The Murdoch Racing Binding

The Original Murdoch Racing Binding:

History:

The original Murdoch racing binding design dates back to the early-sixties.  Though it may have gone through a few minor changes over the decades, (more the result of design interpretation rather than improvements or enhancements) the bindings produced today by various manufacturers are still of the same basic Murdoch design.

This is phenomenal.  In how many other sports has a product that was designed in 1960 survived without fundamental change for nearly 60 years?

Critical Design Philosophy Differences:

One of the keys to the design’s success is in the basic design philosophy.  Most of the bindings of the time, and even of today, utilized soft neoprene rubber sheet or natural rubber with the idea that it would stretch to accommodate the shape of the foot.  In so doing, the tension created by the stretching would supply the retention force to keep the foot in place.

The upside of using this method is it was relatively easy to push your foot into the binding and it would subsequently release easily in a fall.  These are features that are ideal for the lower performance demands of slalom skiing—where most of the sport’s sales volume came from.

The few ski manufacturers of the time who ventured into the racing market simply adapted their slalom bindings to racing with perhaps the

addition of a wrap strap.  But it was still the same fundamental low performance binding design.

The downside of using this approach is that the constant pressure it places on the foot cuts off circulation.  Many speed skiers would complain that their feet would fall asleep during long races.  Additionally, because of the soft, stretchy rubber, the foot could actually lift off the base plate during wave impacts at high speeds resulting in the sensation of lack of ski control.

Murdoch, on the other hand, while focusing almost purely on ski racing, utilized high durometer neoprene sheet for the boot structure.  While making it more difficult to push the foot into place in the binding, once inserted it provided very firm retention by dimensional constraint rather than by rubber tension.  The addition of the cross wrap straps and buckles then resulted in a firm grip of the foot around the ankle without cutting off circulation.

Even the selection of the foam lining material was targeted at retention friction rather than soft comfort.  While other makers would select a very soft, compliant foam to laminate on the inside of the bindings to prevent blisters from rubbing directly on neoprene sheet, Murdoch selected a very dense, low deflection foam for this lamination.  The downside of the firm rubber/foam combination was a great deal of abrasion on the skier’s ankles, hence the prevalence of speed skiers taping their ankles for protection.

Basic Configuration:

The Murdoch binding is comprised of the following key parts:

• Base plate—fabricated from 0.080” thick 6061-T6 aluminum sheet, laminated with neoprene foam pad and arch support, then covered with 1/32” thick neoprene rubber sheet.
• Horseshoe—CNC machined from 3/8” thick aluminum plate to the user’s specific foot shape.
• Neoprene parts—the toe piece, heel piece and wrap straps are cut from a specially formulated neoprene sheet of 70 durometer hardness, and 3/16” thick.
• Expanded Foam Lining—closed cell, high density elastomeric sponge is laminated to the inside surfaces of the toe piece and heel piece for comfort.  This sponge is 3/16” thick.
• Buckle Assembly—this stainless steel buckle is in two parts.  There is a latch bracket that is installed under the horseshoe when the binding is assembled.  There is a hook bracket that is in two pieces that sandwiches the neoprene wrap strap end and then has a hook that connects with the latch bracket after your foot is in the binding.

Total Weight/Boot:  3 lbs-8 ozs