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BD Bionic Crampons


jjd

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They are designed for steep ice and mixed climbing. Since they have horizontal rails, they are also suitable for glacier slogging, but are stiffer than something like the Sabretooths. I have a pair of each, and the only real reason I got the Bionics is so that I can change the front points when they wear out. Otherwise, I'd use Sabretooths for just about everything.

 

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I have a pair of Bionics and a pair of Sabretooth crampons. I think the Bionics are designed to excel on waterfall ice, and are not specifically designed for alpine snow/ice. That said, the Bionics are really great on waterfall ice.

 

For alpine ice, or general-purpose mountaineering, I always use the Sabretooth crampons. I guess I would be hesitant to bring the Bionics along on an alpine ice route in Washington because conditions are typically so variable, ranging from soft snow, to neve, to ice. In particular, there is the issue of snow balling up. My Sabretooths have anti-balling plates, and my Bionics do not. I've had bad experiences with snow balling up on my Bionics. So that's another reason why I prefer using the Sabretooths for moderate alpine routes in Washington. Probably for more technical ice routes, or in Canada, it's a different story....

 

Oh, I forgot to add, my Bionics are dual front-points, and they work great on vertical waterfall ice (at least the very short vertical steps I have climbed). I suppose for climbing really delicate ice features, the mono point could be useful, but I haven't tried that...

 

Just my $0.02...

Edited by Stephen_Ramsey
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