Follow up. Just over 1 year later, I actually got around to buying gear.

Arbor Element 66 board, length 166 CM: Click Here.
Gorgeous Koa wood top, carbon fiber strut inside. No graphics, just gorgeous wood. Things I read on the net say it's a great all-around board that cuts turns nicely and that the Koa damps vibrations well.

I'm not sure about the wood, really. I mean... personally, I love it. To me, it looks like a finely-made acoustic guitar. But I've never seen anyone on the slopes with something like that. Everyone else has 1337 graphics and such on their boards. I wanted something different, and this certainly is different. I'm just worried that out on the slopes it will make me look like an old fogey. My wife says it reminds her of a wood-panel-side station wagon. Of course, she only tells me this after we get the thing home. I guess I'll just keep thinking it looks like a Taylor guitar and not care what others think.

Unrelated side note: There was one board at the shop that had a graphic on it that I was tempted to get just because of the graphic. It was a painting by a well-known sci-fi artist who paints a lot of starships. Only I couldn't remember the artist's name. He's the guy that uses a palette knife to paint everything, so the paintings look kind of sloppy and messy, but very technological-looking. Every hull panel and rivet on his starships is a swipe of the palette knife. If anyone can recognize the description of the artist and can name him for me, please post here, it's driving me nuts.

Okay, back on topic: As far as the size is concerned, the board is both very long and very wide. I'd spent some time with shorter/narrower rental boards, and decided I'm a long/wide board kinda guy. When I rent, I have to get the biggest board they've got in stock or it doesn't feel right to me.

K2 Cinch bindings: Click Here.

These bindings are rather cool. They feel and act like strap-in bindings yet you step into them and click the heel in place. They are a similar concept to the Flow brand bindings except they are higher tech, stronger, give more support, and appear to be much better made. I guess it's K2's answer to the Flow binding, a generation later. I went in looking for Flow bindings and the guy showed me these instead and they're much better.

Burton freestyle boots (black): Click Here.

The boots are comfortable, orders of magnitude more comfortable than any rental boots I've ever been in. And they come in half sizes, unlike the boots at the places I rented from.

Burton space sack (black): Click Here.

Basic nylon board-bag. The board, encased in the sack, fits nicely into the back seat of my car. So I can avoid buying a roof rack this season.

Bakoda "Jimmy Driver" adjustment tool:Click Here and then navigate down in the Flash site to find details on the tool.

This is a really cute little tool. Includes a directional ratchet action, and interchangeable magnetic tips that get packed inside its hollow handle. And on the handle is- get this- a whistle. So if I'm like, stuck in an avalanche, I can blow the whistle and hope they find me.

Hey, Be Prepared is the Boy Scout motto, right?

Anyhoo, now that I've got the gear, if it would just FRICKIN' SNOW, that would be nice. Sigh. New York gets a blizzard, and I'm wearing shorts outside today. Someone please inform the National Weather Service that it's January and some of us would like to act like it.