lightest Crampons On The Market

Do you need mountaineering crampons, or just something to help you keep traction on an icy trail?

As Art said it really depends on what you need them for. At the minimum end of some extra traction on mild slopes I like the camp 6 point aluminum at about 8 oz.

I carry/wear 10 pt Kahtoola aluminum crampons in the winter. Since I don't need them all the time, the wear on them is minimal. For a full crampon set at only 19oz I consider them ideal for winter hiking and usually wear them with Inov-8 390's.

Sorry Art, just for walking on trails. I have mountaineering ones already. Just for icy or snowy trails

http://www.kahtoola.com/microspikes.html

They work very, very well for late snow (the frozen nasty stuff in June) and in early season. You can wear them on frozen ground as well. Both Ford and I have a pair.

The absolute cheapest and lightest way to go are these:

http://www.rei.com/product/760284

They are basically sheet metal screws (1/2” deep with aprox 1/4” hex head). The heads are sloted and drilled out to make a sharp inner (concave) edge. If you carry a small wide blade screw driver you can “install” them when needed. Takes a little effort to get them screwed into your shoes or boot soles. Use 8-14 per boot for maximum traction. On icy trails you can go from zero traction (0-10 scale) to about “8” with these installed. Not as good as Micro-Spikes but on moderatly steep & icy trails the improvement is quite significant. This traction "system" is also additive–one can always add Micro-Spikes or crampons over these as conditions change.

BPL should consider selling an UL "Traction Kit" (small ziplock of these screws and a L/W flat screw driver.

Steve

Ken – I check the trail conditions before I decide what I will bring to help with traction. For situations with 1-2" of snow, I use the CAMP 6Pt. aluminum crampons (8oz.). When the trails are just sheets of ice, I slip on the Kahtoola microspikes (12oz.). The microspikes help with traction to the point where you tend to forget that you are walking on ice.

thanks folks for the insight and suggestions. I plan on doing much more hiking in '09 and I want to push the shoulder seasons to get as much out of '09 as possible. Early June hiking in the Sierra's, you will encounter snow (well I sure hope this year we do!!), and it is not alot of fun kicking steps while traveling on snow without something to gain purchase with the ground. No worries though folks, no exposure just a hillside covered in snow. As I am getting older I just want to be more careful. Time to use my axe too!!!

Now only to go over my self arrest techniques

and yes I know I cannot kick steps with crampons on. Just a correction before I get laughed at.

If the Kathoola microspikes will work for your application (and it sounds like they will) they are by far the best that I've tried (and I tried lots). They are quite resonable investments with how durable they are while being light and are very effective at most any icy and packed snow conditions. They slip on and off in around 5 seconds and are durable enough to handle rocks and mud in the mix.

http://www.grivel.com/Products/Dettaglio_ramponi.asp?ID=13
Anyone has experience with these?

I use the microspikes also because they can pop off an on any shoe or boot I want to with little fuss. Granted that they are really only useful for flat ice but then again I live in a very flat place. They also pack up much easier than the itmes mentioned and I really don't have to worry about them ripping up everything if I put them into a pack

i like the microspikes idea. i have some cheap pair i bought at the grand canyon, same design lesser quality compared to the microspikes (the ones i bought were like $20).

Huzefa – i have never used that style, but i saw alot of people who did use that arch style spike. It seemed to me most people had a hard time walking on hills. they had to change their steps to gain traction(and they lost daylight in the process). are they good on icey hills…i say no. are they better than nothing…yes!

I think this is one of the cases when id rather have good traction rather than worry about shaving ounces.

mahalo!

Another vote for Kathoola microspikes. My wife and I both use them for mild terrain including iced-over xcountry ski trail in the mountains.

As for terrain, Ford and I used ours happily this summer around the Cascades in Washington. Due to the very late melt out (snow still in August….snowed fresh snow on the 31st of August) we loved having the Microspikes. On the snow fields at 5-7,000 ft. at Rainier they really were helpful.
Nothing technical – but they prevented what could have been not so fun unplanned glissades down 50-100 ft. They really bit into old, crusty and icy snow.

Matthew, I did feel that having traction under the arch instead under the ball wouldnt be comfortable and your comment supports that. Thanks!

Still another Microspikes fan.

Here's something I posted back on January 4 of this year:

"Just spent the afternoon hiking in the foothills near Eldorado Springs. The surface was mostly packed snow, with some loose snow,slush,ice, rock and dirt. The terrain was level to very steep. (The steep section was up and down the Shadow Canyon trail for you locals). The MICROspikes outperformed all the other traction devices I've tried including Yaktrax regular and pro, Stabilicers regular and sport, screw shoes, and get-a-grips. I suspect that they will be far more durable than Yaktrax and get-a grips. Not bad for 12.3 oz. a pair."

I continued to use Microspikes through the winter and early spring. My opinion of them just got better. Durability has been excellent.

Another vote for the Kahtoola KTS Traction Systems Aluminum Crampon

Weight: 540g/1.2 lb per pair

Will fit any footwear from ski-boot to running shoe

Remember that any aluminum crampon is going to suffer if your conditions are a mix of ice and granite rock (White Mountains of New England). Steel stays sharp in those conditions and I don't have to worry about taking the crampons off and back on again as conditions vary.

On the other hand, if you never have to contend with rock, the aluminum saves weight.

I do use the Spiders. But I can't recommend them 'highly'. They are troublesome to put on/off. And they can put pressure on the instep which becomes uncomfortable after awhile. That said, I do use them.

I haven't tried these, but it seems that this DIY crowd could fashion a better/lighter/faster version!
I'm thinking of getting a pair for city-walks. I seem to spend half of my winter commute picking myself up off of the pavement.

Yak Trax