Skins?

Nlack diamond ascension is pretty good. They're just nylon--pretty good to start. Either a mix of mohair and nylon or pure mohair are good materials.

I prefer G3. I find their attachment hooks to be supreme.

The BD lovers will tell you BD has better glue .... I dont know if thats true or not.

I have had 4 pairs of G3 skins (for 4 different skis), over the last 8 years ... lots of miles on all of them.

At the end of they day, its all about how you treat them. If you take care of them, they will take care of you. Keep your skis clean and waxed. Don't let the skin glue get dirt, or twigs or pet hair on it. try not to skin over top of dirt / rocks / broken sticks, let your skins dry out at the end of the day.... and throw your skin savers away (or just use them for off season storage)

There's a variety of things to think about with skins, but if you're just getting into touring or don't tour that much, you probably won't notice many differences between the options.

Three main materials: nylon, nylon/mohair mix, and pure mohair. Nylon is the most durable, while mohair glides the best. The mix is exactly that: a mix of durability and glide. The mix what I tend to use on my gear.

Tip and tail connectors are another question. G3 makes better ones for rounded tips and tails, yet they can be a little less adjustable than the BD version (say you need to shorten your skin). So you can think about that.

Pomoca has been making a strong entrance into the US market, and they make the precut skins for a number of brands (Dynafit, K2, Volkl, Line). Their glue doesn't seem as robust as the G3/BD options, but I've seen them glide perfectly in snow temperatures that had everyone else glopping like crazy (snow sticking to the skins and inhibiting glide).

For someone who is just looking to get out and get started, find a nylon option that's cheap and offers a good tip/tail connector.

Has anyone heard anything about the Black Diamond kicker skins, they seem to be a relatively inexpensive problems?

If you're looking for a cheaper option just to get into touring the Backcountry.com branded skins are made by G3 and are less expensive than the name brand skins.

Mr.PenguinIf you're looking for a cheaper option just to get into touring the Backcountry.com branded skins are made by G3 and are less expensive than the name brand skins.

I got these this year and they've been great so far. They're G3 Alpinists with a different graphic. Backcountry.com/Steep and Cheap have been putting them on sale all year. They're more expensive now than what I've seen previously, but if you wait a little the price might go back down. I got mine for ~100

link: http://www.backcountry.com/backcountry-backcountry-climbing-skin

mikeystarkHas anyone heard anything about the Black Diamond kicker skins, they seem to be a relatively inexpensive problems?

These fit into a slightly different category than the other skins discussed here. They are better for low angle approaches. I tend to think of them as being more useful with metal edged nordic skis than with the skis most people on this site would ride.

For people just starting out the skins from http://climbingskinsdirect.com/ have been a good affordable choice. While a little heavy they are extremely durable and the tip and tail loops work well on twin tips.

I use BD mostly now but keep losing tail clips which sucks.

Coltex are still the best I have used, but they are expensive