Last evolution of the Footfang. New chisel shaped front points. Curved heel points for improved traction while descending. Built in anit-balling plate. Mono-point kit available.
A classic design that really changed the way ice climbing was done. I first saw these brutes in the winter of 1978 Greg Lowe was demonstrating them and selling them out of the back of his rather beaten up VW van. Needless to say I didn’t have the 120$ to buy them at the time, (nor the boots or skills to use them). I did manage to get a used pair off a friend a few years later and they lasted quite well. Now retired and hanging on the wall I went out shopping for a new set of crampons ands bought the latest incarnation of them mainly since they were on sale for 80$.
They have always been a very good hard ice and water ice crampon as long as you are gentle (if banging your foot into the ice can ever be called gentle) with them. The large number of points are now just superfluous and unless you already know how to use them to advantage. They would most likely cause you more grief than good. I always found that when moving over varglas, rock, and thin ice they worked better than regular 12 pointers since you will always had good contact with the surface. For mixed climbing they are good but the front point design is dated and limits what you can do. There is a mono-point kit but I have never used it and from what I am told it is useless.
The bad point is that it is and shall always be the balling king of crampons. Even though they come with plates they are just about useless and I can’t tell you the number of times I have had to kick a ½ meter of slush off the bottom on them. For alpine work except (icy) north faces leave them at home.
Since Lowe Alpine no longer makes any climbing hardware Camp produces them and I think the quality has suffered as a result.
Still a good pure ice climbing crampon but well out classed by nearly everything on the market its only saving grace is a cheap price.
Just a final note
I had some sad news the other day that CAMP is no longer producing the Foot-Fang and will not ship any for the winter 2004. It seems to me that the FF has been around the longest of any crampon design I can think of since 1976 a wopping 27 years with the same basic design.
JScoles - Nov 8, 2002 6:02 am - Voted 3/5
Untitled ReviewA classic design that really changed the way ice climbing was done. I first saw these brutes in the winter of 1978 Greg Lowe was demonstrating them and selling them out of the back of his rather beaten up VW van. Needless to say I didn’t have the 120$ to buy them at the time, (nor the boots or skills to use them). I did manage to get a used pair off a friend a few years later and they lasted quite well. Now retired and hanging on the wall I went out shopping for a new set of crampons ands bought the latest incarnation of them mainly since they were on sale for 80$.
They have always been a very good hard ice and water ice crampon as long as you are gentle (if banging your foot into the ice can ever be called gentle) with them. The large number of points are now just superfluous and unless you already know how to use them to advantage. They would most likely cause you more grief than good. I always found that when moving over varglas, rock, and thin ice they worked better than regular 12 pointers since you will always had good contact with the surface. For mixed climbing they are good but the front point design is dated and limits what you can do. There is a mono-point kit but I have never used it and from what I am told it is useless.
The bad point is that it is and shall always be the balling king of crampons. Even though they come with plates they are just about useless and I can’t tell you the number of times I have had to kick a ½ meter of slush off the bottom on them. For alpine work except (icy) north faces leave them at home.
Since Lowe Alpine no longer makes any climbing hardware Camp produces them and I think the quality has suffered as a result.
Still a good pure ice climbing crampon but well out classed by nearly everything on the market its only saving grace is a cheap price.
Just a final note
I had some sad news the other day that CAMP is no longer producing the Foot-Fang and will not ship any for the winter 2004. It seems to me that the FF has been around the longest of any crampon design I can think of since 1976 a wopping 27 years with the same basic design.