin-based binding that isn't going to clean out your wallet.
Weight per binding: 1.35 lbs | Field Weight: 3.65 lbs
REASONS TO BUY
Responsive
Lightweight
Fast transitions
Great straps
REASONS TO AVOID
Highback catches on heel cup
Stiff for lighter riders
The Spark R&D Surge Pro is one of the lightest, most responsive bindings on the market. Outfitted with the Spark R&D T1 system, it relays efficiency benefits in transitions. This is a stiff binding that performs well during technical ascents by providing long, low-friction strides and a responsive ride with quick turn initiation. The Surge Pro has a carbon-reinforced highback to increase its stiffness and response for big, demanding lines. The response, weight, and price make this binding appealing to those with ambitious and technical objectives. For objectives where every gram matters, the Surge Pro is an excellent fit.
The Surge Pro is lighter than the standard Surge but costs more; however, the price increase makes sense with the added engineering and materials used. If weight reduction is important to you, this is a solid value, especially when compared with other bindings with custom-made hardware (to shave weight). Another thing to be aware of is that the highback catches on the heel cup when transitioning between tour and ride mode. The allowance between the modes is a little tight, which results in the highback catching; a firm pat will free the high back. While this isn't the biggest deal, it does impact the user experience. This could just be an anomaly within the manufacturing process for the pair we tested, and we understand these things do happen. The Spark Surge Pro is perfect for any rider looking for a reliable, responsive, and user-friendly binding for their technical pursuits.
When you strap into the Surge Pro, you can expect a refined and responsive ride.
Credit: Isaac Laredo
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Bindings are the second point of power transfer to the board. Stiffer binding like the Spark R&D Surge Pro are able to relay more power to board as pictured here.
Credit: Isaac Laredo
Why Trust GearLab
We researched the market's top splitboard bindings and purchased the top models to objectively test them side by side. You read that right, purchased. We understand bias is the quickest way to threaten a data set, so we nip that right in the bud and pay the same price as you. We aim to provide the most scientific reviews available, and the reliability of scientific findings is driven by the quality and quantity of the data. To accomplish this, we purchase each product and [how we test | test it extensively], with testing occurring on the snowy slopes of the Sierra Nevada. The world-class access and terrain result in large amounts of qualitative data. Our findings are presented below in an objective review to help you find your perfect binding.
Our testing of splitboard bindings is divided across five different metrics:
Downhill Performance (30% of overall score weighting)
Transitions (30% weighting)
Uphill Performance (20% weighting)
Weight (10% weighting)
Straps, Lean, and Risers (10% weighting)
Lead tester Isaac Laredo has committed his life to enjoying and facilitating the creation of special moments in the outdoors. These gear reviews aim to be a manifestation of that, in the hopes that you can find the perfect piece of gear that will put a smile on your face for years to come. Isaac is an avalanche and outdoor educator and is also pursuing his AMGA Splitboard guide certification. In both of these professions, gear needs to be reliable so he can focus on the safety, quality of experience, and learning outcomes of the students. Isaac graduated from Sierra Nevada College in Lake Tahoe. After moving to Tahoe in 2014, Isaac has enjoyed consistent 100+ day seasons. We also enlisted the help of Marissa Fox for this review. Marissa has been snowboarding for over 25 years and splitboarding for a decade. She has ridden terrain worldwide, ranging from shredding in the Swiss Alps to Heli-boarding in Canada. She has spent copious amounts of time in the backcountry and is a former professional athlete in big air snowboarding competitions.
The in turn feel of the United Shapes Covert was one of our favorites.
A lighter weight is be appreciated no matter if the board is on your back or feet.
Analysis and Test Results
We have diverse demands from our uphill gear. It must perform in a variety of categories to provide us with a well-rounded, high-quality experience. Certain performance distinctions are incredibly subtle, and others have large indications. To [buying advice | help sort out the nuances] and highlight the distinctions, we've rated and tested each binding in the following metrics: uphill performance, transitions, weight, downhill performance, and the quality of their straps, lean adjusters, and heel risers.
What's the Best Value?
Value is important to consider in every purchase, especially when the market has a big price range. It can be expensive to get into a variety of outdoor pursuits, and splitboarding is no different. Within the market of splitboard bindings, a higher price doesn't translate to a higher-performing product. We found solid contenders in all areas of the price map. As consumers, we want to get the highest-performing product for the best price — in other words, we are looking for the best value.
The Spark R&D Arc Pro is an incredible value for class-leading performance. Its excellent price comes with high-performance features like its Snap Ramp that streamlines the transition process and custom-made aluminum hardware to reduce weight.
The Spark R&D Arc provides an exceptional balance between performance and price. Its premium feature set is complemented by the well-rounded performance offered at an approachable price. Though heavier and you'll make some concessions in performance, the Voile Light Rail is an even lower-cost way to get out and get after it.
The Arc Pro bindings help you maximize your stride length, making them a great option for long tours.
Credit: David Wise
Downhill Performance
Riding downhill is the fun part; this is the reward for your hard work! The whole point of climbing the mountain is to enjoy the shred down. The bindings must work well and support a fun and responsive ride. Once attached to the board, they should look and function very similarly to regular snowboard bindings. The downhill performance is a matter of response, comfort, and the overall feel of the binding. We spent our descents turning hard, tweaking, and shifting our weight tip to tail to see how the bindings ride.
We found that every binding performed quite well on the downhill. Each binding stood out for different reasons and has a certain rider in mind. The Spark R&D Arc have a responsive yet playful character, especially when talking about a splitboard binding. They offer plenty of response for any objective, but if you are a larger rider, you might find the highback too soft for demanding riding. The Spark R&D Arc Pro offers a similarly playful and surfy ride for the descent, all while giving a quick response and plenty of control — even in firmer snow conditions. These models are best suited for riders looking for an easy-to-control and semi-surfy feel.
The ideal flex for a binding is a personal preference. If you want a more freestyle or surfy feel for then pick a softer binding. If you want to enter challenging terrain and are seeking the most response then pick are stiffer binding.
Credit: Laredo
The Karakoram Prime X, Prime X Carbon, and Spark R&D Surge Pro have a responsive and reactive character derived from their stiff highbacks and baseplates. Each uses premium materials to provide a stiffer binding at a lighter weight. This is great for larger or more demanding riders looking for a stiff and responsive ride to fit their objectives.
This is why we do it. Pictured here we are enjoying the surfy nature of the Spark R&D Arc in low angle powder.
Credit: Isaac Laredo
Transitions
Transitions from tour mode to ride mode can be a hassle or a streamlined process. Your binding system and fluency with the process can dictate the transition one way or the other. There are numerous steps for a splitboarder to accomplish a transition. Our binding system should support efficient changeovers. The most efficient binding system is easy to handle, resistant to icing, and has minimal pitfalls. These characteristics are desirable to make efficient transitions. Faster transitions translate to more time riding and less time using your crystal card as a scraper atop a snowy and windy peak.
Experienced splitboarders develop strategies to streamline this process. Splitboard transitions do not need to take drastically longer than ski transitions, and it helps if the splitboard binding (and splitboard, too) facilitate quick changeovers.
Be consistent with your transition process to build speed as you become more proficient with each step. It also helps to have an organized pack with gear accessible in the order that you need it.
The best design considers the principles of ease and efficacy. This results in a binding that is easy to manipulate with gloves on, requires minimal clearing of snow from the interface, and reduces the number of steps to release or attach the binding. There is a massive difference between operating binding systems in a warm living room and performing the same steps on a windy summit, with cold fingers battling frozen snow and ice clogging the interface system.
The products that scored highest in our transition section excelled at facilitating changeovers. The Spark Arc and Spark Surge Pro have a simple design that increases efficiency, reliability, and usability in adverse conditions. These models received the best reviews and times from testers when focusing on transitions. The Snap Ramp system found on the Spark R&D bindings is the easiest to operate with or without gloves. It's also resistant to icing due to its passive system. When you slide the bindings on the pucks, it naturally clears snow and ice from the channel.
The Snap Ramp in the closed position.
Credit: Isaac Laredo
Karakoram has increased its ease of transitions, but we still prefer the Spark system for its simplicity. Certainly, an organized, experienced boarder can switch over quickly using any binding, while a newbie might struggle using the most efficient model in existence. We found the Spark system was consistently faster to transition than other models.
The Prime 2.0's interface has reduced the icy issues of its predecessor.
Credit: Laredo
Uphill Performance
The foundation of splitboarding is walking uphill. Our gear spends 90% of its life in touring mode. The touring component can make or break our day. If our gear performs poorly in challenging conditions, we spend significantly more energy on the way up and have less available for the way down. Because it makes up a large component of our backcountry experience, we need it to perform well.
We evaluated the bindings on specific aspects that make up our uphill experience. We looked at the quality of stride, comfort, and sidehilling ability of each binding. Our tours up were spent finding conditions that put these components to the test.
Three bindings stood out for their uphill performance. The Spark R&D Surge Pro, Spark R&D Arc, and Spark R&D Arc Pro had the highest quality stride due to their class-leading amount of negative lean and low friction touring bracket. This allows for longer strides on flatter terrain, resulting in fewer steps and more efficient travel.
The Karakoram Prime-X offers the best sidehilling performance due to its taller and longer sidearms. For even better performance, it is offered with Flex lock, which works to stiffen your boot when sidehilling.
Bindings that provide efficient uphill travel and transitions have a large positive impact on your touring experience. The -13 degree lean on the Spark R&D Arc is very useful in flat terrain.
Credit: ryland west
Weight
It is widely believed that weight on your feet saps more energy than the same weight on your back. If you save one pound from your feet, it is the equivalent of taking five pounds out of your backpack. This means that saving weight on your bindings can potentially lead to significant gains while climbing. Serious road bikers will spend amazing amounts of money for minimally lighter-weight wheels in the belief that reducing rotational weight offers significant benefits. Similarly, reducing binding weight should provide noticeable benefits for splitboarders.
Weight is the most objective evaluation available to us; it also happens to be one of the most critical features when climbing mountains. We weighed all of the models on the same scale. To understand the total weight of each system, we weighed the respective interfaces. The numbers reflected reference the weight per pair, while field weight factors in everything needed for touring; every screw, bracket, and puck.
In our review, we look at the field weight of the binding system. This includes every screw, mounting plate, and heel riser. Pictured above is Karakoram's Prime interface on the scale.
Credit: Isaac Laredo
The Spark R&D Arc Pro is the featherweight champion, weighing in at 1.25 lbs per binding. Not too far behind in weight is the Spark R&D Surge Pro, followed by the Arc. The standard Spark interface weighs 0.97 pounds (442 g), and the Pro interface clocks in at 0.96 (434g). While a negligible amount, the difference is found within 10 screws. The custom-made aluminum screws are about 65% lighter than their steel counterparts.
Spark went to great lengths to shave weight on the Arc Pro. Shown here are the hollowed-out touring pins.
Credit: Isaac Laredo
The Karakoram Prime X is a light offering from Karakoram at 1.76 pounds (800 grams). The binding itself is well-designed to be light and robust. However, its total weight increases when we factor in the 1.85 pounds (839 gram) interface and risers.
Straps, Lean, and Risers
The straps, forward lean adjusters, and heel risers are features that we directly handle multiple times while touring. These need to perform well for your efficiency and peace of mind. We handled, toggled, ratcheted, and flipped these features countless times to determine which systems were our favorite.
Straps
The straps were awesome across the board. The Spark Arc and Surge Pro use the pillow line strap, which is a one-piece injection-molded plastic strap that is bombproof, lightweight, and stunningly comfortable. The Pro version uses a different type of plastic to reduce weight.
The Pillow Line straps are a one-piece injection-molded plastic that is waterproof, durable, and light.
Credit: Isaac Laredo
The Karakoram straps were pressure point-free, easy to maneuver, and genuinely cozy. The Air Pod straps are some of our favorite due to their size and comfort. The Karakoram strap is one of the most flexible and comfortable bindings on the market.
Karakoram utilizes a supple rubber with an Air-Pod design, shown here on the Prime X. These straps are comfortable, pressure point free, and responsive.
Credit: Laredo
Lean Adjusters
Most of the bindings have specially designed forward lean adjusters to encourage zero or negative forward lean for more efficient flat land touring. Covering any significant flat distance with forward lean shortens each stride and quickly adds up to more exertion over a day. If your objective heads straight up from the trailhead, the benefit of this is less noticeable, but still present. The best forward lean adjusters easily switch from tour to ride mode. The ride mode adjustments ideally make it easy to achieve the desired amount of forward lean.
Currently, all the modern forward lean adjusters from Karakoram, Spark, and Voile work very well. Spark's Rip 'N' Flip lean adjuster offers the widest range of negative and forward lean. It's very easy to swap between touring and ride modes while wearing even heavy gloves, and we liked that you can adjust the forward lean angle without the use of any tools.
The Spark R&D Rip 'N' Flip highback provides one of the highest degrees of negative lean (-13) in the industry.
Credit: Isaac Laredo
Risers
Heel risers are very helpful when traveling up steeper skin tracks. As many avid backcountry users say, they have their uses and abuses. If they're a hassle to deploy, then you're wasting time that could be used moving, gathering relevant avalanche observations, or skiing.
Karakoram had the easiest heel risers to deploy while remaining upright. Every system is kind of tricky until you figure out the technique. Give it time, and you should be able to dial in whichever system you have.
Karakoram heel risers have improved over the last few years and can easily be deployed with a ski pole.
Credit: Laredo
Women's Models
It's no secret that when it comes to gear, the needs of men and women are different. From sizing to stiffness, we all have different preferences. Some manufacturers offer the same binding models in women's sizing. Karakoram has a robust women's lineup. The bindings are the same in design and materials with modified women's specific sizing.
Spark used to offer women's versions of their bindings, and we've tested several. However, they've recently done away with their women's line and now offer all their bindings as unisex, with XS sizes for the most petite women's feet.
Use this review to help you identify the binding that best fits your needs and go storm the castle.
Credit: Isaac Laredo
Conclusion
Splitboard bindings have a lot of jobs to do. We broke down the entire experience into key metrics designed to help you make the best decision for your needs. Pay particular attention to the models that stood out in your prioritized metrics and make your decision accordingly.
