Arbor Hemlock Bindings Review

If you like to shred everything aggressively, from park to groomers to backcountry, looking for every hit to spin off and cliff to huck, Arbor’s Hemlock Bindings are for you. They’re strong and light, super sensitive to your every movement but burly enough to handle even your heaviest slashes and drops.

Arbor is known for making some of the strongest, most poppy boards around but their snowboard bindings are just as killer. The Hemlock is a freestyle binding, meaning it can handle whatever angle you’re contorted at and respond to the slightest twitch while locking your boot in for serious down and dirty riding.

Arbor System X Baseplate on the Hemlocks

To start with, the Arbor Hemlock’s System X baseplate is made of 15% fiberglass, making it freakishly light and freakishly strong to, you know, hold onto your board. One of the best baseplates in the business, and it has a lifetime warranty. The 2×4 Universal Mini-Disc, though, also makes the Hemlocks really easy to mount. Like, say, you got to the mountain in Japan after hurriedly mounting your bindings prior to your trip only to realize you did it backwards and have to remount on the top of a mountain – they come off and go back on in no time.

Finally, the EVA Footbed ensures a nice, soft padded landing, especially important when you drop that rock at your favorite resort, only to find the snow a bit firmer than you thought.

Hemlock Highbacks and Heelcups Construction

To start with, the Arbor Hemlock is a strong binding that can handle rugged, aggressive riding but also park and groomer cruising. Start with the Hemlock’s Asymmetrical Highbacks with 5-degree lateral pre-rotation, giving you comfort and performance on your binding angle right out of the box. The Arbor Hemlock’s highbacks are light and forgiving no matter what you do in the park (or how you land) thanks to their perforations.

The aluminum heelcups make sure your boots fit like a glove while giving extra strength and responsiveness to your heel. You can adjust them in and out but the Arbor Hemlocks fit very true to claimed size.

Arbor’s Bow-Strap Adjusters Lock You Into Place

Arbor’s patented Bow-Strap Adjusters make for a quick and easy clamp down, even if like me you like to start riding and then lock them in on the way. The pre-curved strap keeps its shape no matter what the conditions and fits your boot like a sword’s sheath. The Hemlock’s co-molded ankle strap ensures your boots are snugly connected to your board. Plus the fiberglass reinforced nylon buckles and levers ensures they won’t break down on you.

They performed amazing for me whether I was doing some quick park laps, riding some sun-baked spring slush or dropping a couple feet of fresh Japow. The boot-lock on these Hemlocks are like almost no other for the combo of comfort (not getting ratcheted down too tight) and lock (ensuring your boots stay tight).

Arbor is An OG Innovator with a Conscience

All you have to do is look at Arbor’s 3-decade history, from snowboarding to skating (originally by mounting old snowboards onto fat trucks), to know these guys understand a thing or two about cruising downhill sideways. Arbor uses sustainably-sources wood and bamboo (for their boards, though there’s a drippy little wood panel on the binding) and have planted over half a million trees thanks to their Returning Roots program. Plus their Maximize to Minimize motto means they focus on using less resources to make more products.

And given Arbor’s rugged durability (my board of choice was my Arbor Camber Coda from like 2014 until I lost it in a fire in 2023), their gear lasts longer, leaving less waste. As an ancillary, it means your gear will last forever.

Arbor Hemlock Bindings Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Strong and light for aggressive riding
• System X baseplate with lifetime warranty
• Bow-Strap Adjusters for snug fit

Cons:

• May not fit all riding styles.
• Slightly on the pricier side.

Overall Impression

Basically, I love Arbor and its Hemlock is Amazing

I’ve been reviewing Arbor gear for years and they’ve always been one of my favorite snowboard brands. These Hemlock Bindings ($249.95) are no exception. They handled a week of aggressive riding in Japan (from hard pack to slush to Japow), were easy to adjust and dial in from out the box, and never felt uncomfortable. Arbor’s Hemlock bindings were forgiving when I under or over-rotated my spins but never faded when I was laying in a deep carve or dropping a cliff onto hardpack.

These Hemlock bindings have amazing hold, flexy feel, superior construction and function super smoothly. Arbor has brewed one Hemlock I’ll down all day long.

Related Snowboard Bindings We Tested

1. Jones Mercury Bindings
2. Burton Cartel X Bindings
3. Union Force Bindings