Board and Binding advice (beginner, lots of text)

To start off, I’ve only ridden boards for about 5 years of short seasons/trips now and I’ve almost always used rental boards (Burton or Warp mainly) and it’s always 50/50 how it feels. So I’m looking into buying my own gear this season but realized after some research that I have no clue what I’m doing..

I’ve read up on these two:
* https://www.boardworld.com.au/forums/viewthread/4119
* http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/snowboard.html

They basically describe every sort of design there is and I was getting the feel that HYBRID (not sure if A or B is better suited) is something I could like, but i’m extremely uncertain what i actually should go for.

Also, what sort of Sidecut Radius/Cut would be recommended?
I do a lot of off-pist/loose snow riding and some minor slalom in red slopes for fun, hardly ever ride in the snowboardparks (rails, pipes etc) or steep downhill (except for the regular zigg-zagg down a black line).

I’ve always struggled with morning groomed slopes and throwing over my board in a sloped part of the hill (see the picture for a explanation)

A part from my horrific paint skills and poor riding style (which, is probably the root cause of my issues), would one style of board benefit me more solving these issues or are they all the same for the type of riding i’ll be doing?

And bindings? I know they are important but my question is HOW important are they?
The only two technical differences that I’ve ever wondered over are release and traditional bindings. I understand there’s flexibility differences but looking back I’ve never really had any issues with soar calves. Again I’ve rented stuff so they’re all soft perhaps?

Also are there any good stores with descent prices to get good boards and bindings from with shipping? Because we have like two stores that I know of here in Sweden. Seeing as I’m the only one among my friends that rides a board, word doesn’t spread around so much here. The most descent shop I’ve found was Junkyard (http://www.junkyard.se/products/snowboard) but there’s so many boards and prices feel a bit of a monopoly

I’ve probably left out some vital information for you to help me out and i apologize for that in advance, ask if there’s anything and any help is appreciated!

Profile
Regarding the camber profile. A lot of the members here like the CamRock type profile, with camber between the feet and rocker tip and tail. I, myself, prefer a C2 type profile (Mervin’s offering), where it’s rocker in the middle and camber tip and tail. I find with this profile you still get the playfulness but with the camber under the feet, you can load the tip and tail for ollies and spring out of turn (although definitely less than a cambered board). With the CamRock type profile personally I feel like it’s a hit or miss depending on where the camber ends (between the inserts or past the inserts), how much camber does the board have, and how much rocker does it have on the tip and tail. That being said a C2 type board is a bit tricky when 1 footing or flatbasing at first but you get used to it. I still feel C2 type is the best of both worlds, but I’m sure a lot of people disagree with me here.

Sidecut.
Do you like to carve and make turns or do you like going straight and fast. If you like to carve the slopes than I would suggest a tighter sidecut, mellower sidecut makes the board wanna go straight and make medium-large radius turns vs short turns. I prefer a sidecut around 7.5-8m, even though my Lib Tech Lando currently has a 8.75m sidecut.

Bindings
I feel this is the 2nd most important equipment after boots. I always like traditional 2 straps bindings and hated those quick entry bindings (like Flows, Gnu, etc.). I like my NOW IPO bindings, makes my foot less sore at the end of the day and sucks my heel down due to the heelcup design. I like Unions as well. Again this is all preference.

Welcome to Boardworld, Torxed.

Where do you live exactly?

Where will you be riding? What’s your riding style and/or style you hope to have?

Are you looking for versatility, stability, ease of ride, playfulness, speeds, powder, etc?

I’m not sure I understand what the problem is you’re having. The diagram didn’t really help, haha.

That said, nearly all these sorts of problems are technique related, not equipment related. I can probably help you with that though if you explain better.

If you can provide more info, we can start talking about the specifics.

Bindings are super important, by the way. It’s what attaches you to the board. If it doesn’t match the board and/or your riding style, you will feel it.