treeman

question? how much climbing do you do? is that the hand you mostly hold the rope with? were you recently doing alot of rope work? the reason i ask....i climb tree's for a living. when i'm limb walking and getting around in a tree i tend to hold the rope in my left hand. on my palm between my pinky and the next finger there is a small depression and a then a small lump. i feel no pain from it. most tree climbers i know have it from gripping a rope so much. i was told it's a tendon thing but since it doesn'e bother me i never saw a doc about it.

i'm mostly happy with the ice 9 boots because they fit. i don't notice a huge difference over boots i've used in the past with a ridged sole. the front points seem to wear quickly when dry tooling. the bd bionic front points are a perfect replacement fit. i just had surgery on my foot to fix a nerve problem and when i'm all healed i may try a pair of cumbre's hoping there a little warmer. i used the ice9's with buzzard gaitors most of the climbing season and had to stuff heat packets betwwen the boot and gaitor to keep my toes warm.(the northeast was cold this winter) you still need to set the crampons super tight so they don't pop off. i had a problem poping crampons my first day out with them. i kind of feel a boot is a boot. it's all about fit and warmth. they got me through the season before my surgery so they were worth it for me. the toe box is a roomier cut than most other brands i found. but i don't like the fact i have to buy their crampons to work with the system when i already had 3 pairs of pon's. i didn't notice any big performance gain over with the crampon set up.(maybe i just suck) i may be putting them on ebay soon, what size are you looking for?

please check your pm's. thanks johnbigbottom@hotmail.com