Bataleon Blaster AW FASE Snowboard Binding Review

A Detailed Breakdown Of How the Bataleon Blaster AW FASE Rides Review by The Good Ride

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How the Bataleon Blaster AW FASE Was Tested:  

I borrowed the Bataleon Blaster AW FASE for an extended demo, and I liked it so much I’m going to ask to keep it to use when testing/comparing other quick-release bindings.

I rode Bataleon Blaster AW FASE for a few days with my Nitro team Boa, compared them against the Rome Katana AW FASE, and even did a quick comparison against the Union Atlas step on my Nitro Profile TLS. You can see that on Patreon, because this is mainly about FASE and how it works. I also always start or finish with my baseliner: my team BOA boots and my Union Force bindings.

Size: M/L
Days: 3+
Conditions:  Not great snow. It was one of the worst seasons on record.
Riders: James (Size 9 E, 5’10”, 185-190lbs). I’ve tested and compared 850+ boards, 200+ bindings, and 120+ boots
Insoles: F.I.T. Gamechangers
Redundancy: Strapins in case boots or bindings break.
Jacket: Skyline Fuse Jacket, Jones Mtn Surf Anorak
Pant: Skyline FASE 3L Bib Pant, Skyline Faze Pant, Jones Mountain Surf Pant
Helmet: Smith Method, Smith Scout
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag Low Bridge Fit
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Mitt, Burton AK Tech Leather Glove

James’s Set Up: 21.5” Wide. Stance Angles +18/-3, +18/+3,+15/-15.

Boots

Nitro Team BOA, Bataleon Salsa BOA

Boards:

Amplid Time Machine, Never Summer Proto Type 3, United Shapes Horizon, Yes Greats

Similar (but not the same) Bindings:

Union Force, Union Atlas Step On, Union Atlas, Union Ultra, Union Strata, Union Falcor, Rome Katana, Nitro Team Pro, Nitro Team, Rome Katana FASE, Bataleon Astro AW, Nitro Phantom Plus, Nitro Phantom

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Weight

The Bataleon Blaster AW FASE weighs 2 lbs 5 oz with the screws and discs, and it’s only a little lighter than the Katana FASE at 2 lbs 7 oz. So they’re pretty close, even though Bataleon Blaster AW FASE are a touch lighter.

Highback Flex

Now, when it comes to high-back flex, the Bataleon Blaster AW FASE is much softer. The Katanas were not super stiff, but these are medium to medium-stiff. With a decent twist, this is more medium with a nice, easy twist. And that’s great because you can’t rotate the high backs, so it twists better to conform to your heel side edge and gives you better, more symmetrical turning.

Adjustability

So let’s talk about adjustability, which I think is a very underrated category and can make a massive difference when selecting a binding.

Centering Your Boot In The Binding

First off, you have adjustability in the heel loop area to slide forward or back to match your boot size. Then you have three adjustability points on the gas pedal to slide forward or backward. So it has near-excellent adjustability for centering your boot in the binding. If your boot is centered in the binding, you can turn the discs sideways (aka tip-to-tail) and slide them to get your perfect stance width.

Highback Rotation and Forward Lean

The only thing you can’t really do is rotate the high back. You can add a little bit of forward lean, but it’s not as good as most traditional high backs.

You can also adjust the Bataleon Blaster AW FASE toe straps to pop them back one notch or pop them forward one notch to better fit your boot size.

Ankle Strap Support / Response Adjustability

You can flip Bataleon Blaster AW FASE ankle straps for more or less support and response, so, if you’re feeling more freestyle mountain freestyle oriented, you can go for less response but more freedom of movement. Or if you’re feeling more all-mountain to freeride, like I am, you can switch to the more responsive setting for a little better support and response.

The same goes for the Katana when it comes to boot to binding adjustability. The only thing that’s different is that you can micro-adjust the support/response vs. 2 positions with Bataleon.

Stance Width Adjustability

And when it comes to stance with adjustability, Bataleon Blaster AW FASE hybrid mini discs, which are in between the size of a full-size disc and a mini disc, can slide tip to tail really well and give you any stance you want if you set it up as a mini disc.

You can set up this hybrid disc like a full-size disc, but it offers no stance-width adjustability. But at least you can set Bataleon Blaster AW FASE up on setback inserts so you can get better float in powder. You can’t do that with mini discs. So this makes this a much more viable option with all kinds of boards out there.

Same goes for the Katana I do like the stance with adjustability better on my union Force, which are a full size disc. You can actually slide them tip-to-tail, even on setback inserts. But it’s a different type of board feel that’s stiffer underfoot.

Flex Underfoot

And when it comes to flex underfoot, the Katana and the Blaster have almost the same base plate and technology. It’s all Eva foam on the bottom, which allows the board to flex really easily. And the only real contact is that hybrid mini disc. So, if you like to butter or if you like your board to feel soft and twist easier underfoot, this or the Katana is a great choice.

This mostly soft bottom also minimizes top sheet damage and helps your board last longer.

Shock Absorption

And when it comes to shock absorption versus chatter absorption, you have soft Eva foam under the binding with a hard plastic on top. Same with the Katana. I find that bindings with rubber on the bottom and Eva foam on the top are the best combination of dampness and shock absorption. That being said, the Bataleon Blaster AW FASE is damp enough and has near excellent shock absorption. It’s all Eva foam in the back part of the heel for both the Katana and Blaster. It’s going to make those awkward flat landings considerably better.

Canting

The Bataleon Blaster AW FASE and Katana are both canted, so they allow you to align your joints a little bit better. And it creates less stress on your hips, your knees, and to a lesser extent, your ankles. It’s something I’ve forgotten to talk about often because it’s so common across so many bindings out there. But it’s good to see this, and I want to bring it back up because a lot of quick-release bindings like Step On don’t have it. And this is another advantage of FASE.

Response

Now, when it comes to turn initiation and response, you have 2 options with the Bataleon Blaster FASE. One is pretty mellow and more freestyle-oriented. The second is more responsive and better for mtn riding, which I prefer, but like the option for both. Even with these 2 options, it’s definitely a step behind the Rome Katana, because the Katana is an overall more responsive binding with an ankle strap adjuster with many settings, so it can go much higher or lower.

Still, though, this is very responsive for what it is. I would say it’s definitely medium bordering on medium fast in terms of response, and it’s a lot more than you would think for this kind of softer high back, because this base plate’s doing so much.

A Mini Disc vs. Full Size Disc Response Tangent

A lot of people think that if you have a mini disc or a hybrid mini like this, you’re not going to get as much response. I wouldn’t treat that as a rule, though, because many factors come into play. I’ve seen many mini or hybrid disc bindings that are more responsive than full-size disc bindings.

With the Bataleon Blaster AW FASE and similar bindings, it really depends on the board. With most boards, a mini disc allows the board to flex more easily underfoot and twist more easily, so you can engage it torsionally faster than many full-sized discs, which make it stiffer underfoot. But the stiffer the board gets underfoot, the less responsive the Bataleon Blaster AW FASE mini discs are. If the board won’t twist easily, then it loses a little bit of that response. Then, with this all-EVA foam bottom, you lose even more leverage on the turn. I’ve seen many mini disc bindings like the Nitro Team, Team Pro, Phantom Plus, and Phantom, all mini disc bindings with a firm base plate, that turn a board just as well as many full-size disc competitors, but with a little easier twist in most boards. Then it also comes down to how responsive the straps, high back, gas pedal, and the rest of the base plate are.

So, the bottom line, don’t rule out a mini-disc as “less responsive”. A great example of this is the Rome Katana. If you adjust the ankle strap to a higher setting, it becomes more responsive than most bindings out there, and that extra leverage alone makes it as responsive as many more responsive Step On bindings out there, which is exceptionally responsive.

Overall Response

But let’s put it this way: with most of the boards you’re going to choose to ride with this binding, you’re going to get a great response. And I didn’t feel like it was much of a setback in terms of response from my Force or my Katanas, but you can ramp this up and get it really responsive.

Heel Side Carving

So, a lot of quick-release bindings, except for Flow, have a lot more overhang behind the high back. And compared to the Force, the FASE has a little more than a traditional high back, but it sits higher and isn’t as high as Step On or Supermatic. And if you lean all the way back on a heel-side turn, the Blaster FASE goes up pretty high.

Step on heels out much faster.

In comparison to the Union Force, the Blaster FASE is very close. It’s about the same or even a touch more with FASE, so other than Flow bindings, this is one of the better quick-release bindings to mitigate heeling out on a really hard carve. It’s much better than Step On and Supermatics.

Boot Support

I like the strap support of the Blaster so much more than the Rome straps. In the ankle strap, the difference isn’t as big, but I can press the Katana toe strap out easily with my thumb. I can’t do the same with the Blaster, which I really like.

Toe strap Stretch

What I find with the Rome Katana, whether in FASE or regular, is that no matter how hard I tighten it, I still get a little stretch. I personally don’t like this stretch. Some of you might, though.

Ankle Straps

So, if you compare the ankle straps of the blaster and Katana to their non-FASE/super-stretchy counterparts, both are much stiffer thanks to this FASE technology. Instead, it feels more like a normal traditional binding strap because it makes it stiffer throughout the middle. But overall, the support is very good, especially with the Katana.

Adjustable Support

If you like playing around with response and support, then the Katanas is the way to go. If you only want two different ways to set Bataleon Blaster AW FASE up, then the Blasters are fine. And I really didn’t feel like I was missing this micro-adjustability, although I think it’s a really cool feature, and it is fun to play with it. You can go down a rabbit hole, though.

The ratchet system’s pretty smooth, and you’re going to use it a lot. Not as much with the toe, and that’s a little more sticky. that’s okay, though, because you’re probably going to set this up once and leave it t.

Removing Snow Build Up

The only thing I don’t like is that all FASE technology bindings are on a powder day when snow gets caught up in the binding. normally. You have everything off, so I just take my heel and run it back and get the snow out, and then finish the rest with my hands, so I never get snow buildup. But when you have this set up properly. You can only do it with your hand and not that well. You don’t have much space to move around, especially when you have gloves on. So clearing snow out of the foot bed can be a little problematic on a powder day. For some, that could be a deal breaker. For others, not so much.

Final Thoughts

So overall, I really enjoyed the Blaster FASE, and I’d love to try more FASE technology from Bataleon. I think it’s a great compromise between fast on-and-off binding and retaining that traditional binding feel.

It’s kind of in that realm of flow, but I would say even faster because all you’re dealing with is the ratchet and not a latch that you have to pull up on the back. That can be a little awkward once you get used to this; it’s something that you can just step in off the chair strap as you’re riding and go. And then when you learn to do that, you’re pretty much as fast as stepping on, and you’re not going to be holding up skier friends, or your friends with step-ons.

What’s most important when riding is not the easy in and out, but how it rides down. It’s great that with the Bataleon Blaster AW FASE, you get amazing flex underfoot, great shock absorption, and the feel of a regular binding, especially with that lateral movement tip to tail. You have normal joint alignment, and it’s an amazing feeling.

I think it’s a very recommendable binding, and other than concerns about the longevity of the FASE attachment with the highback leaning forward, constantly stepping in and out, I think it’s one of the best options if you want quick release and a normal binding feel.