UKC

Trying to figure out the best way to mod my skis to give an attachment point for skins at the rear of the ski. So far I've thought of two options

1. Drilling through the rear end of the ski, sealing the edges of the whole with araldite and then putting a metal ring through to give something solid to hook the skin through. Trab skis have something similar, albeit at the front.

2. Cut through the edge of the ski right on the tail to create a notch, seal with araldite and put a metal clip over to give strength.

Skis are twin tips (old Rossignol Scratch Sprayer BCs), haven't purchased the skins yet so various clip options open to me. My experience of skins that don't clip to the back of the ski is not positive, so don't want to go down that route. New skis an option of someone can persuade my wife it would be a wise use of funds. This will not be easy.

Any thoughts on the ideas above, or alternative suggestions?

In reply to Sam W:

1. use a toe-bail at both ends - one end with a rubber or bungy cord link to give you stretch to put them on
2. don't bother - with decent glue the skin will stick enough that you don't need a tail clip

In reply to Sam W:

I've those skis and have skins that only attach at the front and not had any dramas. For cheap skis you could always check out German fleabag.

In reply to Sam W:


Will you be skiing lots fakie? If the answer is no, then bar the nice rooster tail in deep pow, the twintip is simply dead weight.

And chop chop is in order... Angle grinder and a belt-sander are nice for this (but even a hacksaw & bastard file will suffice, given enough time).

In reply to daWalt:

Cheers. My old skins didn't attach at the rear, and I had one drama where I ended up in the middle of nowhere with skins that kept peeling off every time I tried to go uphill. They were due a reglue, but a clip at the rear would have meant it wasn't an issue.

Don't ski fakie much these days, although it can be handy when teaching the kids. A combination of chopping the tails and option 2 above could work, toe bail at both ends also sounds doable but not as elegant as I wanted.

In reply to Sam W:

Rarely had a rear attachment on skins & never missed them. On a few occasions (over a period of at least 30 years) I've had problems with glue not sticking (usually due to old glue which should have been replaced or extreme cold ) I've just used a bit of duct tape

In reply to Sam W:
I like the security of having a tail clip too. You could try the black diamond ones, I've used them loads on twin tips without any problems and would save you chopping up your skis!

https://blackdiamondequipment.com/en_GB/ski-skins/sts-tail-strap-BD16362900...

In reply to Sam W:
I had a similar thing a few years ago luckily we were quite close to where we were finishing - but the toys did leave the pram..............
Having a tail clip made no difference: if the skins' not stuck to the base then the ski can hold on to anything; the slightest lateral pressure and the thing slides off the side.

my mistake was twofold - too much wax on the base (not well enough scraped), and I'd used fluorocarbon wax (Teflon).
I only found out later that it was fluro wax, and I'v been told this isn't the stuff to use. It leaves a residual layer on the glue which makes it much less tacky. Certainly true in my experience.

the savior thing on the day was a can of spray-on glue

In reply to Sam W:

https://www.freezeproshop.com/g3-twin-tip-connector-kit-2

Seen these? I'd leave the saw alone.

In reply to Aly:

Cheers, I know and like the BD STS system, so based on your experience of them working well with twin tips I'll order those. If I have problems I'll move on to the ski chopping stage.

Thanks to everyone else for their comments too.

In reply to Sam W:

Seriously, don't go chopping your skis. Or anyone reading this. It's a daft idea. The tails of your skis gets knocked all the time, standing them up, transporting etc. If you weaken them (however good a job you think you've done, you will), they'll de-laminate sooner or later.

If you find you need something to retain the STS clip, build a pair of parallel ridges with matches/duct tape/something thin & epoxy, or glue some hard foam on. If it falls off, replace it.