Burton Cartel 2010 Bindings Review

Burton Cartel 2010

An independent user review by Hoon, a rider, surfer, biker, and all-round family man: hoonhwang.blogspot.com

Brand: Burton / Product Name: Cartel / Model Year: 2010
Reviewer: Hoon

What can you say about the binding that can be found on more pros, joes and ho’s than any other binding over the course of the last five years? Yup, that’s no typo. Count ‘em. Five years at the top of its game. I bet you can’t think of another snowboard product that can claim that title. Here’s a brief sample of some of the riders who are riding or have ridden Cartels: Travis Rice, Aaron Bittner and Mark Landvik to name a few. Oh, and did you notice those riders listed aren’t Burton-sponsored?

The truly phenomenal success of the Burton Cartel derives from its “everything you need, nothing you don’t” philosophy. It was originally built as the park and freestyle domination machine, utilizing Burton’s solid, time-tested chassis and a highback that just won’t quit. No wedgies, cinches, FXT’s, cable-activated BOA’s or other useless crap can be found on this binding. Aside from the steezie and slick color schemes year after year, the Cartel offers solid features such as smooth glide ratchets and ultra capstraps. Plus it has consistently had one of the tallest highbacks in the game. Up front, it’ll bite you in the calf until you get a few days under your belt, but like that dominatrix down the street, you’ll be beggin’ for more. Also for all you non-EST converts, the Cartel comes in both an EST and disc version. Perfect for those missions that find you on a 3D or 4×2 snowboard.

For 2010, the Cartel has received a bit of a facelift. Burton has backed off the height of the highback (ever so slightly) and also included full baseplate padding (about damn time!). You’ll note that it comes in lift-line arresting bold colors like purple and orange, with only a few subtle accents. In a world where bindings seem to have more flair than your local TGIF, it’s refreshing to let the colorway to the heavy lifting.

As you probably can gather from this post, I’m a Cartel junkie. You’re probably asking yourself: Why the undying devotion to these bindings? There’s plenty of awesome bindings out there. So true, but I haven’t ridden any other binding where after five years, the baseplates are just starting to show a bit of wear and tear. Granted I’m frankenbinder’d the shit out of these guys over the years, but those baseplates are still the original Polarized White. Until I can find a binding that can perform like the Cartel and stand up to that abuse, the Burton Cartel will always be my go-to binding in a pinch.

Original catalog copy from 04/05
Rule the freestyle underworld.The all-new Cartel™ is today’s standard in freestyle capability. For an insane snow feel, we removed some of the material from the baseplate but added Pressure Distribution Feet for improved weight displacement. This purifies the interface between board and body and reduces damage to your precious ride. The redesigned Team Skyback® is 13% lighter than last year and maintains the same amazing strength, response and stompability of the tallest hi-back in our line