I'm looking to get some cheap gear. I'm sick of renting. Need: Boots, bindings, board. Also, I think I want a board-bag to put it in so that it doesn't cut the car interior up. I'm still learning how to snowboard (but getting better each time), but not "into it" enough to want the best and most expensive equipment. I know nothing about what's good and what's not.

I don't mind used gear and I would go to a ski-swap nearby if I were able to find one this season. I get the impression that it would be hit-or-miss in terms of finding boots my size (mens' 11) etc.

By the way, I don't even know how big of a board to get, I always just take whatever the rental guy picks for me. I'm 6 feet tall and weigh 180 at the moment, if that has a bearing.

I've looked on ebay, but it's hard to narrow down listings to include those with bindings and boots and all. Although this guy has an auction he keeps re-running for a relatively cheap ($199.00) package. Does that look any good, or is that complete crap?

Like so many things... you get what you pay for... up to a point. I've never heard of any of those brands. I'd say drive to Reno for a ski swap. They used to have multiples a year... and you can find really good deals there. I got the Santa Cruz board i'm riding now there about 3 years back for $150. Now's not the best time to buy in any case... you'd be way better off if you waited to the season is over and buy last years models or even 2 years back. I got my Burton Step-ins for half price because they were last years model at a local board shop

As for size... you'd probably want around a 153 or so. Maybe a little longer if you like fast wide carving or a bit shorter if you like more control. I ride a 143 and i'm 5' 6". Good rule of thumb is up to your chin.

I got an email last week from overstock.com about having a Ski and Snowboard sale. The sale seems to be off, but Overstock usually has good prices for most stuff, so maybe check there also.

The Academy Sporting Goods in Austin have 75% off all snowboards. Still haven't figured out where they snowboard in Texas... Or why they carry snow ski and snow boarding gear...

Definitely what the others have said: wait until the end of the season, then you can probably pick up a bargain.

As for boots: make sure you get some that are comfortable. Don't just assume that they'll break in. They won't. And boots are (IMO) more important than board or bindings to get right. They can make such a difference between being wobbly and being in control.

As for board size, it depends on many factors, mostly weight and height. You're 6 foot and 13 stone, right? In which case I'd argue that you want something like a reasonably stiff 162. Check out this PDF file from Snow + Rock for more information on choosing a board.

For reference, I'm 6 foot, weigh 14 stone, and I ride a 164.

Do you people really use stones? For us Americans, one stone equals 14 pounds, so 13 stone == 182 pounds, 14 stone == 196 pounds.

And this might be a good time to point out Google's calculator, which does unit conversion, too: google://14 stone in pounds

Still haven't figured out where they snowboard in Texas... Or why they carry snow ski and snow boarding gear...

Down mount Bonell!!!! Forget that there is no snow. There are enough loose rocks to have fun on.
We also used them to ski (or wake board really) on lake travis

Do you people really use stones?

Yep. We're supposed to use kg these days, but I've no idea what I weigh in kg. I can work it out, obviously, but it just doesn't mean anything to me.

Same for me. I would have made some suggestions, but your units are absolutely meaningless to me.
But the board-length you spoke about is metric, isn't it?

I'm looking to get some cheap gear. I'm sick of renting. Need: Boots, bindings, board. Also, I think I want a board-bag to put it in so that it doesn't cut the car interior up.

Like Loren has said, boots are the most important, then bindings, then board. Most any name-brand snowboard boot will do as long as it fits correctly (heat moldable inserts will help odd-shaped feet), are warm, and are comfortable. When you try on boots, make sure you have enough room in the toes by standing up with your knees almost locked - you should just be able to brush the end of the boot with your toes. Now sink into your riding stance (bent knees) and your toes will have a bit of extra room. Strap into a board and make sure the boot holds your heel down to the board well. If your heel lifts inside of the boot it'll kill you on toeside turns. My wife and I shopped around for boots that fit her narrow heels for a while before getting some Airwalks for her with heat moldable inserts - that solved her heel lift problems. I would not buy online unless I had tried on the boots in a shop. The rest of the stuff you can buy online, but it's very important you get a good fitting boot. I ride Burton boots, and my wife has Airwalks. Other brands that are good (IMO) are Ride, Salomon, Heelside, Vans and DC.

Bindings just need to fit the boot decently and have ergonomic straps. Strap width and design will provide a level of comfort for your instep, but so will your boots. Primarily here less weight = more expensive. There are some fancy carbon fiber and aluminum models around (including the top of the line Cateks) but the old man in me says BAH! to those. The House has discount gear online, and they have a decent selection of sub-$100 bindings. You might want to try a local SportMart, they carry low to mid quality gear, and they are having a blowout sale last time I was in there. They had a decent selection of boots/boards/bindings, too. There should be one in your area.

By the way, I don't even know how big of a board to get, I always just take whatever the rental guy picks for me. I'm 6 feet tall and weigh 180 at the moment, if that has a bearing.

You should start out with a board that is over 150cm. A smaller board will be easier to learn on, and a larger one might suit you later depending on your riding style and skill level. There are two main construction methods for snowboards, slantwall and capped. You can tell right away which one was used by looking at the edge of the board. If it's slanted at an angle, it's slantwall and if it's rounded over to the metal edge, it's capped. GENERALLY, capped construction is on beginner/cheaper boards. If you are looking at a slantwall/sandwich construction board, it's usually a better quality board. If you don't know what kind of riding you will be doing, just get a freeride board, not a freestyle or mountain. Most low-end boards are freeride. Size 11 boots will probably be OK on a non-wide board, but depending on the stance you prefer you might get some toe overhang. I ride 22 front/ 18 back and I'm a size 10. No toe drag for me on a Burton Custom, and it's an average width board. Brands you could look for are Burton, Solomon, Ride, Never Summer ($$$), K2, Liquid (cheaper), etc. You really won't be able to tell too much of a difference between them when you start out, spend the big bucks later when you get hooked on riding.

I'm still learning how to snowboard (but getting better each time), but not "into it" enough to want the best and most expensive equipment. I know nothing about what's good and what's not.

Make sure you get your stance angles forward (I've found 20 front/ 10-15 back is a good combo for beginners) so you can get the correct upper body position. Have you taken a lesson? Just like anything else, good riding can come faster from good instruction. Having your own equipment helps, too. If you took a lesson, did they teach you the falling leaf and garlands? Those excercies are key to learning how to carve.

When you learn how to carve you will be hooked. Check out Bomberonline for tips on carving. Ignore the hardboot stuff, it's mostly applicable to soft-booters, too. This article and part II should be good reading.

I've looked on ebay, but it's hard to narrow down listings to include those with bindings and boots and all. Although this guy has an auction he keeps re-running for a relatively cheap ($199.00) package. Does that look any good, or is that complete crap?

Complete crap.

I hate to hijack the thread but I'm going skiing in 2 weeks and I have no ski clothing at all. Anyone care to point me in the right direction? Preferably something cheap as this is the first time I've been skiing and I doubt I'll get to go more than once a year.

Good ski clothing doesn't have to mean you only wear it for skiing. You could buy a shell jacket that would work for rainy days or cold weather as well as skiing. Layer it with a polyester/wool sweater or a fleece and a polyester t-shirt and you're set. This layer could be a waterproof/breathable layer like Gore-Tex, or it could be a soft shell which is what I bought this year for snowboarding. Ski/snowboard pants are different, you can't use those as much, but you can find some deals around.

I shop REI Outlet and Sierra Trading Post for discount outdoor gear. Sometimes you have to wait a while to get exactly what you want, but this year I bought some Burton snowboarding pants from REI-Outlet for $45.

I found a pair of Blackdot Firebird Snowboard Pants for $59.00 at The-House.com. Is that a good price and a good pair of pants?

Sure, they'll work. Black Dot is towards the bottom of the line for snowboard gear, but they will do just fine for your needs.

In my age range (early thirties), folks know their hight in feet and inches and their weight in stone, miles make more sense than kilometres and pints are much more popular than half litres.

They tried to teach us metric, but all the numbers are wrong

I didn't realize the changeover was that recent. I figured it coincided with decimalizing the currency, which was in 1970, wasn't it?

1971/02/15, apparently, but we only changed to metric weights and measures more recently.

Thanks very much to everyone for the informative replies. I will refer to this thread frequently as I shop.

Finally a thread that I can provide some useful information for instead of being the guy asking all the questions. I have a bit of knowledge in the area being an AASI certified snowboard instructor.

Boots:
Getting comfortable boots is very important. It will ruin your whole day on the slopes if your feet hurt. I would recommend getting boots thats you have tried on first. Put them on, lace them up tight and walk around in them for a while. In cheap boots, the foam will sometimes tend to pack out over the day and you have to keep tightening them as this happens. I would recommend boots with a removable liner as they usually give a more snug fit and are easier to clean/dry.

Bindings:
Fairly inexpensive bindings should be fine for you right now. The biggest differences between normal and expensive bindings are the wieght and the adjustability. There are differences in the strength, stiffness, feel, etc. but as a beginner, you wont notice these very much yet so you dont need top of the line bindings.

Board:
The type and size of the board you get depends on a few things. These are your weight, your ability level, and your style of riding.
Length:
Shorter boards are easier to control because there is less swing weight. Longer boards have more effective edge in the snow meaning they hold an edge better.
Stiffnes:
Soft flex boards are very forgiving and easy to learn on. Stiff boards are good for carving but can be very unforgiving.
Width:
Narrow boards are good at transitioning from one turn to the next. Wide boards are good for powder or people with big feet. Unless you are going to be riding a lot of powder, you want the narrowest board you can get depending on the size of your feet.
Base:
Extruded bases are cheaper but are a little bit slower. They are easy to repair though. Sintered bases are a little more expenseive but are faster and more durable. Slightly harder to repair though.
Construction:
Cap construction is where the topsheet rolls over the side and come all the way down to the edges. Sidewall construction is where there is a strip of p-tex between the topsheet and the edge. Some people swear cap construction gives you better edge hold, some people swear sidwall give you better edgehold, I cant really tell a difference. Just different ways to put the board together.
Sidecut:
I would recommend getting a progressive sidecut wich means that the radius of the sidecut is smaller at the back of the board than the front. This makes entering and exiting turns much easier. Although riding switch (backwards) is a little bit harder. Most modern boards have this unless you get a true twin-tip freestyle board.

I'm assuming from what you said that you've been a few times and are starting to get it but still have a lot of improvement to go. And from what I know about you, I'm guessing you probably aren't the type thats going to be going into the park and doing freestyle stuff too much. So based on these 2 assumptions, you're at a hard stage to buy a board at because you want one that is easy to learn on but also one that will allow you to do what you want when you get better. I would probably recommend you go for more of an intermediate level board because they aren't that much harder to control and when you do get better, you will be much happier with a slightly stiffer, longer board than a beginner board would be. For length, I would probably get something around a 157. I've never really liked the guidlines that people give of getting a board that comes up to your chin, or up to your nose or whatever, because height has nothing to do with the length of the board you should ride. Your weight is what you should consider. A snowboard can be thought of as being a leaf spring and its very important to get one that matches your weight. When a snowboard is on its edge, it is bent in the middle, if you are not heavy enough to bend your board in the middle, it will be very hard to turn. If you are too heavy for your board, it will bend more than you want it too and will wash out and be very hard to hold an edge.

http://www.the-house.com is a very good online place to buy snowboarding equipment. A lot of the stuff they sell on there is last seasons models and they have very good prices. They also have some package deals there where you get a board, boots and bindings together for a discount. I got my last board there and was very happy with the service. It got to my house about 3 or 4 days after ordering.

There's a lot more I could say but I guess I'll stop now before I bore everyone too much. Feel free to ask if you have any questions on brands, prices, setting up equipment, etc.

That was a very informative post, thanks. Yes, you're right in that I've been up several times and I'm starting to get the hang of it. I see your point about it being a tough time to choose a board.

Right now, my skill level is: I can turn on both my heel and toe sides and maintain my balance in those situations quite well. I can do the "falling leaf" thing in either direction pretty well. I think I've finally settled on a preferred direction (I believe I'm a goofy-foot). My current trouble is transitioning my turns from heel side to toe side and vice-versa, I fall too often in those situations. I'm putting my weight on my back foot too much and I'm having trouble getting used to having my weight fully forward. The last instructor I had tried to explain something about a "triangle" concept for executing turns, something about having to be in a certain triangle-shaped envelope before trying to make a turn, but I didn't understand what he was saying. My friend Tod says I'm just not committing to my turns confidently enough and that's really my only problem.

Based on what you said, I weigh 180 pounds and I have very large feet (size 11), so what width and length of board would you recommend for those specs?

Size 11 is very large?

Size 11 is very large?

Okay, it's a bit larger than average. Everywhere I go, the common sizes seem to be between 8 and 10.

Everywhere I go, the common sizes seem to be between 8 and 10.

I wear size 11.5-12 and it never struck me as being large. Everytime I buy shoes in a store (however rare that is), they always seems to stock my size in the style I want. Again, me shopping for shoes in a store is rare, so I may just be getting lucky.

I have a friend that wears a size 14 and he seems to have some problems finding the shoes he wants. 13 seems to be the cut-off for "normal" sizes over here from what I can tell.

Size 11 is also what I am and is a hard size to buy snowboards for. The cutoff point for when you should get a wide board is usually size 11 for most companies. This means that normal boards are usually a little bit too narrow for us, and wide boards are usually a little bit too wide for us. Snowboard widths are normally given at the widest part of the nose, the narrowest part in the middle (the waist), and the widest part at the tail. The problem with having these measurements is that your feet go inbetween these points. The board I am riding right now is not a wide board and I havent had too many problems with it. Every once in a while if I'm doing a really hard carve, where I'm really leaning into it, my toes will drag and cause me to fall. But I really have to get the board up on an angle for this to happen, much more of an angle than a beginner/intermediate rider would do. It hasnt been enough of an issue for me to care too much and if it did end up bothering me too much, I could always just buy some risers to put under my bindings.

I would say that a normal to medium width board would probably be fine for you right now. But the best thing for you to do would be to go to a shop and ask someone there. Look at some size 11 boots and put them on top of a board in the angle that you would want them in. A small amount of overhang is ok but you dont want too much. Worst case scenario if you get a board and find that your toes are dragging, you can angle your stance a few more degrees and/or buy some risers. Another thing to remember is that different brands/styles of boots will be different lengths even though they are the same size on the inside.

As to the length of the board, for someone of your weight and ability, I would probably recommend something around 158 plus or minus a few centimeters. This is short enough that it should be pretty easy for you to control and long enough that as your skills progress, it wont be holding you back. There are a lot of online calculators out there where you can punch in your weight, hieght, riding style, etc. that recommend what length of board you should get but you could put the exact same info into all of them and still get different answers. There is no set rule, its all just a matter of opinion. I think people put too much emphasis on the lengths of boards. Look at a ruler, see how long 3 cm is? Barely over an inch. On a board that is almost as tall as you are, an inch isn't really going to make that much of a difference in my opinion. The lengths of boards are usually given from the very tip of the nose to the very tip of the tail in a straight line. Some boards might have a big nose and tail that curve way up while other boards might have small nose and tail that aren't very long. This means that 2 boards which say they are the same length have very different effective edge lengths. If you find a board you really like that isn't exactly the right length you are looking for, I say dont worry about it too much, just get it and have fun.

I think people put too much emphasis on the lengths of boards. Look at a ruler, see how long 3 cm is? Barely over an inch. On a board that is almost as tall as you are, an inch isn't really going to make that much of a difference in my opinion. The lengths of boards are usually given from the very tip of the nose to the very tip of the tail in a straight line. Some boards might have a big nose and tail that curve way up while other boards might have small nose and tail that aren't very long.

Right on. Effective edge is what matters, but I would also say that weight plays into it, too. You can buy a shorter board that weighs more than a longer one of a design/brand. This has some bearing on how easily you can push the board around into/through turns, a stage that Tony is at right now (just starting to transition from edge to edge, pre-carving stage). I bought my wife a short, light board and it improved her riding because it was easy for her to "manhandle". When she begins to learn to carve more and use edge pressure and body position to turn the board, then I will buy her one that she can advance on.

I just had to say I had a fun day up on the slopes (if you can call them that in Ohio) today. I stuck a short video clip my buddy took today up on my website. Old school style, aww yeah. Remember cross-handed rocket airs?

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.

Are there any pics of those bindings in action? I didn't see anything on the page and I'm having some trouble working out how the back folds down enough to let you slide your boot in (ie, it looks like it still has a rear hoop).

Arbor board. Mmmm. I suggest you get a board lock to ensure that your board is still there when you come out after lunch! I was considering an Arbor Element for a while too, seems to have had some good writeups. Still, I love my Custom with the neons under the rear tip...

I thought Tahoe still had shedloads of snow? A few friends just came back from Ferney in Canada and after 9 days of gorgeous snow, it rained solidly for 3 days and pretty much washed the mountain away - no snow left, just mud. Looks like Whistler has been suffering too - when they're quoting "early spring conditions" in January you know things are baaaaaaad.

Hugo