After going A over T in the Lakes in January, and then getting to the top of Pen Y Ghent in March and wondering how the dickens I managed it, I'm thinking of getting some crampons for this winter, just in case. Well it's one way of keeping the snow away.
But proper crampons look like severe overkill for ordinary walking, and at about £100 are no joke. Plus there's the question of how on earth you avoid impaling yourself when they're not on your feet. So I was wondering if some of the cheapo (£20 ish) things with half a dozen mini spikes on stretchy rubber are any good or a complete waste of money?
Does anyone have any practical expereince of such things?
Thanks,
John
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The only use I have for crampons is to float them on my soup.
Daughter uses them but she goes up big hills in the Highlands in winter. Other than on snow and ice - ice axe conditions - they're no use are they?
Last edited by: Manatee on Sat 20 Nov 10 at 16:57
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Nope. And I guess you wreck them too.
John
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How about a pair of cricket or golf shoes which you can use with or without spikes?
I imagine you can still get screw-ins.
This would enable you to change traction arrangements 'on the fly' as you encounter differing conditions.
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Thanks for the suggestion Iffy but I'm wearing boots when walking and I appreciate the ankle support they give. Essential I reckon. I may not be mountaineering but there are some pretty rough & steep paths.
Besides, there's the cred factor too. Shoes with tassles. Dear me. :-)
John
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I think there are some boots available with retractable shortish spikes, controlled by a push/pull lever in the heel.
www.google.co.uk/search?q=boots+%2B+retractable+spikes&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=utf8&oe=utf8&redir_esc=&ei=RgHoTOXuLJCD5Ab7vOD4Ag
Last edited by: Perky Penguin on Sat 20 Nov 10 at 17:12
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"I think there are some boots available with retractable shortish spikes, controlled by a lever"
Rosa Klebb had a pair :-)
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Last winter the back lane at Iffy Towers was very icy.
One evening I was struggling to get out of the car - the foot I put on the ground kept slipping.
The solution was to remove my shoes.
My socks gripped the ground almost as if the ice was not there.
I'm not suggesting you walk in bare feet, but there might be a clever tip for something you can slip over your walking boots to provide temporary extra grip.
If it's ice you are worried about, I would carry an old pair of socks.
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>> Last winter the back lane at Iffy Towers was very icy.
>>
>> One evening I was struggling to get out of the car - the foot I
>> put on the ground kept slipping.
>>
>> The solution was to remove my shoes.
>>
>> My socks gripped the ground almost as if the ice was not there.
Douglas Bader found socks over shoes a solution to being legless and on ice.
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...Douglas Bader found socks over shoes a solution to being legless and on ice...
Didn't realise I was in such good company.
Mind, when I used to get legless nothing would keep me upright.
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Nokian range includes studded boots. www.nokianfootwear.com/ Can you get them here? It appears not! Apart from the Trimmi boots but I'm not wearing them.
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Thanks guys but I'm looking for something to strap onto my Zamberlans (such as preview.tinyurl.com/2fneu9w
). A special pair of boots sounds extravagant. I could just stay in the pub I suppose :-)
John
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Crampons are great in solidified snow and ice. A few years ago I was walking in the Mamores in Scotland and higher up the freezing wind had turned the snow to sheet ice. In that situation they are a godsend - a pity I didn't have any then! I had visions of starting a long slide for about a thousand feet then plummeting over the edge, but hey, that's what makes it interesting(!) I've seen pairs for around £70. You just need to carry them on the outside of your pack and put them on when the going gets tough. Admittedly, quick release ones are going to be easier to use but cost more. Anything other than the conditions described above and they are more of a hindrance, it's very easy to catch them on any flapping material and they don't like rocks - they tend to yield before the rocks do, and then you're on your back.
I havn't tried the shoe spikes, but I've inherited a pair for this winter, so we'll see. They would be no good for mountain country though, at least not the ones I've got, the spikes are tiny.
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I get crampons in bed at night.
Pat
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Well I have a pair of 8-point Salewa's somewhere and the number of times I've used them in this country in the 30 years i've had them could probably be numbered on my current complement of limbs without too much trouble, and that's given the fact that when younger, I would have been seeking out places to use them, so given that they probably cost the same then as they do now, I dont think I've seen much of a return on my investment.
I know not of the things you mention, but a recent mailing from Cotswold had the sort of thing based on a spring stretched under the sole. I assume they must have some effectiveness if Cotswold are selling them, but I previously associated these with the back pages of the Telegraph, along with walk-in baths and elasticated slacks
The local Go Outdoors, IIRC, had a 4-point crampon based on a plate that straps under the instep - looks like it could potentially quite usefull if your not contemplating ice climbing
>>Plus there's the question of how on earth you avoid impaling yourself
On balance, the injuries caused by crampons probably outweigh the injuries prevented by them. The traditional method of carrying them is under straps on the top of your rucksack, with a rubber 'spider' to cover the points. Once you've taken them on and off once or twice on a trip, with freezing cold hands faffing about with the spider goes out of the window and you just stick them on top of the sack. Believe me, its all too easy after a brew to sling your rucksack across your shoulders as you get up after a brew and catch the bloke stood behind you....
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"the back pages of the Telegraph" oh no! I'm slipping into the tat zone!
John
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...the back pages of the Telegraph"...
I quite like the idea of going for a stroll in some nice, comfy, elasticated slacks, and then returning home for a soak in a walk-in bath.
I'd have my Jim Reeves boxed set playing in the background while I contemplated ordering a facsimile copy of the Telegraph for the day I was born.
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and you could use a combined turntable/cassette deck/CD player/radio to convert that LP to MP3 (whatever that is) and then read your matched set of hand tooled leather classics, glancing up occasionally to admire the souvenir plate on the wall from Franklin mint.
Careful iffy. LotSW has finished so there are no openings there.
John
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>> I quite like the idea of going for a stroll in some nice, comfy, elasticated
>> slacks, and then returning home for a soak in a walk-in bath.
So you open the door of the bath and all the water gushes out, taking wide eyed OAP down the stairs in a cascade of tepid water.
Sorry, the idea of a walk-in bath always makes me chuckle...
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I had to laugh at this thread drift from crampons to walk in baths ...my nephews mother in law is the lady who advertises the 'tat ' in her case the airbag thingy that lifts you in and out of the bath...... looks like your very frail OAP in the pictures......
......In fact she is a stunning looking lady even now in her early 60's with white hair she turns mens heads ....
Last edited by: retpocileh on Mon 22 Nov 10 at 12:05
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...white hair she turns mens heads ...
That'll be men wearing cowboy boots, no doubt.
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I'm fascinated by the way they use attractive 30 / 40 year old ladies wearing frumpy stuff to try to sell the tat. Do they think the old folk think they'll look as good as that if they buy it?
Speaking of drift, eBay to Torbay in another. You couldn't make it up. :-)
John
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www.gooutdoors.co.uk/grivel-spider-p120263
This is what I was referring ot at Go Outdoors - looks like it would work to me as long as your not doing anything technical - indeed, I might put them on my christmas list
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From Grivel, so there is some cred that they may work. And they don't look like I could have someone's eye out with them. Well, not without trying anyway. Thanks.
John
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Glad to be of assistance
I'd be even gladder of the opportunity to get a camping/bunkhouse weekend away and walk the winter hills, but that's seeming like a distant memory at the moment. Still, at least I did manage to get down one pothole this year.
(rumbles off into distance, chuntering about today's caving trip was cancelled because No.1 buddy was at a free bar last night......)
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I bought a pair similar to the ones in Borasport's link last winter having been close to busting an elbow once or twice.
I used them a few times before the thaw and they really are useful. My pair don't have a spike on the heel, but as long as you watch where you put your feet no slippage occurs.
I got mine on ebay for considerably less than Gooutdoors prices.
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most 'proper' crampons (a quick browse of Cotswold suggests) still come as a 2-piece articulated assembly (as opposed to a single stiff plate)
If you are going to use an articulated set, you need boots with either a full or at the very least 3/4 length shank in the sole, i.e. a proper set of winter or mountain boots, not modern lightweight ones
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Thanks bora. Staying in the pub is sounding like the better option.
John
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I can just picture budding Edmund Hillary's heading up the Himalayas in cricket shoes covered in old socks ;-)
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..I can just picture budding Edmund Hillary's heading up the Himalayas in cricket shoes covered in old socks ;-)...
You jest, but I remember one of our Olympic bobsleigh teams wearing thick Aran jumpers.
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Bora makes a good point - reminded me that boots have to be suitable. I have a decent enough pair of Meindls for my Sunday walks, proper solid things with reasonably stiff soles but on the Meindl rating system A/B/C/D they are two levels below the Ds which they say are fully 'crampon compatible'.
www.meindl.de/english/modelle/anwendungsgebiete.html
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Running in trail shoes on my toes works for me on ice and snow...at least it did last year...
Did have a couple of moments tho when I would have won skating on ice competitions...
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You need sequins for max points, I believe.
John
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As I'm sure I overheard in Pete's Eats in Llanberis last winter...."I'm sure we'll need pick axes and tampons to go up there today" I may have been mistaken !
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I've got a pair of 12 point articulated crampons - great when it gets really tough but overkill for wandering about the town! I actually wore them last winter on 4th Jan when I went up Tinto (our local hill) in brilliant conditions on 4th Jan this year. My parents have got some of those few point inset crampons and used them to great effect last winter - their drive is long and steep and was v icy last winter!
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I have several pairs of crampons, specifically matched to boots! Buy a pair of flexible crampons if you have 'bendy' boots, and get advice from a proper outdoor climbing shop.Admittedly they will cost a few bob, but will last for years & years, unlike your boots which you will outgrow...several years ago i took an 8, now it is a 9,5.something to do with getting older.
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>> unlike your
>> boots which you will outgrow...several years ago i took an 8, now it is a
>> 9,5.something to do with getting older.
Interesting LL, because my feet have got slightly bigger, I thought it was years spent walking in steel toecaps, but I found this:
au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/b/sportsnick/10560/are-your-feet-getting-bigger
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Sorry if this has already been covered.
Proper crampons are the business in hard packed snow and ice. Problem is, they take 5 mins to put on (assuming you're not using placcy boots and a clip on set), and if you are not using at least a B2-graded boot then they get pretty uncomfortable pretty quickly. Certainly not one to use around town.
I've seen the following in many gear shops in the Lakes, and they seem to come recommended for light use (although I have not used them myself). tinyurl.com/38vevu8 . Would probably be uncomfortable for long periods I'd expect, but anything will be if you don't have a boot designed for it.
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Didn't Prince Charles wish he was one of Camilla's?
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Thanks PU. "Dithering". Yes. That's where I'm at. The Amazon page is a bit odd. They're awarded four and a bit stars by 113 people but there is only one review. A local walking shop has something similar so I might enquire. These www.amazon.co.uk/Pogu-Spikes-small-spikes-trekking/dp/B00494T8OC/ref=sr_1_14?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1290710528&sr=1-14 seem to be a bit more "half-way house" between full on crampons and things that sound like they're designed for around town.
We're off to the Lakes in Jan so plenty of time. Thanks to all, especially those of you with experience of such things or who took the time to find products.
John
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I ordered a pair from fleabay - should be here tomorrow or Saturday will write a review (weather permitting) - it was a bit dodgy underfoot today as this hose has a steep drive ! But I may do some serious walking if the weather's half decent as well.
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>>this hose has a steep drive !
...does your duwg bite ?
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im going to make some at work out of drawing pins and fairy liquid bottles
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Old skier's trick if you've got to walk uphill in snow in ski boots which tend to have little grip. Wrap bungees round the foreparts of your boots and hook them together on top of each one. Works pretty well. Cheap / effective. Only climbers use crampons and they have to walk back down too. Don't think ahead those guys...
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A fair selection here, and reasonable priced
tinyurl.com/27ucbdo
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Saw some lightweight "grip assisters" in Costco this morning, rubber devices with steel spikes under the heel and wire mesh under the sole. They were attached by loops over the toe and heel of the shoe. Didn't notice the price but a few pounds I would think. They were doing a roaring trade in snow shovels. Not a flake of snow in Edinburgh (yet).
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 26 Nov 10 at 16:54
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Crampons anyone? - Manatee
