Binding Review: 11-12 Bent Metal Mortal

Location: Mammoth Mountain and June Mountain, CA

Snow Conditions: Hardpacked to icy groomers.

Setup: I rode the Bent Metal Mortal on the Arbor Coda with my Vans Veil Boots size 8.

Time to set up the binding: Took a couple minutes to familiarize myself with the Bent Metal bindings, then it was just dialing in the bindings to the board and making sure the fit was correct to my boot. The ankle strap is easy adjustment on the mountain but the toe strap requires a tool.

Fit: I received the Mortals in the S/M size. The heel of my Vans boots was snug into the binding heel but it fit and was snug. Everything else was easy to adjust and fit fine to my women’s boot. The highback wasn’t too high for my bindings.

First Impression: Responsive for the mountain that helped save me from the madness on the slopes.

Appearance: The Mortals I tried out were in the blue colorway with a mix of blue/green and bright fun mixed into it. Pretty basic design with the Bent Metal logo on it.

Comfort: The ankle strap offered up good padding to the binding, the highback had some padding but didn’t really cushion the ride down the mountain. The baseplate offered a bit more cushion to help dampen any vibrations while snowboarding.

Functionality: The Mortal binding has a tri-axial mounting disk for unlimited stance possibilities, the toe and heel ramps are adjustable with an adjustable aluminum heelcup. The footbed is full eva for a bit of padding/dampening. The highback is a lightweight cored highback for response with lateral mobility. The ankle strap is asymmetric and the toe strap is a leather wrap roll over toe strap. The ratchets I noticed were a bit more flimsy but no problems other than them bending when strapping in.

Flex: These bindings offered up a stiffer highback with good lateral flex on the top of the binding to help you engage and initiate turns better. But definitely the stiffer flex helped create a more responsive feeling on the mountain. Good supportive ankle strap kept you secure and the toe strap did okay but I really thought the ankle strap/highback had most of the movement on the mountain.

Response: This is where the Bent Metal Mortal bindings shined. Good response for the mountain, quick and easy to maneuver when riding. It didn’t take much effort to get the board to do what the bindings wanted. I really liked how solid the highback felt in turns and when needed, I could put on the brakes.

Toe Strap: The material and design of the toe strap didn’t seen as good as the rest of the binding. It didn’t really grip the boot and could slide if you didn’t crank down enough, also it just didn’t mold to the boot as well as other toe straps would. It’d be rad to see them take this design and bring it to the next level to be a better fitting/molding toe strap.

Overall Impression: I rode these bindings during one of the busiest days where it was madness on the slopes, needing a quick binding I could count on meant walking off the slopes at the end of the day. They offered good response and maneuverability that made it all mountain worthy.

Shay’s Honesty Box: This was the first time to try out Bent Metal bindings and definitely while I see room for improvement in the toe straps, I also see a binding that’s fun to ride with great response. It was much quicker than I expected for a freestyle binding and delivered on the rest of the mountain. Now just want a better gripping toe strap and they’ve got me.

Ready to buy? Head over to evo for the Bent Metal Mortal or shop their full line of Bent Metal snowboard bindings

On Snow Photos

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Bent Metal Mortal Description

Review Disclosure: I received this binding from Mervin Manufacturing to test and review. Thanks Sean!