DIN setting

[scottishskier]

Hi!

I've got another question! I've just bought a pair of burnin luvs and bindings in Germany (I'm currently staying there and they are cheaper than back home). When mounting my bindings the guy didn't ask me my weight or height but just how good a skier I was and then measured the width of my knee (4.5 whatever that means). I've never heard of this before and don't understand how this can be used to set my bindings .The shop is a local chain that has a good reputation.

I normally ski with a DIN of about 6.0 so when I collect the skis tomorrow I'll check that but I'm still interested to understand how my knee and not my weight can affect my DIN.

 

[tradygirl]

Weird. Never heard of that.

 

[abc]

I have.

Over at snowhead.com at the gear section. There're acouple of working professionals there. In one discussion, it was agreed that's a much more accurate way to do it.

Though I confess I didn't understand what they were talking about.

 

[Severine]

Maybe that's because your knee would be wider if you weigh more? And perhaps they're really good at estimating height just by looking at you?

I don't know. Just throwing out ideas...

 

[num]

That's new by me. What did the DIN end up being set at?

 

[scottishskier]

Hi

I couldnt find the post on snowheads but maybe I just didn't look hard enough. I asked the guy in the shop how measuring my knee can determinate my DIN, so here's a summary:

Firsly he wasn't measuring my knee but the top of my tibia bone and from this measurement you can work out how much force (how many newtons to be exact!) would cause you serious damage. This is then used to set your bindings. I'm not exactly sure of the calculation for this but I had a measurement of 4.5, which meant I can take a force of up to 45 Newtons and he put me as a level 2 skier (I never know if I'm level 2 or 3) so my DIN came out as 5.0.

When I said before that my DIN was 6.0 this was based on the fact that the guy at my demos said I was a level 3 skier, If I had said that I was a level 2 skier then it would have been 5.0 as well.

So now i have another question! whats the difference between a level 2 and level 3 skier and how do I know which one I am? On the internet I can only find really short descriptions full of words that are very vague in meaning.

This is sooooo confusing!!!

 

[scottishskier]

Ok I've just been over to the snowheads forum and found a table for calculating your DIN. According to it if I'm a level 2 skier I should be at a setting of 4.75 and if I'm a level 3 skier it should be 5.5. Help!!!

I thought DIN setting was meant to be an industry standard!!!!!

 

[sleddog]

Type 1: skier prefers lighter than normal settings - skis at slower speeds on easier terrain.

Type 2: normal settings, skier skis a variety of terrain and variety of speeds.

Type 3: higher than normal settings, skier is always skiing aggressively at higher speeds.

My feeling is unless you're releasing prematurely you should start as a type 2 skier. You can always have the bindings tightened, but if you're not skiing aggresively all the time, your bindings might not release to prevent an injury.