Micro-Spikes – What do you have?

Sized properly, I see no reason why Kahtoola Microspikes wouldn’t fit your boots.  I wear mine on  both trail runners and a light hiking boot not too different than the Liberty Ridge.  The Kahtoolas are an amazing piece of gear; you forget you’re even wearing them and yet they can handle a surprising amount of conditions/terrain.

I was looking at some of the cheap copies on Amazon but I think I’ll follow your recommendation.   Ice cleats are not an area where I want to hazard the risk of a cheaper alternative.

Yaktrax – they have rubber on the bottom that gets nicked if you walk on mixed rock and snow, then breaks.  They worked good until they broke.

Kahtoola – better, although I haven’t used mine a lot.  I use mine for PNW icy/rocky trails

+1 to Micro Spikes. I hike a lot in the winter up here in the PNW, and have found they’re all I need for most hikes. If they’re not enough, it’s time to strap on regular crampons.

I normally use Kahtoola Microspikes but also occasionally use Hillsound Trail Crampon Pros if I am expecting steep icy terrain. Nothing in Minnesota that can seriously be considered to be a mountain  (technically yes, seriously no)  but lots of steep terrain on the SHT that gets thick ice layers where the Hillsounds works better then the Kahtoolas.

Love me my Kahtoola microspikes—

They work well in cold dry snow and on steep backpacking pitches in dry snow and ice.  They DO NOT WORK in deep wet snow.  5 lb clumps of wet snow attach to each underneath and you end up walking on these balls of snow until you fall.  Plain boots are better in wet snow.

If you put a sheet of plastic between shoe and microspikes wet snow will cling less, like if you’re in mixed icy and wet

I have had the same experience as Tipi. Our last winter in Alaska was so icy I wore my Microspikes nearly daily (I also got some Nanospikes for the in town stuff). But in wet snow Microspikes pick up a lot of snow. But in wet snow traction isn’t usually a problem anyway. I swear by my Microspikes. Even after a full season of hard use they remain sharp. I used them in icy trail conditions last week and they were great, they get such good traction it feels nearly impossible to slip.

One word of advice- make sure they are on tight. If you have slop in the heel, you can slip and fall. They need to be pulled on snug.

Kahtoola. Never used them yet.

microspikes +1

make sure they fit snug