Grivel G12’s or BD Sabretooths?

I have both and have used both extensively. I have the anti-bot plates on both as well, and with the plates, the Sabretooths are a few oz lighter than the G12’s.

The G12’s steel is more durable and stays sharper, so I tend to use them more on mixed terrain with a lot of rock.

The Sabretooth’s extra vertical points in the forefoot section are noticeably more secure while flat-footing (pied a plat) on steep, icy/hard terrain.

Both are excellent crampons and have served me well, and I’ve owned the same pair of each for at least a decade.

Thanks, Ryan; that’s very helpful info.  Do you see any advantage between one or the other when paired with a Scarpa Phantom Tech?

The newest model of the phantom tech has a pretty aggressive asymmetric last. I don’t expect that these crampons would have an issue with it, but on a similar boot, I had to bend the crampons crossbar between the heel and forefoot sections to make it fit better. I did this with a metal worker who knew how to deal with metal without weakening it. But this seems like a really special use case, and the phantom is a really popular boot so I can’t imagine there would be an issue.

Good to know.  I like the Sabretooth’s lower weight, so I may just go that route even if I have to take the lap to them a bit more often.

I do have one further question, though: what’s the difference in their widths?  I’ve been looking for that info and somehow not finding it.  I don’t really want anything that’s very narrow, but since my gait is extremely linear – like, I always have scrapes and scratches on the insides of my ankles from the opposite shoe striking them – I don’t think I want something especially wide, either.

I don’t have access to my winter/snow gear right now so can’t measure the widths of mine. However, I don’t recall either being particularly narrow or wide, I’ve never given that any thought…

It’s not a big deal to get that info; I was just wondering if there was any appreciable difference in the two.  Guess I just need to bite the bullet and pick one or the other.