Having worn fell shoes or at most three-season boots for much of the last two years, I brought my Asolo B2 boots out of retirement last weekend on the Back o' Skiddaw, for some of the time with semi-automatic crampons. The boots were agony, both with and without crampons — incredibly stiff, heavy and cumbersome.
The result is I'm thinking of getting some new crampons to go with my Raichle three-season boots and/or TNF Pinyon shoes, just for snow plods and icy paths — but which ones?
I was thinking of the Grivel G10s, but I think they only fit up to boot size 45, and I take 47s. Are extension bars available to get them to fit bigger boots, and, if so, how well do they work?
An alternative might be the Kahtoola steel crampons, which I think fit up to size 13 (US, I presume). But would these work well with my 3-season boots?
Any comments on above questions, or other suggestions, would be gratefully received.
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 Hi Guy, I have the G10's, they only just fit my boots which are size 11 Scarpa SL's. This does make for a tight and secure fitting but if my boots were any larger they certainly would not fit. They seem to be very good crampons, I dont know anythign about the Kahtoola ones I'm afraid. Perhaps if oyu go to a shop to buy take your boots and have a look if they fit.
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 I've had G12s but I fitted them with the G10 flexi bar to go on bendier boots. But they are still heavy to carry, bulky in the pack and overkill for a lot of the conditions a walker (as opposed to winter climber) needs them for. A couple of years ago I bought Kahtoola steel crampons and they're great. They really will strap onto virtually any footwear and are flexible enough to cope and robust enough to work well - MoS and I were up Conival in Assynt using ours last week... I was wearing some B1 boots and MoS had on a 3-season fabric pair. I take a 43 or 44 boot and I only use the first couple of holes on the longer flexi-bar so there's plenty of adjustment left in them - if it says they go up to size 47 or more then I'd believe it. And another great benefit is that they're so much lighter and more compact in the pack when you're not using them - I don't begrudge carrying them on the off-chance that they'll be needed. PS. If you check out ptc*'s blog you'll find more enthusiastic reviews of them!! http://www.petesy.co.uk/
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These seem a pretty good deal for 'just in case' use. Not a bad compromise between price, weight and ease of fitting.
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I'm not sure you actually need an extra-long bar (and I'm not sure there is one); I'm size 46 and my G10's with flexi-bar are set using a nut and bolt on the second to last hole rather than the spring clip (as Grivel suggest), so I reckon they'd fit 47's too. Another issue with G10s though is the narrowness of the front part of the crampon on such a large boot size - it's not that difficult to wobble sideways on mine, so I suspect size 47 boots might be less stable. Kahtoolas would seem to be even narrower, so I'm not sure what a good solution for big boots would be - CAMP Ice Riders for example are nice and wide, but then don't have such a flexible bar.
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Apologies - there clearly is an extra-long flexi-bar - hadn't read the needlesports thing right. But I still think with a nut and bolt and the last hole on the standard flexi-bars there's a good chance you can fit G10s to a size 47 boot.
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 The Kahtoolas would be super flexible on your size of feet as the lomg bars would be at full extension. This is good for all day comfort. Regarding the width, the Kahtoolas shorter spikes mean you'll have less of a problem on harder surfaces or when hitting rocks. I'm getting used to using both the steels and aluminiums and can recommend them. The G10s are great as well, but I think you need better quality snow cover to use them.
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ptc* Any strong recommendations between the aluminium and steel Kahtoolas for UK conditions?
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I think the steels are probably the ones to go for if you're going to be in the snow a lot. They're more like regular crampons, good on steeper ground and they wear much less quickly. The aluminiums work just as well, but take a little bit of adapting if you're used to regular crampons as you have to use the flex of your foot to make the front points come into play on steep ground. They work very well, but regular use will have them worn flat in one season. Taking time to get the fit right on your footwear is vital as well. Once it's tweaked they're on and off in an instant. Aluminiums -> Steels (excuse the pose  )->
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| Edited: 04/02/08 22:11 |
 Hmmm - the pack size is small it is said? Is that significant as the Grivel Air Tech Lite's are lighter (sic) according to the web...? Do they pack as small?
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Dunno I've only got AirTech GSBs, but they're way smaller than G12s. The Kahtoola steels are 200mm(max) long x 80mm(ave) wide x 65mm(ave) deep. The aluminiums are less, by I can't be arsed unpacking them 
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| Edited: 04/02/08 23:25 |
There are some nice looking CAMP alloys too, with a variety of bindings - and a hybrid steel/alloy model. I think Black Diamond have a model using the Kahtoola bar. If I was starting from scratch, and had big feet, I'd pick the widest I could find.
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