PDA

View Full Version : Traction devices



Mags
02-13-2008, 11:11
Every so often, people ask about traction devices for winter use.

While technical mountaineering is far outside the scope for most of us (myself included), you will often encounter stretches of icy trail in not only winter, but also in the shoulder seasons.

This link provides a wonderful overview of traction devices for lighter footwear. Though aimed for trail running, it can apply to hiking. By the author's own admission, he often power hikes the steeper uphills. So the info can be useful.


http://mountainrunning.com/features/february_08/index.html

Tipi Walter
02-13-2008, 11:20
Great link. I've had my eye on the Kahtoola microspikes and thought of all the many times I could of used them coming off the icey mountains in North Carolina. Generally, though, the snow and ice I encounter in the southeast nowadays is much less than in the 1970s and 1980s, and I'm able to either walk thru the snow without traction or avoid the patches of ice. But not everyone lives and backpacks in the southeast, so thanks for the link.:)

max patch
02-13-2008, 11:32
Thanks for the link.

The paragraph about yaktraks was interesting. I wonder how many people who have said good things about them in forums have actually used them?

Frosty
02-13-2008, 11:51
Thanks for the link.

The paragraph about yaktraks was interesting. I wonder how many people who have said good things about them in forums have actually used them?I can't use them because they don't make a size that will fit on my 16-17 footwear, but I'd hiked with maybe 4-5 people who wore them. None lasted an entire dayhike.

Not in the article were instep crampons (proably too unbalanced for someone running trails) that I carry when I don't think I'll need crampons. (For hiking Grivel G10s are hard to beat.) Insteps are great when you are slabbing on a sidehill and come across that ice flow with the evil sideways down slope.

http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=47886

Mags
02-13-2008, 11:52
Thanks for the link.

The paragraph about yaktraks was interesting. I wonder how many people who have said good things about them in forums have actually used them?


i think Yak Traxx are useless myself. I only know a few people who actually like them. I often find Yak Traxx scattered over the trails in winter!

Mags
02-13-2008, 11:55
IInsteps are great when you are slabbing on a sidehill and come across that ice flow with the evil sideways down slope.

http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=47886



My buddy uses those on the very trails mentioned in the link. Worked well.

jhick
02-13-2008, 12:22
Great link. I am in the market for a traction device, glad I saw this first.

Chenango
02-13-2008, 12:42
I got a pair of Stabilicers a couple of weeks ago. So far, they seem to work real well in crusty snow, on iced rocks, and on ice build-up arounf roots and in depressions. I will be giving them a better test this weekend in the Berkshires. We have had lots of ice and freezing rain this week in the northeast.

Alligator
02-13-2008, 12:51
I have these (http://www.prolitegear.com/cgi-bin/prolitegear/camp_6point) 6 pt. crampons. I've carried them but have not needed to use them yet. About all I can say is they are light for crampons.

Mocs123
02-13-2008, 13:07
I just bought a pair of Kahtoola Microspikes. I will be taking them with me to Mt Rogers this weekend, but I might not need them. If I get a chance to use them, I will post a report.

RenoRoamer
02-13-2008, 13:20
I've not been on the site for long but I've already said something bad about Yaktrax (they break quickly in rough field conditions). Stablicers are what I use now, but those Kahtoola Microspikes look even better.

LIhikers
02-13-2008, 18:04
I've been using Stabilicers for several years and like them alot. Just stay away from their Sport version as they don't stay on for more than a few steps at a time.

saimyoji
02-13-2008, 18:23
I posted my thoughts on this thread. (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=31276&highlight=crampons) I've been using just a few lengths of chain strapped to my boots with hex screws screwed into the links. Works great and only cost my 13 bucks.

Tin Man
02-13-2008, 18:27
Hmm. :-? Looks like the items discussed here would take away all the excitement of hiking on icy trails. My lekis have been sufficient for the shoulder seasons...most of the time.

ScottP
02-13-2008, 18:36
Thanks, Mags. I'm hiking the CDT early season this year (entering San Juans first week of June), and I'll either need some snowshoes or those kahtoola microspikes.

Mags
02-13-2008, 18:48
Thanks, Mags. I'm hiking the CDT early season this year (entering San Juans first week of June), and I'll either need some snowshoes or those kahtoola microspikes.


Go with the microspikes IMO. It will be hard and crusty snow..not deep powder. Snowshoes will be too heavy for the (likely) on and off use that will be seen.

Of course, the snow is through the roof this year in the San Juans..so who the heck knows. :O

Tuck
02-14-2008, 09:04
I found the limits of my Stabilicers a few weeks ago. I was in the Catskills the day after a rain/ice storm so everything was coated in ice. I'm ~250 pounds with winter gear on my back and wear a Large Stabilicer. I didn't have nearly enough traction on some of the steeper sections going up Blackhead and Balsam.

I resorted to using snowshoes (MSR Denali Ascent) to do the steepest sections on Blackhead because their crampon is much more aggressive than the Stabilicer. I gave up on Balsam after a couple of close calls. There were a lot of rocks on the trail that didn't have enough ice for the Stabilicers to bite. They were really easy to slip on.

My buddy who weighs ~200 pounds with winter gear didn't have the same problems that I did. I think a full crampon would have made things easy.

mudhead
02-19-2008, 11:06
Does anyone have an update for me? Ease of on/off? Going across granite? Ice? Especially ice!

woodsy
02-20-2008, 17:41
Does anyone have an update for me? Ease of on/off? Going across granite? Ice? Especially ice!

http://www.viewsfromthetop.com/index-vftt.html

forums>General backcountry>scroll down to: Product review-Katoola MICROspikes
pretty good hands on, I mean feet on review from New England hikers

Chenango
02-20-2008, 18:15
I used Stabilicers going up Stratton Mtn (VT) on Saturday. Conditions were very icy neear the bottom and crusty snow near the top. I had great traction on the ice (no exposed rocks and it was not very steep). On the crust snow it was marginal going uphill, but still much better than nothing. Going downhill, the Stabilcers did very well on the crust. I think part of that was due to my heel sinking a bit into the crust a I landed on them.

mudhead
02-20-2008, 19:31
http://www.viewsfromthetop.com/index-vftt.html

forums>General backcountry>scroll down to: Product review-Katoola MICROspikes
pretty good hands on, I mean feet on review from New England hikers

Thanks. They give it two toes up it seems. I will watch that for a day or so.

Part of my issue is ice, crossing 20' of bare granite, then ice, .....

If they have to come off each time, well, not my idea of fun.

Thanks again for the link. Wish I weren't so tight!

mudhead
03-09-2008, 18:32
The Kathoola microspikes seem to be the real deal. Heavy in the hand, not on the foot. Easy on/off. Stick on hard ice, break through and then stick on punky ice. Fine on dirt. Fine on horizontal granite, and stepping up/down on flat granite. On crusty, breakthrough snow, the chain portion seems to be the traction portion. Rounded, rain polished ice scares me, and it took some time to trust my stride. I will try to natter again after I get 50 miles and some vertical on them.

I do not like them on asphalt, or concrete.

I have size L, worn on Asics 2120 12 4E. If your foot size is such that you are on their size break, be prepared to return them for a smaller size. I cannot imagine size L, working on an 11 B.

Zappos was their typical new-age self. Ordered at 9AM. On the porch the next afternoon. In podunk Maine.

Thanks again for that link.

Mr. Clean
03-10-2008, 05:20
I have the Grivels for the "tween" seasons here in Maine, but the front points can get a bit dangerous. The Kahtoolahs sound great, do they have front points?

TOW
03-10-2008, 06:38
Back when I was hiking in the winters of '02 and '03 I used Yak Trax without difficulty on light snow surfaces and ice. If the snow was a foot or more I usually took them off. I never hiked in snow deeper than 1 1/2 ft.

I never tried any other devices and those things worked well for me.

mudhead
03-10-2008, 08:57
I have the Grivels for the "tween" seasons here in Maine, but the front points can get a bit dangerous. The Kahtoolahs sound great, do they have front points?

Mags' initial link has a decent photo. Their homepage or Zappos has multiview. No front points.

JAK
03-10-2008, 09:33
I tried the hex nut trick and found them dangerously unpredictably slippery on hard surfaces. It might work better if you grind them down. I think the toughest conditions in winter is long moderate downslopes where you can't be totally on your guard all the time without it being painfully tiring and cramping, not to mention psycologically impossible, but at any sudden moment you might hit a patch of ice under light snow that needs one type of traction, or bare rock that needs another.

JAK
03-10-2008, 09:37
Hex nut trick:
I meant grind them down to an angle or pyramid, but still with that slot in the middle.
Still not sure what might make them work, as they are very slippery on rock.

Whiskyjo
03-10-2008, 09:43
Alot of the GSMNP trails ice over in the winter so we bought Climb Highs 4 point crampons and have never had a spill on the ice in years. A bit weighted but they do keep you safe.

JAK
03-10-2008, 09:49
Alot of the GSMNP trails ice over in the winter so we bought Climb Highs 4 point crampons and have never had a spill on the ice in years. A bit weighted but they do keep you safe.How do they work if you hit a patch of bare rock, and can you walk for miles in them or are they just for the shorter steeper bits?

Whiskyjo
03-10-2008, 10:08
How do they work if you hit a patch of bare rock, and can you walk for miles in them or are they just for the shorter steeper bits?
The most I have used them on the trail is about 4 miles thats including rocky areas. They mount in the instep of your boot so the toe or heel can touch the rocks as you climb for traction over them. We did changed our bindings for easier on and off applacations

JAK
03-10-2008, 12:46
That sounds promising. Thanks.

weary
12-02-2008, 16:48
When I was doing semi serious mountaineering -- on Katahdin and some of the peaks in the Whites -- I carried 12 point crampons. On most of my Maine winter backpacks, two or three a winter for 30 years, I made do with 4-point instep crampons both on my boots, and on my wood framed snowshoes.

For the snowshoes I would pound flat the up rights that clamp on your boots, and wire them to the bottom of the snowshoes with 14 guage electrical wire.

My instep crampons came from EMS. Campmor carries something that looks about the same for $35.

I never wore serious winter mountaineering boots, so the 12 point crampons were dangerous overkill. I ripped a lot of pants on the front points. I once tried to cut off the front points to make them 10 point crampons, which was all I needed with LL Bean or Sorel soft boots. To use the front points on steep frozen snow or ice, you need stiff-soled boots. But the hardened steel dulled my hacksaw blades quickly, and I never had the persistence to finish the chore.

Weary

mudhead
01-31-2009, 09:22
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/ll-bean-recalls-ice-cleats,697581.shtml

FWIW.