What the convention comes down to
Skis are sold in two forms, and the trade marks the difference with a word.
Flat, ohne Bindung and Ski ohne Bindung mean the ski arrives on its own. Inkl. Bindung, mit Bindung and Set mean a binding is included, usually already mounted or supplied for mounting. Some listings give the binding model and its Z range; some name only “binding included”; some say nothing at all and leave the photograph to imply it.
A third case sits between them: the system ski, built with an integrated plate or rail that accepts only its maker’s binding. That is not a price distinction but a compatibility one, and it removes the binding choice entirely.
Nothing defines the convention and nothing requires it to be used. A ski can be sold flat and say so nowhere except in a specification line below the fold.
What it does not promise
It does not say the included binding suits you. A ski sold as a set comes with the binding its maker chose, at a Z range that may or may not bracket the person buying it, and at a brake width matched to that ski.
It does not include mounting. A binding supplied in a box still has to be drilled, fitted and set on a bench, and that is a separate cost in every shop.
It does not make prices comparable. This is the practical damage. A price table that mixes flat skis with complete sets ranks by carton contents, and the cheapest row is the emptiest one.
It does not extend to the other consequences of buying flat: the brake width that has to match the waist, and the sole standard the binding has to accept.
What it is read alongside
The binding requirements and the assembly procedure, both of which describe the thing the flat listing leaves out. The brake width convention, which decides which binding can go on afterwards.
Where it turns up on this site
Every ski shelf, and the binding shelf on the other side of the same decision.
This site handles it in one way, consistently. Where a listing states that a ski comes without a binding, the page says so in its own first lines rather than in a footnote. Where a binding is included, the page names it and prints its Z range and brake width. Where the listing is silent, the page states that the contents are unstated — and no comparison here puts a flat ski and a complete set in the same price column without the distinction printed in the row.
The questions asked most often
Is a flat ski a worse ski?
It is the same ski. The word describes what is in the box. If you already own bindings that suit it, it is the correct purchase; if you do not, it is an incomplete one.
Does the price include mounting?
Almost never, and mounting is a workshop job with a cost of its own. A ski bought flat needs a binding, the mounting and the setting before it is skiable.
What about a system ski?
Some skis are built with a plate or a rail that only takes that maker’s binding. Those are sold as a system and cannot be mounted with anything else, which is a compatibility fact rather than a price one.
Last reviewed 28 September 2026