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Bindings and boots are where your money should be spent plain and simple. The difference between a £300 board and £400 board is, despite what brand spiel will tell you negligible. But £100 difference between boots and bindings is everything as it directly relates to your comfort and therefore the amount of time you spend on the hill, so if you’re going to spend some bunce bindings are where you should be looking to invest.

The most important elements of bindings are good straps and plenty adjustments for the high back, forward lean and heel cups so you can customise the fit for your feet. The areas to keep a close eye on are the ratchets and the teeth straps they grab. If the ratchet is metal then it will be very strong and unlikely to crack or lose teeth, unfortunately a metal ratchet will eat the tooth strap so if the bindings you’re looking at have metal ratchets check the tooth strap for wear. Equally if the ratchet is plastic then it will be the first point to weaken or wear. The good news on both fronts here is that ratchets, tooth straps and straps themselves if they come from a pedigree brand are readily available in most shops so replacements aren’t an issue but should be factored into your budget.

Cap or Wrap straps are a great way to judge the price point of bindings and to a certain extent the year that binding was made. Cap/wrap straps are toe straps that run over the top and around the front of your toe, so as opposed to just holding your toe down as the old over the top strap did, they now push your foot into the binding and hold it down. Only the very cheapest hire end of the market bindings come without cap straps and this has been the case for the last three to four years so you know that bindings without cap/wrap straps are either old or cheap. Again you can invest in new straps if you think the base plate and highback are solid.

What a segue, baseplates and highbacks are pretty simple fare, most baseplates will be plastic as it absorbs and cushions without warping, but some heel cups are aluminium which unless you are hitting 30 metre kickers with icy landings shouldn’t be an issue. Interestingly Burton hold the patent on the one piece baseplate, so all other brands have to make a two piece baseplate, which will weaken them slightly but again this is only an issue if you’re landing huge jumps with an anvil strapped to your back. High backs just need to have plenty of padding around the top and a good easy forward lean adjuster as this is essentially what controls how responsive your board to body interface is.

The last thing is to check is discs and compatibility, in simple terms Burton boards have a 3D system (uses three screws) while everyone else uses a 4x4 pattern (four screws). Burton bindings come with 3D discs and 4x4 discs, everyone else has one set of 4x4 discs that in most cases have enough hole options to fit a the 3D system, but do check this. As an aside in 2008 Burton released the EST Channel system that uses one central bolt, these EST bindings are not compatible with any other boards.

All of the above refers to the classic strap binding, but there are other options out there. The most closely related to the strap in binding is the Flow Binding, these have one strap over the foot that is locked in place and instead the highback flips open so the foot enters through the back of the binding. These have been around for a long time and I have come across many people who swear by them, I personally have only ridden a prototype pair fifteen years ago and they worked then and were very comfortable and I’m sure they’ve come along way since then so if you’re up for trying something different then they’re be worth a look. Now Step-Ins, I might get slayed for this but in my opinion step in bindings were always rubbish, they are heavy, the plates are so wide they affect the flex of the board and a lot of the mechanisms clog with snow in powder. I’m not sure anyone still uses them apart from rental boards where they are cheap for a shop to invest in, but unless you have a really bad back and can’t bend down to do up your bindings I would steer well clear of step ins.

That leaves plate bindings, these are ski bindings for snowboards and they are designed for the now close to defunct slalom racing and the odd boarder X racer. The pros are that they give an immediate and direct control of the board because of the rigid interface between boot, binding and board. This means that you can lay down huge high G carves with your face in the snow. The cons are that they are mercilessly unforgiving and require a good technique, much steeper stance angles and they offer no flex or cushioning for jumps so they are really just on piste speed machines.

Remember comfort is everything, so if in doubt throw a bit more money at your bindings. Any problems or queries hit me up on ed@snowshed.com and I'll do my best to get back to you quickly. Cheers

This is quick guide on how to list a snowboard so that you can justify your reserve price (or lack of) and sell your plank quickly and honestly to the right person.

1. How old is your board and how much use has it had?

The age is of some importance, but use is the key because this will tell you how much flex is left in the board. Flex gives a board life, it helps it turn, pop, absorb bumps and landings. The best way to show how much life is left in your board is to place the board on a hard flat floor and take a picture of the camber in the middle of the board. If the board is new it should have around 1.5 to 2cm of clearance, a totally dead board will be sitting flat to the floor.

2. How much damage has the board sustained?

This is fairly obvious but be open and photograph any damage to the board so that you don’t have to describe it in detail on bidder questions. Light Scratches shouldn’t affect your asking price, Core shots are more serious and make the board slightly more of a risk so adjust the price accordingly. To be clear you should not be selling a board where the edge has cracked or blown out as the flex of the board will be uneven and the core of the board will be exposed to water so it can delaminate, unless of course you are labelling it as a rock hopping powder machine or firewood.

Top sheet scratches don’t need a mention above the usual wear and tear tag, but any kind of delamination of the top sheet needs to be mentioned as this will alter the flexibility of the board and it’s water resistance in the same way as a blown edge. Pulled inserts for the bindings are more serious mainly because they are so rare these days. The problem is that the reason why they are so rare (they are been weaved in as part of the core) also means that they are very damaging to the core and therefore the flex of the board if they have been yanked out. Threaded inserts can be replaced but again this is a major work and price needs to be adjusted accordingly.

3. What kind of Binding system does it suit

I know this seems pretty obvious, but to make things easier for every level of buyer it’s something that you flag if you are selling a Burton board with 3D or EST attachments so that buyers know the board won’t necessarily be compatible with their existing bindings.

Any problems hit me up on ed@snowshed.net and I'll get back to you as soon as I can

Buying a snowboard is pretty fool proof these days as all of the big brands make very good quality boards. They have perfected the middle of the road, go anywhere, do anything boards that almost anyone will get on with. That is the first and most important thing to bear in mind.

But lets start with what you are actually looking for. The first question to ask yourself is what kind of riding do I do and how good am I? Be realistic, if you’re riding trees in Japan all season then you’re looking for very different qualities in a board to someone who jibbing there way round a snow dome. For a glossary of terms and types of boards click here.

Here are a few checks you can make before investing in a used board.

1. How much Life is left in the board

Flex is everything, the stiffness of a board gives it its personality. The stiffer a board the more life it has but the harder it is to control, the softer it is the easy and more forgiving it is to ride. A board that has lost all of it’s flex though is effectively dead, what you are looking for here is a picture of the boards profile lying on a hard flat surface, the camber in the board denotes life so the bigger the gap between the board and floor the more life it has.

2. How many war wounds does it have?

In terms of damage lets start with the base of the board. A few scratches to the base are essentially cosmetic and will be invisible after a good service. A core shot or gouge/scratch that has gone through the p-tex (base material) right through to the core of the board is a more serious matter. Here everything depends on the size and depth of the gouge and the quality of the repair, either way you should be looking for a price that reflects the extent of the damage. The big one that should not be touched are edges that are cracked or blown, the edges of a board help to give the board it’s flex pattern and if the edge breaks it will soften the board in the spot and almost certainly absorb water.

On the top of the board a few scratches as per the base are just cosmetic, if the top sheet has delaminated and not been well repaired then it can absorb water, but delams are usually only seen in boards that have had a very hard paper round so be wary. Pulled inserts are another no no, the holes where the bindings screw into the board are tied into the board through the core so if one of these has pulled out you have weakened the heart of the board.

3. How many base grinds has it had

Not the most important thing but if a board is more than four years old and has been used regularly then it may have had a few base grinds worth asking the question as too many grinds will weaken a board.

4. What type of bindings are compatible?

If you are buying a Burton then you need to make sure that if you’re not buying bindings with the board that your existing bindings are compatible. All boards except Burton have what is called a 4x4 binding attachment where four screws are used to attach the binding disc. Burton in their wisdom to make sure you can only use their bindings on their boards use a 3D or hole triangular system. Most other brands of bindings have figured out a hole pattern that will allow you to use your bindings with a Burton board but if might be worth checking in a shop or on a mates board first. More recently Burton have developed the EST Channel system which use a single bolt to attach the binding and make them easy to adjust. You can only use EST bindings on this system.

As ever I'm on ed@snowshed.net if you have any more questions.

I’m going to start by saying that boots are one of the items you really should buy new. I know that is a very odd thing for someone running a second hand gear store to say, but they are one of the single most important pieces of kit because how comfortable, warm and dry your feet are is going to dictate how long you can ride for. Like bindings it is worth weighting your budget in this direction because that extra £50 goes a lot further on boots or bindings than it does on a board.

With that in mind a very good pair of boots with only a few weeks up to a month of use will still be in good shape and worth looking at. A lot of boots use Thermofit liners and this means that when you heat the liners up they will swell up, then you put your feet in and do the boots up tight and the liner will shape to your foot. While it will never be quite as effective the second time it is possible to remould Thermofit liners, the key things to know though is that a convection oven will not work on reheating the boots. A pair of straightening irons used carefully inside the liners will go down well but need to be guarded.

Personally though I would say if you are investing in new or second hand boots go the whole hog and take them to a professional boot fitter in either TSA/Ellis Brigham or Snow and Rock or a decent local shop that have a boot fitting expert and look at getting the liners moulded/remoulded and get fitted for some decent orthotics. The first thing any fitting expert worth his salt will tell you is that properly fitted orthotic footbeds will do your posture, joints and feet the world of good because they level and support your feet in a boot and allow your feet, ankles and knees to work as they should rather than compensating for a badly settled boot or foot issues like low arches etc etc.

Now I'm going to thoroughly finish the job of making sure you don't buy here. Bear in mind that all brands have a different fit so if you are buying your first pair of boots get down to a store and try at least three different brands on. The big names worth trying are Thirty Twos, Burton Salomon, Northwave and Vans. Personally I have always gone for Thirty Twos as the top end boots are very light and very stiff, I like that because I'm more of a powder and lines man. If you're learning or looking for a park boot then you'll want something a bit softer.

Any Questions you know where to find me ed@snowshed.net, sorry if it takes a bit of time for me to get back, but as long as your questions sensible and even if it isn't but is funny then I promise to reply.

Happy Boot hunting

Ed