Crampons

Recent Crampon Reviews

Black Diamond Sabretooth Crampons

Great versatile steel crampon for hard snow and icy conditions, in flat terrain, mountain uphill, and vertical faces. I had initially chosen the Black Diamond Serac Clip for my first pair of crampons, but they had been unavailable for quite some time up until a few days before my outing, and amongst available options I chose the Sabretooth Clip (Hybrid). I am glad I did, as I got a lot more versatility for the same price and weight. Bindings, compatible boot types and suitability for flat, uphill… Full review

Hillsound Trail Crampon Pro

Excellent performance on ice, packed snow, or greasy logs. Easy on and off boots. Solid connection to boots for great control on flats or slopes. We bought these after trying snowshoeing on the mountain trails on the North Shore of Vancouver. The trails get packed down pretty hard very quickly and only the crampons of the snowshoes really do any work. So we decided to drop the snowshoes and go with spikes. We looked at many different varieties including the rubber mounted carbide pegs, chain and… Full review

Grivel G12

The benchmark mountaineering crampon that most people need. This will get you up any mountain in the world. This is the crampon 90% of people need. I have climbed vertical ice, steep snow, and even dry tooling. Sure, there are better crampons for really steep stuff, but if you only want one crampon, this is a good one. Steve House climbed Nanga Parbat Royal Face in this. Stevie Haston climbed Scotch on the rocks in this. I find it fits my boots well (La Sportiva and Hanwags models) and the Newmatic… Full review

Black Diamond Neve Strap

These do not work at all with Altra trail shoes. The crampons slide off the toe box. My foot slid out multiple times while traversing a very sketchy icy slope. Full review

Black Diamond Snaggletooth Crampons

Good precision and grip, but slightly heavy. I bought them for mixed climbing routes with a lot of rock climbing involved and they proved very adequate for the task indeed. I used them with a pair of La Sportiva Baturas and they performed very well with great feeling and precision. However there was this incident on the downclimb when one of the crampons suddenly came off without particular reason. I had them fitted really hard, so I don't know what happened but since then I am a bit cautious. Full review

Black Diamond Contact Strap

Easy to fit on and great traction. These were very easy to fit to my boots (10.5D), and fast to get set up. I really appreciate crampons that are a breeze to put on and take off. It's not often I have an easy place to put them on when I get to ice, snow, etc. And the first time using them, I could feel a lot of secure traction on snow and scree fields. Full review

Black Diamond Serac Crampons

12-point stainless steel crampon that does the job. I bought these a couple of years ago and I've used them only in snow ranging from powder to crust with my flexible hunting boots, but never on solid ice.After some mixed rocky trail hike, a fellow hiker advised me to buy a knife sharpening stone to sharpen the edges from time to time. I came to no result since stainless steel is VERY HARD to sharpen. Not that I needed any sharpening because till this day they are as sharp as they were when I first… Full review

Petzl Leopard FL

The Petzl Leopard FL is an aluminum crampon featuring a Dyneema cord adjustment system. The crampon is so light you won't hate yourself for carrying them when you didn't need them. They are so easy to use and so effective you'll be glad you have them when you do need them. Specifications: All aluminum construction optimized for snow travel Ten points (with dual front points) assure traction on icy terrain Very lightweight 360 gm/12 ounces for pair CORD-TECH optimizes volume when packed in their… Full review

Black Diamond Sabretooth Crampons

Not a slip-on crampon. Once I figured out how to properly mount these on my boots they work great. Size up the crampons to your boot, lock it in. Getting on and strapping in can be a pain. I've used them a dozen times, most recently a hike up Mt. Katahdin. Once I figured how to strap them in properly they stayed tight, and using the fine adjustment helps. I use them on Koflach Arctis Expe boots and Scarpa Jorasses Pro GTX boots.  Full review