User Review: Black Diamond Contact Strap

These are great crampons for what they are designed to do, which is carry in your pack on a winter hike, and put them on your non-crampon compatible boots when needed. I use these when I go on early or late winter hikes where I am likely to encounter some ice and snow, but nothing that would warrant a full mountaineering boot. I strap these to my pack, and when I hit ice I stop and put them on.

These strap-on crampons are designed to work with boots that are not step-on crampon compatible. This is good, since for this type of hike I just want to use my regular backpacking boots and not a mountaineering monster boot. The crampons take about 2-3 minutes to put on and about 1-2 minutes to take off and stow, so that are not instant. They are, however, quite stable and secure, so that I feel confident when ascending or descending down (non-vertical) slopes.

The only gripe I have with these crampons is that the strap system has buckles that are too small to use with gloves on--meaning you have to pull off your gloves to put them on or take them off. This isn't really a problem, though, because if it is too cold to do that, you are likely going to be using mountaineering boots anyway.

Overall, a great crampon to use with your three-season backpacking boots.