Jones Mercury FASE Snowboard Bindings Review: The Best Fast Entry System

Saves clip and vigor getting successful and out. Every spot arsenic responsive arsenic modular two-strap bindings. Can usage immoderate footwear you similar with them. Solid physique quality.

Can beryllium a small tricky to measurement into connected steep slopes. Boots sometimes jammed. No SkateTech. Footbed seems to crystal up much than usual.

The existent landscape of snowboard bindings is simply a communicative of trade-offs. On the 1 side, you person the accepted two-strap bindings that connection maximum power and clasp but are notoriously dilatory (skiers emotion to constituent that out). They necessitate a just magnitude of bending oregon sitting erstwhile you privation to get successful oregon out. On the different hand, you person step-on bindings, which person nary straps. That allows you to stomp successful and go, but it forces you to usage circumstantial step-on compatible boots. Unless they acceptable perfectly, you could person power issues.

In the past mates of years, we’ve started seeing hybrid solutions—systems that supply faster introduction and exit but let you to usage your favourite boots from immoderate marque and tin supply the locked-in feeling that two-strap adherents demand.

The latest entrant into that class is the Fast Entry strategy (FASE), a caller exertion that has been licensed to bequest snowboard brands specified arsenic Jones, Rome, Bataleon, and ThirtyTwo, each of which person introduced models with it for the 2025-26 season. I spent the bulk of this play investigating the Mercury FASE binding from Jones, and here’s what I found.

How FASE Works

At archetypal glance, FASE bindings look similar a modular two-strap system. While it does so person 2 straps, the toed strap is different. It has a locking mechanics connected it, truthful erstwhile it’s acceptable to your liking it won’t determination again until you manually set it. The ankle strap (which FASE calls the FastStrap) is overmuch longer than is typical. It has the modular ladder teeth for the ratchet lever to drawback onto and hold, but it besides has an hold that’s wholly creaseless speech from a bump astatine the extremity that helps support it from disconnecting entirely. That’s truthful it tin unfastened wide capable to let you to measurement successful and retired with your footwear portion staying a closed loop. This volition beryllium important successful a second.

The biggest alteration is successful the highback of the binding, which is called the AutoBack successful the FASE system. While it tin inactive fold each the mode guardant for question and low-hanging chairlifts, erstwhile it’s unfastened it leans overmuch farther backmost than your modular highback. On the bottommost of the highback, connected the inside, is simply a sturdy integrative lever.

When you measurement into the binding, your footwear presses down connected that lever. That shunts the highback up into its full, upright position, pressing it into the backmost of your calf similar normal. Then you conscionable tighten the ankle strap, and disconnected you go. When you privation out, you conscionable scope down and unfastened the ratchet connected the ankle strap. It releases, and you tin measurement close out.

The Jones Mercury FASE binding I tested shares a batch of DNA with Jones’ modular Mercury bindings. It’s a reasonably stiff binding, designed chiefly for freeride (i.e. off-piste) and pulverization alternatively than the terrain park, but it works good arsenic an all-mountain binding. It has a furniture of foam padding some connected apical of and underneath the ft plate, which does a bully occupation of dampening vibration and giving you a small cushioning from hard landings.

Jones highbacks aren’t known for their customizability, and that inclination continues here. You person 2 settings for guardant lean, but that’s it. If you’re utilized to Union bindings, which let you to tweak the rotation of the highback, you whitethorn find that disappointing, but for me, these highbacks acceptable my calves similar a glove. They are stiff, which provided large responsiveness, but they’re lightly padded astatine the top, and I recovered them to beryllium precise comfortable.

The biggest departure from the modular Mercury exemplary is that astir of Jones’ accepted bindings usage thing that the institution calls SkateTech. There's a fulcrum successful the sides of the binding that lets you enactment a small much value connected your edges for much control. I’ve go a large SkateTech person implicit the years, truthful I was disappointed that it wasn’t included here, though I adjusted quickly, and they inactive felt precise responsive portion utilizing them. However!

In Use

I tested these bindings connected a snowy road-trip done British Columbia and got them into a wide array of conditions, from steep and heavy pulverization to icy groomers of death. I besides got to effort them portion cat-skiing and heli-skiing successful the backcountry, which is wherever I’ve recovered quick-bindings usually neglect me. I tested them utilizing the Jones Hovercraft 2.0 (which I spent 2 seasons connected and reviewed for WIRED), arsenic good arsenic the alternatively hardcore 2025 Jones Flagship Pro, which is my caller go-to for sketchy, scary, oregon mixed terrain.

That committee is truthful stiff and assertive that I disquieted the deficiency of SkateTech mightiness marque it tougher to drive, but the Mercury FASE strategy provided much than capable leverage. I wore the ThirtyTwo BOA X Sweetin boots, which are the astir comfy stiff boots I’ve ever worn.

Speaking of boots, marque definite you get the close size bindings to lucifer your boots, arsenic that’s much captious than ever with this system. I deterioration size-11 boots but accidentally got the mean bindings astatine first, which was a mistake. My boots were jammed successful determination truthful tightly determination was nary easiness to this easy-entry system. I was astir to constitute these bindings disconnected arsenic a full nonaccomplishment until I swapped them for the size large, and abruptly everything clicked into spot (pun intended).

The FASE strategy was incredibly casual to use. I stepped successful and retired of them a fistful of times conscionable to signifier and dial successful the tightness for the toed strap, past I conscionable took off. The thrust feels great, with accelerated turns and large edging, and I instantly felt I could spot them and propulsion hard. There was nary wiggle wrong the binding, but I didn’t consciousness similar I had to overtighten the straps to support my boots from shifting around. When I got to the bottommost of the run, I conscionable popped the latch connected the ankle strap, lifted my heel, and stepped close out, which was arsenic speedy and effortless arsenic immoderate different quick-binding strategy (more connected those successful a second).

When it was clip to strap backmost in, I’d conscionable mildly gaffe my footwear into the toed cap, property down with my heel, and pop! The highback snapped into spot easily. Once I got the bent of it, I could conscionable measurement successful with my beforehand foot, past backmost foot, past crook down erstwhile to tighten some ankle straps simultaneously, 1 successful each hand. That inactive uses a spot much vigor than 1 of the systems you simply stomp into, but I recovered this 1 to beryllium acold much unchangeable and locked in. You don’t request overmuch unit to get the bottommost lever to engage, which meant I seldom had issues stepping in, adjacent successful heavy powder. That has ever been a occupation with systems similar the Burton Step-Ons.

I volition accidental that if you don’t get your toed acold capable forward, it tin beryllium pugnacious to get your bottommost in, and it tin besides beryllium challenging to get successful erstwhile you’re connected a steep slope and don’t person a large angle, but successful those cases you tin conscionable undo the toed ratchet, beryllium down, and usage it similar a modular two-strap binding. Similarly, stepping retired tin sometimes beryllium a challenge, particularly connected uneven terrain, successful powder, oregon if I got my footwear accidentally wedged successful a small excessively tightly.

But those issues were uncommon capable that the conveniences outweighed them. In incidents wherever I coiled up successful the flats (or a gully afloat of trees I had to ascent retired of) I was overmuch little begrudging astir unstrapping and re-strapping, due to the fact that it truly is simply a batch easier.

A Few Other Considerations

I did person a mates incidents wherever snowfall oregon crystal built up connected the footbed, which made stepping successful each the much difficult. Usually I was capable to prime it disconnected with my gloved fingers, though connected a mates of occasions I had to edifice to a instrumentality oregon my friend’s skis pole. They were inactive usable adjacent successful that condition, but if your footwear doesn’t marque due interaction with the ft furniture past you suffer immoderate control. This is existent of immoderate binding, but you bash announcement it much erstwhile you're trying to get successful and retired quickly.

The toed and ankle straps (and the ratchets connected them) are the champion Jones has made. I’ve utilized the modular Mercury bindings for years, and portion I emotion them, I person had the ratchets gaffe down the teeth of the ladder. On these bindings, they simply didn’t budge. The 1 annoyance is that sometimes the extended, creaseless portion of the ankle strap misses the guides that support them flush against the apical of your ft portion you’re riding, which made maine interest that they mightiness snag oregon a subdivision oregon resistance successful immoderate heavy snow.

It’s worthy comparing these to different accelerated introduction systems. Probably the closest to this would beryllium the Nidecker Supermatic system, which debuted successful 2022. The Supermatics are besides a two-strap strategy that you tin usage with immoderate snowboard boot, but with these the full footbed is the lever. The highback opens wider and you tin simply measurement each the mode in, it closes astir you, and some straps are already done up. To exit, you propulsion a lever connected the broadside and measurement out.

I was truly excited astir these erstwhile they came out, but successful my investigating they didn’t unrecorded up to the promise. They’re big, bulky, and heavy. In bid to get my footwear in, I had to support the straps looser than I like, and past determination was a batch of play wrong the binding, truthful I ne'er felt coagulated successful them.

The Burton Step-On strategy is the lightest and the easiest to measurement into. It has nary straps, alternatively utilizing 2 metallic toed cleats and 1 bottommost cleat that are installed connected proprietary boots. They necessitate little bending down (really lone needed erstwhile you propulsion the lever by your bottommost to measurement out), truthful they prevention a batch of vigor if you’re conscionable cruising astir a resort.

The main disadvantage is that determination are nary straps. The lone mode to power your committee is downward unit from your boots. If your boots don’t acceptable perfectly, that’s a problem, and determination are less Step-On compatible boots available. I person to overtighten my boots earlier I consciousness secure, and adjacent past I don’t afloat spot them connected steeper lines. They besides necessitate much unit to click into properly, which is simply a nightmare erstwhile you’re successful brushed pulverization oregon connected a steep slope.

Overall, the Jones Mercury FASE bindings are not lone my favourite fast-entry binding by miles, but they’ve go my favourite bindings, period. I’d truly similar to spot the SkateTech reintegrated into the adjacent procreation of these, arsenic that’s the happening I miss the most. It would beryllium bully to person a footbed that’s little of a snow-magnet, and I’d similar to spot them amended the occasional catchiness of the introduction and exit, but these bindings person been highly reliable. These aren’t conscionable for casual edifice riders (though they’ll similar them, too). I spot these anywhere.