Dynafit forward release upgrade?

I had two unwanted forward releases from my TLT heels yesterday, skiing in about 18 inches of soft snow with a slight crust. I've often wondered about machining slightly longer, stouter pins for the Dynafit heel that would take the DIN setting up to, say, a 12. I suppose it's possible to achieve highter release settings by increasing the angle of the pins as well, maybe by increasing the width of and pre-loading the adjuster mechanism, but I don't think you could get the top plate back on - it's hard enough as it is.

Anyone else feel a need for such an upgrade? (anyone with machining capability?)

I've e-mailed LifeLink in past years about this, and follow the euro forums pretty closely - no one else seems to feel there's any need for more retention, apparently. There was talk of increasing the DIN on the Comfort to 12 last year, but it didn't happen. BTW, I've never felt there to be any problem with the lateral release, but I ski with the toes locked a fair amount of the time.

Greg, what's you rear DIN setting now?  Is it maxed out?

Greg, I have had the same problem. Last year, with the DIN maxed, I was forward releasing way too early. Through web discussions, I discovered that I had not allowed the proper spacing in the rear. The reverse flex of the ski hitting a pillow was releasing the ski. I set things to factory specs, and forward release has been less of a problem, but still enough of a problem that I would like to explore other fixes.

Has Lou Dawson ever addressed this?

korup, I have them maxed at 10.

Tim, I've corresponded several times with Lou Dawson about various Dynafit mods over the years.

He transplants Comfort pins into TLT's when he can find them, which I would consider if I could find donors.

He also grinds the "bump" under the pins off (which I also do) to give more travel.

I'm quite conscientious about setting the gap to the factory recommended 4mm.

Other than that, he hasn't mentioned anything. Maybe that Colorado snow doesn't create quite so much drag

I ski with my Comfort bindings set around 7 and have had very few releases that I considered premature. You must be pushing the gear a lot harder than I do in the backcountry, more like lift skiing. Nothing wrong with that--just an interesting difference.

Yesterday morning, I rear-released in a high-speed header and connected ski tip to eye socket. I have a pretty shiner going now.

I mostly ski with toes locked and always keep the DIN maxed. I haven't had this happen often, maybe once per season skiing 50-70 days per year. I like to ski aggressively most of the time. With the Comforts, if you really want the suckers to never let go, another option is to move the rear piece toward the toe piece until it's closer than specs. At some point, we could probably just use vice grips and forget about release, but I don't have the time or inclination to design a vice-grip binding myself and Dynafits are awfully light.