When they are in situ they work very well and they come with a complete set of replacement studs which would be fine if they lasted long enough for you to need them.
Below there is 4.5 star review symbol which Blogger will not let me delete and I have no time to spend trying to solve that, suffice to say that is not my opinion.
This is what you get when clicking on 'Brand Willceal''.
ReplyDeleteNot much about ice nails here, but welcome back to talking about interesting things you can do something about.
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A Googler, Blogger Buzz - 7 months ago
uzw
That’s no good is it and as grips go, not cheap. We bought Spring Yard Steady grips when Sheila’s mum was alive and they did really well.
ReplyDeleteTry Kahoola. Most people give their Microspikes and Exospikes good reviews and I can certainly recommend the Microspike.
ReplyDeleteSorry: Kahtoola
ReplyDeleteAlan R and Afoot - I already have Kahtoola spikes but they are closer to a proper crampon more suitable for proper crusted snow and ice overall on modest hill walking ground. What I want is something that will cope with unexpected black ice and/or a covering of thin ice on tarmac where the Khatoola would be to some extent overkill. These that I list above were perfect in that respect except that they didn't stay on my trekking shoes. There are loads of different makes which all attach in the same way including the Spring Yard grips you mention. I have just Googled Khatoola and see the they do their Nano Spikes which attach much more securely but they are in the region of £45.00 - you pays your money and...
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Needless Haste - I'm not sure which of my previous post or posts you refer to as not being "interesting." I do not understand the reason for including, or the point you may wish to make, regarding the second half of your comment.
FOUND. On the corner of Silverdale Road and Briery Bank.
ReplyDeleteTwo rubber cleats with yellow studs perhaps worn by an itinerant golfer.
For return please send £11.50 to Amazon.
I don't recall us having any problems with the studs coming out of the Springyards.
ReplyDeleteMaybe these are worth looking at.
Yaktrax Walker. They are on sale at Go Outdoors at the moment. Under a tenner.
In the book you gave me for Xmas, Bill Murray waxes enthusiastic about tricouni shod boots for delicate work on thin ice and Himalayan glaciers, as against crampons. Perhaps you should exhume your old boots. I can remember skidding in clinkers but never in trikes: la ronde se tourne.
ReplyDeleteBC - I seem to remember a phrase from my childhood - "Finders keepers."
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Alan R. - I have now ordered some more very cheap ones that appear to have a fastening that comes right over the top and should be more secure. Khatoola Nano seem to be the best option but at around £40 the cost is excessive and in any case all the suppliers I have searched are out of stock of the LARGE size that I would need.
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gimmer - I thought you had disappeared somewhere amongst those northern Pennines.
I am not sure but I reckon at the time front pointing crampons were not available for Bill M and whatever was available then would be quite inferior to modern day tackle.
Your French phrase is perhaps idiomatic. My best effort makes me think of a concise way of saying: a use for something unused comes round again. If that is not what you meant I would like to have your own version.
no - I'm always interested in things, however obliquely, to do with mountaineering but my other duties forbad my entering the 'debates' (for want of another term) on another matter.
ReplyDeleteFront pointing on thin, verglassed walls remains a tricky business and I bet Murray would still have quibbles about using them there.
la ronde - what I meant was that old once discarded ideas come again - maybe in a modified form. I think the basic problem with these clip/strap-on spike/ tooth devices is that they are (as you indicate) unstable and insecure (if you do them up tightly enough, your foot drops off) and are really too specific about the conditions they suit, whereas modern light-weight 'tricouni' successors can be used indoors, on merely wet stone and pavements as well as verglas - and of course on North Walls - they don't replace good front points on thicker and more plastic ice, but are excellent on thin hard water-type ice. I remember seconding the harder parts of Crowberry gully in trikes (I was very inexperienced on ice then) and wondered why my leader had such trouble with his points on the walls and deep snow higher up whereas the boots were 'just right' and danced up. Of course their major drawback was damage to delicate holds and weight, but dry tooling with carbide tips is infinitely worse. They don't eliminate the problem of balling up on snow - but there again, what does - teflon soles and coatings on crampons dont work either. A combination of modern chemistry and material science can have surprising applications - not just in space !
Good to see you back gimmer.
Deletegimmer - interesting theories. I don't think either of us will be going up to Crowberry to do some kind of comparison test, but it is priceless to have such memories. My own ventures into proper snow and ice climbing were very limited but I have plenty of other memories to fall back on. I just wish I had kept more records to aid my woeful memory.
ReplyDeleteNeed wellies today! (We use Yaktraks... not as wellies!)
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