Video Transcript

You asked me, Leo, why should I choose one binding over another when I'm picking out bindings for my skis. That's a great question. My name is Leo, I'm a curated.com Ski Expert and today we're going to talk about the Marker Squire 11 versus the Atomic Warden 11, and the Strive Twelves, which we should throw in there too.

Marker Squire 11 Ski Bindings

So, let's start with the Marker Squire because this is the best-selling 11 DIN binding on the market and for good reason. This has been a tried-and-true solid binding for us for years now and they continue to improve on the design. This binding runs from 3 to 11 and its DIN setting is how tight or loose we can set the bindings based on our age, height, weight, boot sole length, and our self-selected skier type. This is about the range that you're finding in just about every rental binding out there. It's designed to suit the whole spectrum of skiers minus the very advanced, very aggressive expert level skiers minus children under a certain size.

This binding can go on any kind of ski. It can go on an all-mountain ski, it can go on a park ski, it can go on a carving ski, it can go on a powder ski. It has a variety of brake widths: 90, 100, 110. Of course, we're matching this up to the width of the ski that we're putting it on and it can take both Alpine sole and GripWalk bindings. This no longer takes touring bindings. So that is just something to keep in mind for very specific nuance cases. You can't go wrong with a Marker Squire. It's easy, bread and butter all day long.

Atomic Warden 11 MNC Ski Bindings

But if we jump over here to the Atomic Warden, this is actually getting phased out. Atomic, Salomon, Armada, the Armor Sports family are all making the same thing just under different logos and colors. I'm sad this is getting phased out. I loved this binding for a very long time. If you are interested in this binding, you should definitely get it while you can because I've always found that the power transfer of this binding, the step-in of this binding, the boot binding connection, all feels really fantastic.

The feel of a binding is a really hard thing for most average people to pick up on but when you've had the experiences that I've had, where I've gone to ski all these side-by-side, you do start to notice the difference. There are cases where a better binding can really make a difference in your ski experience. So I've always really liked this one. I've thought this is a great option especially for driving wider skis, getting more confident on bigger skis in general because the power transfer is great.

But it's getting replaced by the series called the Strive. Now, this binding is very classic for the Armor Sports family line up. It's got toe pieces that resemble the Shift, the Z10, Z12, and STH series of old. This is a very familiar binding to us from them. The heel piece is recycled from the Warden. So this Warden 11 heel piece is carrying forward. The point of this ski binding is the fact that it's a lot lighter weight and lower to the center of the ski than the Warden. Both of those things are really good. Obviously, the lighter our skis are, the easier they are to throw around. The flatter we are to the ski with the binding, the more direct our power transfer is.

Similarities and Differences

Having skied this myself, it's perfectly good. I am a big fan of it. Between the two, I think I would always choose an Atomic or an Armor binding personally at this level. It's just more to my taste. But you really, really, really cannot go wrong with either one. So it can come down to price, it could come down to brand family, it could come down to colors or availability at the time you need it. Those are all really valid things to think about when choosing your binding.

So if you got a new ski that you need to get mounted up, come chat with us here on curated.com and we'll get you dialed in that perfect pair and get you a great deal just for you.

Comparison Table