2009 Union Contact

Union has been earning a lot of brownie points in the industry these last few years.  In fact these days it's hard to go somewhere you won't see someone strapped into a pair of Union binders.

The company prides itself on minimalism.  All Union binding models stick to the bare essentials: straps, ratchets, baseplate, highback. Fewer moving parts means less things to adjust or eventually break, and this was the logic behind my purchasing their Contact bindings.

What sets the Contact apart is the baseplate design.  Bindings cause dead spots in a snowboard's natural flex; doesn't matter what binding from what company.

Union's focus with the Contact was to reduce this dead spot as much and possible by replacing the heel of the baseplate with something softer than plastic, but just as tough.

With something far over 100 days of riding on them, here is how my pair held up...

For cruising this is a soft, soft binding.  It's really playful, so for groomers up to a mild diamond they make for all kinds of buttery fun.  This is not the binding for your hard carvers for a couple of reasons; first, the highback on the Contact is shorter than most meaning less response, and second, these bindings can't go very fast in the first place.

Yes, because there is so little between the Contact and your board, nothing to dampen the ride, you will feel everything that happens beneath your feet--every bump, every rut, every rock... everything.

If you are a jib kid, that might make the Contact your kind of binding.

Having so little plastic to hinder flex gives new meaning to the phrase, "becoming one with your board".  You can get pretty technical on these bindings while staying in complete control of what's going on.

Jumps aren't the Contact's strong suit.  You can tweak the shit out of them, making for some really fun methods, mutes, Japans, shifties etc., but all of this has to happen on the smaller side of the spectrum.

I couldn't get bigger kickers to go down on this binding, most of the time due to the chatter on all but the most pristine groomed run-in.  Maybe this is a good thing, since one of the flaws commonly reported in this binding--one that I've experienced a few times myself--is the auto-release of the ratchets.

You heard right, I and several others have had the straps on these bindings release on impact.  This is scary enough on small features, and I'm really happy I didn't get the opportunity to experience it on a larger scale.

Overall the Union Contact was a decent purchase for the price.  They'll treat you right while they hold together, but these bindings aren't "built to last" by any means.  My current pair has been retired since all of the padding in the soft heel has worn down, the straps have split, and now that the ratchets are really beat I just don't trust them anymore.

The fact is, right now the faulty ratchets kill the buy-ability of these bindings.  It isn't something that happens every run, every week, or even every month, but it happened more than once, and really, once is one time too many. They need to be fixed before I use a pair of Union bindings again.