In a for theski industry,Dynafit is extending its tech-bindingwarranty from two to ten years. (Warranties from othermanufacturers range from one to three years.)The brand is calling the new policy a lifetime warranty,referring to the expected decade-long lifetime of the product. It will apply to bindings purchased during or after the 2019–20 Dz.
For more than 30years, Dynafit has trackedhow itsbindings perform, how often they are warrantied,and how long they are typically used. (The brand was the first to debutpin-style tech bindings,.)Itused that data to determinehow long to extend theguarantee.Ross Herr, the brand’s sales and marketing manager, saysthe timing of this decision is a response to improvements in manufacturing that have resulted in increased durability.“We have seen this huge reduction in breakage and warranty over the past several years,” says Herr. “We don’t see problems within the ten-year expected lifespan of the binding.”
The shift comes at a time when other major brands, including L.L.Bean and REI, are reeling overreplacement policies.
“It says a lot to have them go from a two- to a ten-year [warranty], because they’re like, We’re still the best,we’re still what everybody wants to be,” says Nate Protsman, manager and ski tech at the Estes Park Mountain Shop in Colorado. “It says a lot about the confidence they have in their product.”
Herr explains that itreflects informal practices Dynafit has had in place for a while: the company has serviceditsproducts long after the original two-year window expired, in an effort to keep customers in the backcountry and using their gear.
Turning that unspoken practice into officialpolicy is a way for the brand to differentiate itself in anincreasingly crowdedproduct category.Dynafit is one of only two brandsto have had tech bindings on the market for ten years. Until 2005, it held a key patent, preventing competitors from adapting itsown pin-style systems. G3 capitalized on the patent’s expiration and , , in early 2009. Since then, most major bindingbrands have come out with their own versions of the tech binding. With the launch of theinnovativeShiftin 2018,Salomon has pioneered a new kind of touring binding that achieves better downhill performance with minimal weight penalty, further increasing competition in the category.
The new warranty states that Dynafit will repair or replace any registered bindingsthat fail due to manufacturer defects during the time frame. With good care and normal use, the company says that skierscan expect their bindings to last through the end of the new warranty. What ifyour bindings are installed correctly and aren’t misusedbutbreak after an off-piste yard sale five years in? “We’ve got you covered,” Herr says. If they fall off your ski rack and get run over by a car? “Bummer, no,” he says.“But we will likely sell you a spare part for a really great price to hopefully ease the pain.”