Splittie of the Week | Clips und Hooks

State of the art

The development of snowboarding was significantly influenced by Jake Burton in the late 1980s. With the trend towards freeriding and touring, splitboarding also gained in importance. The first patent for a splitboard was filed by Manaresi in Italy in the 1990s. The basic principle - a split snowboard that can be used as a touring ski on the ascent and reconnected for the descent - has remained largely unchanged to this day. However, the breakthrough only came a year later in the USA, when Mark Wariakois and Brett Kobernik founded Voile. However, splitboarding only became really popular in 2010, when Jeremy Jones launched his first model on the market. Since then, the market has been growing continuously, accompanied by technical optimisations to hooks, clips and binding systems.

Patented concept drawing of the first splitboard from Manaresi
Ettore, “History of the splitboard,” 2020, [accessed 28-Juni-2024]. [Online]. Available: https://www.freeridealliance.com/2020/10/29/history-of-the-splitboard/

1. spark R&D fixie clip and tip and tail clip

Spark has developed a passive system that requires no moving parts but still offers high rigidity without unnecessary complexity. The hook weighs 56 g, is made of aluminium and costs €63. Its triangular toothing ensures high torsional rigidity. Two slotted holes allow fine adjustment of the board halves. It can be mounted either through the board or in prefabricated holes. In several reviews, this hook is one of the most popular, as it hardly gets loose, does not collect snow and works reliably.

The tip and tail clip costs €32.95, has five notches for optimum tension and is easy to use even when wearing gloves. The total price of the system is €95.95.

A detailed view of the system can be found in the picture gallery.

2nd Phantom Hercules Hook and Spinner Clips

Phantom also relies on a passive system that works extremely reliably thanks to its simple design. The hooks cost €65.18, weigh 45 g per set and are made of aluminium. Thanks to the adjustable tension screw, the perfect contact pressure can be achieved, resulting in the most stable and tightest connection according to reviews. Once set, the system does not need to be readjusted - according to one review, not even after 50 days of use.

The tip and tail clip costs €11.14, has a notch and a larger guide opening that makes it easier to release the clips when taking the board halves apart.

Detailed views of the system can be found in the picture gallery.

3. karakoram Ultraclip and tip locks

With the Ultraclips, Karakoram has developed an active system that holds the gearing together with an additional buckle. The Ultraclip 1.0 costs €65.95, the 2.0 model €85.95 and the latest version €100.95. The components are CNC-milled from aluminium and have a slotted hole to allow micro-adjustment of the board halves. At 55 g, the Ultraclip is significantly lighter than its predecessor - 36 g less thanks to precise CNC milling and optimised hardware embedding. It is also the first three-dimensional connection from Karakoram.

The Tip-Lock costs €41.95, is made of Dupont Zytel and has a notch for locking into place. A special feature is the slightly offset hole with side walls of different thicknesses: By turning it, the contact pressure can be increased and unintentional opening prevented.

The complete system with the Ultraclip 3.0 costs €142.90. Detailed views can be found in the picture gallery.

4. other systems: Voile and Union

Union relies on a passive system made of aluminium with adjustment options for hook and clip. The cost is €64.95.

Voile, on the other hand, uses an active system in which both halves of the hook can be rotated to ensure a better connection. The price is €59.90.

Detailed views of the systems can be found in the picture gallery.

Karakoram, “Ultraclips,” [accessed 28-Juni-2024]. [Online]. Available: https: //www.splitboardbindings.com/shop/ultraclips-17/

The bending test

As part of a study by Philippe Gosselin et al. from 2022, a bending test was carried out in which all currently available hook and clip systems on the market were subjected to the same test. The test setup simulated a turn by applying a force of 235 N to the edge of the left half of the splitboard at a distance of 186 mm from the snowboard tip, measuring the resulting vertical gap width and the angle between the splitboard halves to characterise the displacements that occur.

The results showed that the Spark Fixie Clip in combination with the Union Hooks had the smallest gap width of 1.8 mm, while the Voile Split Hook achieved the worst value of 2.5 mm. The Phantom Herclus Hook achieved a gap width of 2.2 mm, performing well. Only the Ultraclip 1.0 and 2.0 from Karakoram were tested, which achieved gap widths of 2.3 mm and 2.1 mm respectively.

Another important factor was the condition of the tip clip: when it was open, there were considerable differences. In this case, the Union Hook performed best with a gap width of 5.3 mm, which indicates the stability of the system when the tip clip is open.

Conclusion

The models presented here are by no means all that are available on the market, but they are the best known and probably the best tested. There is no clear recommendation for purchase, as with many topics in the field of splitboarding, your own preferences are required. Above all, the choice between active and passive components should be made consciously. You should also familiarise yourself with the settings of the board before your first tour, as the hooks are not always fitted correctly ex works. And: it's worth trying out different models to find the right system for you.

Test station.
P. Gosselin and A. Truong, Jonas und Lussier-Desbiens, “The effect of split hook design on the deformation of splitboards,” ISEA 2022 - The Engineering of Sport, vol. 14, 2022.

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Splittie of the Week | Clips und Hooks

A very technical comparison with the advantages and disadvantages of the various models.