Just be careful of the plastic binding strap, my homie and his two brothers bought them. One bought the original Contra-band, and his brothers bought the new ones, they all had the strap break on-hill. Right where that webbing starts on the toe strap. Lucky for them they actually had extras they got from a guy that works at our local shop. I wasn't so impressed, i'll stick with a binding with seperate ankle and toe straps. but thats just me..

Actually, I'm not altogether surprised to hear that. The Ride Contraband binding that I own and was referring to is the initial model that was offered in the monster green color---it's just a basic strap, and there is no additional webbing. I met this other rider (this dude that's been ridin' for a while) who had the same bindings, and he heartily attested to how rad these particular Contrabands handle. So, the bottom line on that is two votes for that Contraband binding. I'd really like to hear more about where the strap broke. Did it make it impossible to continue riding; or, did just the webbing break?

The bindings with the bright green straps my friend owns were holding up better than the newer model. His brothers had the newer ones with the webbing. They split right where the webbing starts, they it looked compared to the old ones they actually remove material of the strap to inlay that webbing, and the weak spot broke.but once the strap broke apart he had to one-foot down the trail..

Ridin' one-foot style is cool when the rider chooses it. But, when the rider has to ride that way 'cause their binding broke, the rider might be angry 'cause their binding's broke and they have to end the day early; or they might even be a little freaked out 'cause things could have ended on a worse note. Twice I've had to one-foot my way back 'cause of a broken binding---both times it was the two-strap type of binding. When the Contraband bindings hit the market, I had to grab a pair. The material that the strap is made out of is durable and flexy, and light-weight; which is what riders need in a binding. I like the webbing, but it just doesn't seem integral to performance. Besides, an excellent binding doesn't need more stuff to make it better---it just needs to be made out of better stuff (high-quality materials), so that ultimately all of its components are scaled-down and light-weight. Still, your friend's brother has some valuable information that he could share with Ride's r&d team (research & development). It's not just the successes, it's also the failures that are essential in progressing this sport's evolution:) Thanks for sharing your story, Snowboarder Jones---you also helped me make up my mind about the pair of Contraband bindings with the webbing that I was considering buying:)

Yeah, no doubt. My friend's bro was lucky, we had been riding really hard all day. But he noticed it as we were strapping in. When they first got the bindings I was a little skeptical, but they were getting strapped in way quicker than I was (I have two straps) when we were jibbing a backyard set-up and I thought that was great. But after seeing what they went thru at our mountain at the top of a double black with them It made my mind up fast.. Point is I guess don't always believe the hype. Peace and Love..