The EST plug puller doesn't have enough friction to stay in the back of the tool and it falls right out.

The screw heads are mounted in soft plastic that is not hard enough to hold the head. As such, when you tighten a screw the head turns in its rubber/plastic mount and breaks. I was not over-tightening the screws. When I hit it with a regular Burton bullet tool, I still had an easy half turn to go.

Skip this tool. Burton needs to redesign it.

Wanted to post an update to my 1/16/09 review as I have now used these several times. The 3 removable plates are actually more of a hard rubber than a stiff plastic, if that makes sense. I normally ride with just the tailbone pad in and I don't even feel its there. This past weekend I went snowkiting on a frozen lake, decided to put the hip plates in for added protection and they worked fine. Still didn't notice them, didn't affect my mobility, and the shorts fit snug.

Probably the best impact shorts out there. Low profile, effective & flexible.

Great board. Can't say enough good things about it. Great pop, very agile for a wide board, edges tear through ice, and the graphics aren't obnoxious like some of the '09 boards and most of the '10 boards will be.
Don't worry about getting EST bindings if it isn't in your budget. The boards comes with some very solid converter discs that will attach your old bindings and still give you most of the EST benefits until you can upgrade to EST. The board is light, but not any lighter than the last few years, FWIW. The ICS probably adds a small amount of weight. My 164W weighed 7 lbs, FWIW.

Bought these tights for winter rides or runs. I'm not sold on the patented conditioning web technology as they don't really stay in place as you move, but they are nice tights if you can get them on sale. I'm 6'2", bought the XLs and they are a bit long. I position the web as stated in the instructions but end up pulling them up to belly button height to stretch out excess material so you're not going to win any fashion awards. They seem durable and weather resistant. Buy these if they're on sale, if not, get some standard tights.

I am really impressed with this sweater. I bought two on SAC when they came up figuring I'd pick which color I liked best and return the other. I ended up keeping both. I bought an XL and it is just the right size for me. Not baggy like some XLs, and not too long either. Can easily get by for casual office attire or just something comfortable to wear with jeans when you are running around on the weekends. The wool makes it warm and breathable. Not hot and heavy like all cotton sweaters. Nicer looking than a hoody, but just as comfortable.

4 years ago I caught an edge in the trees and my tailbone came down square on a rock. F-N Ouch! My whole ass cheek was one big dark bruise. Not wanting the trip to be a waste I walked in Snowbird's shop and bought a pair of these that were, at the time, made by Burton I think. They're great. The shorts give you lots of confidence to hit it hard and protect from re-injury. They protect your tailone and hips from hard impacts to rocks, rails or ice. My pads finally wore out and I purchased this '08 model and they seem pretty solid. The padding is not as thick as it used to be which is disappointing, but it does come with hard plastic removable plates for hips and tailbone. I'd prefer thicker padding and no stiff plastic, but this is still the best product I've seen out there for the job. The shorts fit great and once you throw your pants over top you forget you have them on. One other bonus is the extra layer of padding you get when riding long slow cold lift chairs. ;)

This is a great hoody for windsports! Windsurfing, kiteboarding, snowkiting, or an evening at the beach...heck, any time you want to throw a hoody on and are going to be in a cool windy environment this thing rocks. The lining isn't soft, but who cares as you'll be wearing it over a long sleeve t-shirt in most cases. The pit zips work great as the windblock material doesn't breath great on its own. Has the usual high quality dakine construction. Buy one in each color! :)

...these pads are a joke. I bought the adult version and returned them. Who wears board shorts under your snow pants? The pads slide around under your pants and the shorts bind up when you put your pants on. I get what they were trying to do, make pads look cool, but these don't work. You want pads that fit snug on your body so they stay in place and it is easy to get on outer clothing. (plus when you do wear them under your snow pants, it looks like you got a load in your pants. so how cool is that?) These may be good for skate boarding or on any activity where you actually wear shorts and hit hard ground. But for snowboarding...skip 'em.