Dynafit Bindings are fustrating.

I was out on a tour in the Tattosh with my buddies Snow Bell and  Skierlyles and took my Dynafit set up. I bought them last spring for spring and summer touring and love them for that. However , EVERY time I take them out in deeper snow I regret the decision. :'(

Yesterday, when coming down from the Castle, my ski just came off. I clicked back in, and everything seemed engaged, but next turn off they came. Stopped, cleaned off the binding, took out leatherman, cleaned toe holes. Skis back on, everything seemed ok. Next turn ,ski off.
In the end I discovered a very thin sliver of ice under the toe springs that was stopping the pincers from fully engaging. When I clicked in, it looked fine but obviously wasn't. Only way to ensure that this didn't happen again was to fully engage lock and then release it before skiing.
There where a couple of times yesterday where if my ski had come off like that it could have been nasty.I though about engaging the toe lock but wanted releasability in avy terrain.

I have lost my confidence in these fiddly, finicky, flipping, fracking bindings for anything other than corn skiing.FREERIDES FOREVER.

Anybody got advise on how to keep these bindings workable in deeper snow? The main problem yesterday was that the binding looked fully engaged, toe pincers in, heels clicked, but wasn't as the first turn showed.

Clean the ice from under the toepiece. Locking-then-unlocking is not the solution. Get to the root of the problem. These problems have more to do with half-spring-half-winter conditions than snow depth. In true powder or true corn, this problem is rare.

I can't say I share your frustration, Scotsman. I have found my Dynafits to perform well in all conditions...from deep powder to corn. I'd try what Sky suggests...clean the toepiece...and make sure your boots are free of snow as well. Good luck...

Yeah, snow and ice buildup under the springs of the toepiece is the root of most unwanted ejection problems. Spray under the springs with silicon spray every few trips, and snap the springs open and closed a few times before putting your ski on to dislodge snow buildup.

As far as the pins/toe holes go, try swinging your ski back and forth a few times before locking the toe lever/stepping into the heel, the pins will "bore" into the toe sockets by themselves.

There's less you can do if they are releasing forward sooner than you'd like, but pay close attention to the gap between boot and heelpiece, and if you have TLT Speed/Classics it helps to grind off the bump under the pins to get more clearance.

I have formed the habit of closing and opening the toe-piece by hand before putting the ski down to put it on. In most conditions, this is all that is needed to keep it clean under the srping. For thaw-freeze conditions like you saw, well -- that's why dynafits come with a whippet!

Thanks for the advise but I don't think I have explained the problem properly.

I engaged the toe pincers, lifted the ski a couple of times to make sure they where properly engaged at the toe as Greg suggests before engaging the heel locks and everything felt OK. The bindings withstood the forces of me moving around to get ready to drop and the ski being suspended from the toe pincers alone, but not the force imposed by the first turn.

I cleaned my boot, my boot holes, the binding and then clicked back in, again lifting the ski by the toe piece alone to make sure thay where "in". First turn, ski came off again.

With the FREERIDES, I can tell if I am fully engaged in the binding and feel confident. I felt the same way about Dynafits until yesterday as I always thought lifting the ski by the toe pincers before engaging the heel would show me if the binding wasn't fully "in". THIS IS NOT THE CASE AND IF I HAD BEEN IN TERRIAN WHERE A PRE-RELEASE COULD HAVE BEEN SERIOUS, I'D HAVE BEEN SCREWED.

HOW DO YOU ENSURE THAT THE BINDING IS PROPERLY ENGAGED WHEN IT WITHSTANDS SKI LIFT
BY TOE PIECE ALONE BUT NOT TURN?