WINTER HIKERS...MICROSPIKES OR UNIVERSAL CRAMPONS?

[1911Shooter123]

Looking for advice/experience/opinions.....microspikes or universal/flexible crampons?



What I don't need them for
1. vertical ice climbing
2. running, jogging, etc.

What I do need them for
1. walking/hiking on hard packed to icy snow.
2. ascending/descending slopes up to approx. 45 degree angle

I like the price and simplicity of the microspikes, but I like having something to dig in on the front of my boot.

 

[terraformer]

Microspikes. If you are in the backwoods, carry a pair of basic (and I mean basic) climbing crampons (find a set with the smallest front points possible and 8 pts) for if it gets hairy on a slopped surface and you need front bite. But walking in crampons destroy's the front tangs, everything you walk on and are a PITA to walk in. You will take them off before long.

Note they call these hiking crampons but what is missing, the front points. They are the worst for hiking.
http://kahtoola.com/product/k10-hiking-crampon/
These "hiking crampons" are actually more like microspikes. I wish microspikes were available when I was hiking around the woods in my younger days. They had yaltraks but they were not enough for the back woods. They were good for around town.

 

[1911Shooter123]

great info thanks

 

[ToddDubya]

I've used the YakTrax Pros for a lot of stuff, but most of it revolved around running, which you say isn't your intended use. I'm probably going to get some Kahtoolah microspikes when they go on sale this spring. They grab like it's going out of style, which is usually good. But then they like to snag on stuff like logs you're trying to step over. They also fall off my feet easier, which could just be a sizing problem.

With that being said, I used some Kahtoolah knockoffs (I think they're made by YakTrax) that had less spikiness and they worked awesome on some seriously icy inclines. I also lost both knockoffs when they fell off my feet. I found them later, but they didn't stay on. What I'm getting at is you don't need giant spikes to have great traction.

 

[lpc]

I had lived in Colorado Springs, CO and used the Microspikes for hiking through the winter. This included a weekly hike up the Manitou springs incline, a hike with a 2000 foot gain in less than a mile. They worked great for the packed snow and ice that I hiked on.

 

[TripleP]

One reason I like microspikes are because they are easy to take on/off. That ability unfortunately also means that they will shift on your shoes more than crampons with fixed binding systems. They will work great for #1, and perhaps less great for #2 due to shifting and small points (depending on the snow/ice).

I have an older model of Kahtoola's K-10s that aren't any better. They sit in between the microspikes and Grivel 12-point hiking crampons I have. For mountaineering the Grivels are great. For anything else, microspikes.

I didn't like the K-10s because they were more narrow than my boots and you could feel/tell that. The binding systems is really annoying to adjust if you switch shoes too, although they were much more solid than the microspikes system. I have had one of my microspikes fall off on me once while hiking.

 

[45collector]

Another +1 for YakTracks but I only do moderate walking/ hiking around areas that aren't very hilly. You can walk across sheer ice with those things like you were walking on pavement in summer. I used 'em just the other day walking down to the pond near my house.

 

[ToddDubya]

Another +1 for YakTracks but I only do moderate walking/ hiking around areas that aren't very hilly. You can walk across sheer ice with those things like you were walking on pavement in summer. I used 'em just the other day walking down to the pond near my house.

I forgot to mention the sheer ice bit. Even ice on hills is not too big of an issue with Yaks. Watch out for heavy duty concrete, though. We have sidewalks at work that are meant to drive trucks over and they are SLICK. I can't tell you why that is, but it is. They don't look any different from regular concrete but you know it with the Yaks.

 

[Billsail]

I've used the YakTrax Pros for a lot of stuff, but most of it revolved around running, which you say isn't your intended use. I'm probably going to get some Kahtoolah microspikes when they go on sale this spring. They grab like it's going out of style, which is usually good. But then they like to snag on stuff like logs you're trying to step over. They also fall off my feet easier, which could just be a sizing problem.

With that being said, I used some Kahtoolah knockoffs (I think they're made by YakTrax) that had less spikiness and they worked awesome on some seriously icy inclines. I also lost both knockoffs when they fell off my feet. I found them later, but they didn't stay on. What I'm getting at is you don't need giant spikes to have great traction.

A short length of shoelace can be use to "cinch" the flexible rubber portion, over the top of your boot.

 

[ACfarmer]

Another vote for the microspikes.. good solid footing on any ice or hard packed snow. Work issued them a few years back and I've since purchased them for the family whenever we winter hike and aren't in snowshoes.

 

[PineTar]

These: http://kahtoola.com/product/microspikes/

With regular weekend solid hikes with the dog, these have lasted two seasons and still going.

I blew through multiple pairs of Yaks before I got them.

 

[ToddDubya]

A short length of shoelace can be use to "cinch" the flexible rubber portion, over the top of your boot.

Absolutely, that's exactly what I would have done but they weren't mine. We actually had to share them to get up some of the icy sections, leapfrogging and tossing them back down to the other guy. Believe me, I tried to improve them but the owner could not fathom how a length of cord could be used to hold them on. Don't even get me started on his sled harness.

 

[OIFer]

Ive hiked a lot of the NH 4000' mountains both in summer and winter, and the Kahtoola microspikes are popular with some hikers for their ease of use and universal fit, however the teeth are somewhat short and don't give the absolute traction you would want on steep trails. I've also had the microspikes pull off my boots as i was going down the trail and had to look for it and put it back on several times.
The way i look at it, i don't want to take chances that i'll slip / fall /get injured when I'm 3 hours up a mountain in the dead of winter, so im gonna go with the more aggressive traction.

I have a set of http://hillsound.com/hillsound-product/trail-crampon-pro/ and in the hiking crowd, they are the next step up from microspikes. They go on in seconds and stay put all day. I've smashed the heck out of them on numerous mountains, walked on rocks, crossed roads, etc etc and they are still perfectly fine.

 

[OIFer]

PS - crampons are really only helpful on packed snow and ice, ie: trails that have been 'broken' and compressed by snowshoes or at elevation where the wind blown snow is packed down and frozen.
you're gonna want a pair of decent snow shoes as well for deep snow, unbroken trails, or on warmer days when the packed snow allows your boots to 'posthole' through. I got a pair of MSR ligtning ascents on sale a few years back, and they have plenty of traction and have held up to several mountains as well.

 

[slugworth]

Ahhh....sorry I thought this thread was another Group Buy.....

 

[okie]

microspikes