Member of the Month

ReturnToMonkey
July, 2022

Online

Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post. Register to become a member today!

Armada skis, worth it?

profile picture
Yan_skiing
Posts: 86 - Karma: 367
what’s up shredders!
My K2 sight starts to get used so I was planning to change my skis for next season/summer trip. So I had this question about the skis from Armada like the Edollo ones, are they really good quality or it is just a super hype brand? When I bought my full tilt boots, a lots of persons told me it was a bad choice because I was buying them for the brand only.I own a lots of Armada apparels like hoodies and jackets and I’ve never been disappointed, is it the same thing with the skis?

Thanks!
Jan 20 2020 8:26AM 2 0
profile picture
snowfinder
Posts: 2351 - Karma: 28,236
Yes they make good skis.
Jan 20 2020 8:38AM 12 0
profile picture
crustyboot.420
Posts: 937 - Karma: 3,937
They are fine but all the skis break sooner or later.
Jan 20 2020 9:06AM 8 1
profile picture
TheClap.
Posts: 21636 - Karma: 3,955
If you already have the hoodies and jackets, skis are pretty much the next step
Jan 20 2020 10:01AM 8 0
profile picture
J_Christoph
Posts: 2519 - Karma: 8,738
Most durable skis I’ve ever owned. Tried to beat the hell out of my bdogs and they held up great. On the edollos now and it’s the same story.
Jan 20 2020 10:19AM 7 1
profile picture
Yan_skiing
Posts: 86 - Karma: 367
TheClap.If you already have the hoodies and jackets, skis are pretty much the next step


Big fax
Jan 20 2020 11:40AM 0 0
profile picture
Yan_skiing
Posts: 86 - Karma: 367
J_ChristophMost durable skis I’ve ever owned. Tried to beat the hell out of my bdogs and they held up great. On the edollos now and it’s the same story.


That’s good to "hear ", thanks my dude!
Jan 20 2020 12:14PM 1 0
profile picture
crustyboot.420
Posts: 937 - Karma: 3,937
My friend broke his edollos in a month
Jan 20 2020 12:25PM 0 1
profile picture
Yan_skiing
Posts: 86 - Karma: 367
nolliebackflipMy friend broke his edollos in a month


How? But yeah, like you said skis break later or sooner
Jan 20 2020 12:29PM 5 0
profile picture
crustyboot.420
Posts: 937 - Karma: 3,937
Yan_skiingHow? But yeah, like you said skis break later or sooner

The sidewalls got fucked up and I guess he got moisture inside the skis because his ski snapped soon after. Same thing happening with my edollos but haven't snapped yet.
Jan 20 2020 12:33PM 0 0
profile picture
scratchskier321
Posts: 2386 - Karma: 1,012
yes the skis are fkn lit. k2's have been trash for awhile now. this isnt 2007 anymore
Jan 20 2020 10:50PM 1 5
profile picture
Yan_skiing
Posts: 86 - Karma: 367
scratchskier321yes the skis are fkn lit. k2's have been trash for awhile now. this isnt 2007 anymore


Fax
Jan 20 2020 11:10PM 0 0
profile picture
SawgyDawgy
Posts: 4 - Karma: 15
Armada skis are durable. Since the brand is so popular the manufacturing is alot better compared to smaller brands. i have Arvs and Edollos and they are holding up pretty good.

For the most part tho, skis are skis. If you are hitting rail or rocks and hitting your ski together it's going to do some damage
Jan 21 2020 12:26AM 1 1
profile picture
Cade2
Posts: 2116 - Karma: 2,670
SawgyDawgy. Since the brand is so popular the manufacturing is alot better compared to smaller brands.

[/quote]
Not at all true
Jan 21 2020 1:38AM 5 0
profile picture
shin-bang
Posts: 4090 - Karma: 6,766
Most armadas are super light and fun, and a blast to ski.

However light and fun doesn’t always mean durable. There are beefier skis made with better/thicker materials on the market. Generally speaking, the thicker better materials will allow the ski to last longer and hold up to abuse longer.

Bamboo core, full sidewall + 2.5 mm edges > poplar core, part semi cap, 2.2 mm edges

Handmade > factory made




go ahead, downvote me narbs

**This post was edited on Jan 21st 2020 at 1:43:16am
Jan 21 2020 1:38AM 6 2
profile picture
onenerdykid
Posts: 6432 - Karma: 8,750
shin-bangHandmade > factory made

There is a huge misconception about how handmade every ski actually is and needs to be. You can't dump a bunch of ingredients into a "factory" and get a ski to magically appear.

Every ski that is made is laid up by hand, pressed, hand paired, hand finished, and machine tuned.

Some factories are more efficient with how they do things but making a ski is always going to be a very hands-on process.
Jan 21 2020 3:54AM 8 0
profile picture
shin-bang
Posts: 4090 - Karma: 6,766
onenerdykidThere is a huge misconception about how handmade every ski actually is and needs to be. You can't dump a bunch of ingredients into a "factory" and get a ski to magically appear.

Every ski that is made is laid up by hand, pressed, hand paired, hand finished, and machine tuned.

Some factories are more efficient with how they do things but making a ski is always going to be a very hands-on process.


I would agree to this, there will always be the “hands on” factor.

I would just add, usually quality control is better with smaller companies advertised as “hand made” like sego, on3p, Moment, etc. rather than larger companies like line, armada, etc. the build quality of the first 3 brands I listed always seem to be at a higher quality than the large scale companies that crank out a crap ton of skis.
Jan 21 2020 9:07AM 4 1
profile picture
J_Christoph
Posts: 2519 - Karma: 8,738
onenerdykidSome factories are more efficient with how they do things but making a ski is always going to be a very hands-on process.

It has always blown my mind how every ski that comes out of a factory has so much one-on-one time put into it.

Shoutout to factory employees putting out the quantities of skis they do after such a tedious process!
Jan 21 2020 10:26AM 5 0
profile picture
onenerdykid
Posts: 6432 - Karma: 8,750
shin-bangI would agree to this, there will always be the “hands on” factor.

I would just add, usually quality control is better with smaller companies advertised as “hand made” like sego, on3p, Moment, etc. rather than larger companies like line, armada, etc. the build quality of the first 3 brands I listed always seem to be at a higher quality than the large scale companies that crank out a crap ton of skis.

You'd be very surprised to the level of detail at which the largest (and world's most environmentally friendly, by the way) ski factory gets things done. Even though lots and lots of skis are produced here at the Atomic factory in Austria (Atomic, Salomon, Armada, Faction, Black Crows, Kastle), it just means there are more hands doing the work. One only person can lay a ski up at a time, only one person can operate a press at a time, only one person will be hand-flexing and hand pairing skis together. "Cranking out a crap ton of skis" just isn't something that happens in reality and it greatly over-simplifies things.
Jan 21 2020 11:07AM 1 0
profile picture
No.Quarter
Posts: 5251 - Karma: 16,807
onenerdykidThere is a huge misconception about how handmade every ski actually is and needs to be. You can't dump a bunch of ingredients into a "factory" and get a ski to magically appear.

Every ski that is made is laid up by hand, pressed, hand paired, hand finished, and machine tuned.

Some factories are more efficient with how they do things but making a ski is always going to be a very hands-on process.


+1 on this. Human labor will be married to ski layup for a long time.

I don't really remember what the outcome of this project was, but for my Mechanical Engineering Capstone one of the projects which was a combo with the Electrical Engineering students was exploring introducing some automation into the layup process. It still required the majority of the process to be by hand, but pretty crazy to think that in 2018/19 automated processes are in their infancy in ski manufacture. Especially since there are so many mass produced products out there that don't see any human involvement.
Jan 21 2020 12:24PM 0 0
profile picture
shin-bang
Posts: 4090 - Karma: 6,766
onenerdykidYou'd be very surprised to the level of detail at which the largest (and world's most environmentally friendly, by the way) ski factory gets things done. Even though lots and lots of skis are produced here at the Atomic factory in Austria (Atomic, Salomon, Armada, Faction, Black Crows, Kastle), it just means there are more hands doing the work. One only person can lay a ski up at a time, only one person can operate a press at a time, only one person will be hand-flexing and hand pairing skis together. "Cranking out a crap ton of skis" just isn't something that happens in reality and it greatly over-simplifies things.


Perhaps i would be surprised. You work in the industry and have good street cred, so i will take your word for it.

found this blister article that kind of explains both sides better than i can. https://blisterreview.com/gear-101/skiing-101/big-vs-small-ski-companies-whos-building-better-skis
Jan 21 2020 12:47PM 0 0
All times are Eastern (-4)