SummitPost.org

I am looking to spend part of my REI dividend to upgrade my crampons. My old ones are strap on Chouniards (probably belong in a museum....). Fred brought home a pair of Black Diamond Sabretooth Pros. They fit his boots fine, but the heel posts are too wide to fit my boots properly (La Sportiva Nepals). Does anyone know of a decent crampon that is either fitted for women or has adjustable heel posts?

My wife wears Grivel G14s with her Nepals (size 40.5) and loves them.

I've fitted multiple pairs of my own crampons to my fiancee's boots, which are size 5.5. I've never encountered a problem related to the width of the heel. The boots are occasionally too short length-wise and I'd need to have a shorter spacer bar. But my impression with others has been that you can just slide the boot further back in the crampon until the posts engage further forward along the sole...the boot obviously becomes wider as you move forward. This will require an adjustment of the heel bail...specifically cranking it higher to accomodate the greater length of boot that is hanging over the back. My financee's boot hangs out about 1 cm past the end of my Sarkens, whereas mine hangs out about 0.5 cm. I've never heard of a women's crampon.

I'm still curious about female specific skis . . . and now we can do crampons, just for women.

Okay, not an expert at all, but yeah, don't think there are female specific crampons . . . but I am sure some marketing wiz will figure it out . . . and they'll be way more expensive than men's.

Thanks, Brad - I will look into those crampons.

Tom - if I slid my boot back further in the Black Diamonds, they wouldn't stop until halfway up the boot - the entire heel is over 1/4 inch narrower than the heel plate.

rlshattuck - I am not really looking for women's specific crampons per se, but many manufacturers realize that women's feet are smaller and market smaller sized versions of regular gear. Sometimes they charge more, sometimes they don't. But bottom line is that I need something that fits. With respect to women's skis - the center of balance is more forward in them. One can make up for that in men's skis by mounting the binding a bit forward - which is what I do.

Petzl vasaks may work for you (or not). A woman from Portland I climbed with wears them on her salomon boots, with the spirlock binding. Personally I like the leverlock binding (heel lever and plastic toe strap, sort of like grivel's newmatic binding), but there are other options.

Probably a good idea to just bring your boots to the store with you and try whatever they have on.

I have taken my boots to the store and have come away disappointed - I wear women's 7 to 7.5 (Euro 38 ) and all the one size crampons are too big. Think I will just stick to my Chouinards - they still work just fine and I have no issues strapping them on.

Maybe you can find someone who could solder a small block of metal to the posts on each side? Seems it would help to keep the boot centered after the heel bail was engaged.

Did you try any CAMP models? SOME CAMP crampons have narrowly-set heel posts.

Given the importance of tight crampon fit, I'm very hesitant to suggest modifications. However, ripstop nylon tape soaked in seamgrip, and wrapped around a post, makes an almost indestructible addition... and one that is hard to get off if you want a return!

Does anyone know if one can add a binding to an old pair of strap ons?

Moni wrote:I have taken my boots to the store and have come away disappointed - I wear women's 7 to 7.5 (Euro 38) and all the one size crampons are too big. Think I will just stick to my Chouinards - they still work just fine and I have no issues strapping them on.

Your boot size numbers don't look right to me. If you're a woman's size 7 (I'll assume US) then wouldn't your EU size be 37.5 or UK size 4.5? Either way if they don't fit your boots they don't fit. Have you looked at any of the Cassin crampons? They have three posts in the rear and their C10 states it fits down to a EU 34.

http://www.cassin.it/uk/scheda.asp?Codice=605.01

Yes Brad my Euro size varies a bit - the difference between US sizing and Euro isn't clean. 37.5 to 38 is where I usually end up. I just looked at my La Sportiva Nepals and they are 39's. So go figure.

My issue with the BD's is that by the time everything is fitted, my heel extends past the end - not a recommended fit.

I am considering the Grivel 10 pointers - the literature says this may be a good choice for small feet, but will certainly look into the Cassins. Thanks!

If you can adjust any crampon with the three posts at the back so that the heel landed against the rear-most post would you be able to bend the two side posts inward to keep the boot heel centered?

Nothing on a steel crampon should be bendable by normal humans.

After looking at a gazillion pairs, I came to the conclusion that my narrow little foot just is on one end of the extremes where "one size fits all" isn't true. I have decided on a pair of BD Sabretooth with the plastic front (seems to wrap around my boot and hold the toe better than the wire bail, which also seems wide) and the heel binding. I will try to find some sort of tight fitting rubber washer or the like to shim the heel posts. That way, if I buy a boot with a wider sole, I haven't done anything permanent to my crampons.

Thanks for the suggestions!

A machine shop can bend the posts in. We made instep crampons in a friend's machine shop way back in the old days, bending steel at right angles. This is much more than human strength.

I've used split tygon tubing to increase the extent of posts. You just need tape it closed.