What Kind of Crampons Do You Use?

[LionRoar]

This question comes up year after year and I'm posing the query, once again - what kind of crampons do you like? What works for you - four-, six -, ten point, snowshoe crampons?

Are you loyal to a particular brand, i.e. Petxl or Black Diamond? Have you had good / bad experiences with one brand and switched to another?

I rely heavily on my snowshoe crampons. I have had three pairs of locally manufactured Havlick snowshoes with eighth-inch thick aluminum crampons. It's all technique and I have used them on glare ice. As a back up, I carry either a four- or six point crampon.

LR

[spaddock]

Grivel G10's. I see a ton of others wearing these in the Northeast.
They strap on to just about any boot. They have antibott plates. I wore these mountaineering on glaciers last summer too and had no problems.

I also have a pair of Stubai 6 pointers which I prefer in the shoulder seasons, but now a days the stablicer's seem better suited for these conditions.


-Shayne

[alombard]

Grivel G10's are perfect for the Adirondacks in the winter months. I have used them for 2 years with no fail. The are great! Plus, they are not too expensive.

[Jay H]

Steel G10s on the northeast peaks and AirTechLites on the mountains out west (more snow, less rocks :) )

Jay

[billandjudy]

BD Contact Strap w/ Columbia Bugaboo2's
BD Sabretooth Clip's w/ LaSportiva Glaciers

[pete_hickey]

I have Black Diamond somethings which are rather aggressive and have these front points which are continuously tearing my gaiters. They are that aggressive for fooling around on local ice. Although I've used the front points a number of times, I could have gotten by without them...... Heck, I didn't even get the crampons until after I had finished my winter 46.

[Joe H.]

Salewa Messners - 12 point - they have covered a lot of ground in a variety of conditions both in the East and out West. They are ok for the occasional ice climb, also.

[cantdog]

AustriAlpin 10 point. $63.20 at the EMS 20% sale and no regrets.

[TFR]

Heck, I didn't even get the crampons until after I had finished my winter 46.You're my role model Pete! :D

[Oldsmores]

BD contact strap-ons. I haven't had a huge problem tearing up my gaiters, I guess being bow-legged has its advantages. ;)

[adkdremn]

This is the first time I've been able to participate in a crampon discussion so I'll throw my two cents in.
I just purchased a pair of Camp Stalker twelve pointers from EMS for 90 bucks. EMS had two different types for $90, these and the Austri Alpines. IMO, these were the better buy. They came with the Antibots and carrying bag which the Austris didn't, plus the Austri's are only 10 pointers. Not that that makes that much of a difference, but for the same price you might as well get the extra two points, right?
I can't compare them to anything but they performed flawlessly over the weekend. I wore them for four peaks and didn't have to stop to make any adujustments or tighten the straps or anything. For my money and the amount of use they'll get they are perfect for me. My b-i-l used the Austri's and had no problems either. One other difference between the two is I think the Austri's might be aluminum as opposed to the Camps being steel.

[Jay H]

Not that that makes that much of a difference, but for the same price you might as well get the extra two points, right?

Not necessarily... The 2 more spikes/points on a Grivel G12 vrs a G10 is that the G12 has an extra point on each side in the front. A good way to rip up more pants, as well as a little more control on sidehills. Not necessarily better in all situations, I don't own a 12pt crampon and found the G10s fine for me and my pants. :)

Jay

[adkdremn]

Maybe that explains why I ripped my pants and my brother in law didn't with his 10 pointers!

[Jay H]

Maybe that explains why I ripped my pants and my brother in law didn't with his 10 pointers!

:)

It's also probably why I've never sharpened my crampons.

My crampons on my snowshoes though are pretty rounded!

Jay

[WinterWarlock]

AustriAlpin 10 point. $63.20 at the EMS 20% sale and no regrets.

Maybe you can help me with getting these things on, then? The Italian to English translations are quite funny, but useless!

Thanks!

[Stu]

I am also a big fan of the Grivel's. I opted for G12's mainly because I wanted a "step-in binding" for use on my plastic boots. I have found that if it takes more than a few minutes to put them on, you will start to avoid wearing them. I only wear my G12's when I need them (takes less than a minute per boot to put them on). I take them off and put them on whenever conditions warrant their use. I'm not a big fan of leaving them on when they are not needed. I have never speared my pants!:) Love those front points for steep ice!;) ....Stu

[kmorgan]

AustriAlpin 10 point. $63.20 at the EMS 20% sale and no regrets.

Watch out for the connecting bar breaking. These were my first crampons and they snapped on my first hike wearing them. The bars are cheap metal and they are not meant for non-rigid footwear. The flexing quickly stresses the metal and they break.

I replaced them with a set of Grivel 12 pointers (I have a set of 10's on the way too) and got the spring steel bars for them.

Kevin

[eddogg12]

Black Diamond Contact Strap with North Face Lifty 400 boots

[mountainmeijin]

Aluminum Kahtoola's.

[cantdog]

Maybe you can help me with getting these things on, then? The Italian to English translations are quite funny, but useless!

Thanks!

My instructions are also designed for the illiterate so I just tie them up with what I feel is almost obvious. Doodles said he is contacting EMS for extra information.

If it's the strapping, I run the strap out of the inboard stem through the toe hoop, through the outboard hoop, through the inboard hoop and lastly, through the belt buckle. Depending on the excess remaining, I just use my own creativity and often mimic the schematic backwards.

[WinterWarlock]

That sounds like it would work - thanks.

I've been thinking about copying the instructions here for everyone's amusement - they remind me of the website Engrish (http://www.engrish.com).

[kmorgan]

Maybe you can help me with getting these things on, then? The Italian to English translations are quite funny, but useless!

Thanks!

It's not too hard. You can download the manual from their website. The manual is in color and much easier to see what's going on.

http://www.austrialpin.at/03-austrialpin/bilder/pdfprod/MANUAL.pdf

Kevin