Well, the grand faux pas of Salomon a few weeks ago with their bad tech inserts has opened the door to all sorts of classic marketing positioning by other companies. Garmont in particular has really gone after it, with press about making their own fittings they say are superior to others on the market.
Garmont boot heel tech insert, showing improved screw and tight fitting attachment posts.
In particular regarding tech fittings, while the toe fittings tend to be very reliable, we have indeed noticed that on rare occasions boot heel fittings loosen or fall off. As a result, for hard core users we’ve been recommending you remove the fittings, then re-install with JB-Weld to take up any slack and resulting micro-movement in the fit of the fitting to the milled out slot in the boot. Instructions here.
Pouncing on that small weakness like a bird of prey, some time ago Garmont switched to a longer screw with a thread pitch specific to plastic (less likely to back itself out). More importantly, they reduced the diameter of the holes where the inserts attachment posts insert into the boot plastic. As a result the insert has to be hammered into place with a rubber mallet — a tight fit that eliminates almost all shear force on the screw.
Small improvements such as these reap big rewards in reliability for consumers — and make good PR for the company. Win win.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
