Aluminum Crampons

[Jake]

Ok so this has been hashed out some in the past, but has anyone had trouble with aluminums, particularly on glacial ice towards the end of the summer?

[graupel]

I wouldn't say "trouble", but you can tell the difference if the ice is hard. They flex a little, so what might take one strike with steel, might feel less secure with one strike with aluminum. That and the fact you don't feel comfortable trashing them walkin on rocks. The "flexiness" becomes less of an issue if everything is flat footing.

[kenp]

I don't really trust them walking on rocks, they do get beat up. I 'tested' them out on a low angle water ice bulge, I didn't think they were up to the task at all and just don't feel all that secure. But, they do beat nothing at all so I will continue to carry them

[fenderfour]

I saw some Stubais in action on some aerated glacial ice over the weekend. They did not do well for climbing anything steep, but they seemed to hold their own on the flatter (<30 deg) stuff. I certainly wouldn't take them on a climb that I expected a lot of ice, but they should be ok for an occasional icy patch.

[catbirdseat]

I used a pair of Cassin aluminum crampons on an alpine ice climb at 45 degrees and they performed well. I avoided walking on rock as much as possible, however.

 

Just make sure they are sharpened each time you go out, that they are fit your boot correctly, and use proper French technique wherever possible.

[snoboy]

Look carefully at the weights of various models, and you will find that there are steel crampons that are as light as the aluminum ones. Unfortunately I can't remember the brand or model.

[Blake]

I used my Stubai's on a few sections of ice greater than 50 degrees on the Goode Glacier, and they performed better than I had thought they might.

[kenp]

Just make sure they are sharpened each time you go out

 

do you use a flat file to sharpen these? I didn't think I could sharpen them???

[Gary_Yngve]

The lightest steel pair that I know of are the Petzl/Charlet Sarkens at 31 oz. I own the Stubai aluminums that weigh 21 oz. Camp makes a pair that weighs only 17 oz, but I haven't played with them.

 

I think the points on my aluminums were moderately blunt when I bought them new, and I don't think they've significantly blunted in the past few years? I've definitely walked on rock with them over that time, as well as scrambled short sections of rock. I suppose I should compare them to a new pair to see how much wear they have.

 

What are the failures on the aluminum crampons? Just dulling, or have folks bent/broken a whole tooth?

[catbirdseat]

Just make sure they are sharpened each time you go out

 

do you use a flat file to sharpen these? I didn't think I could sharpen them???

Yes, I use the same file I use on my steel crampons. I sharpened mine for the first time last night, and it took longer than I expected to do it right. I think the alloys they use these days are pretty damn hard!

[kenp]

Cool, I'll try that, as they are pretty dull out of the box. I think being a bit sharper would boost my confidence a lot

[fenderfour]

I've got a bit of a review on the Stubai's:

 

I climbed the DC route on Rainier and wore them the whole day, camp-to-camp. I made sure to climb on rock as much as possible in an attempt to break them. I'm pretty heavy at 210 lbs but nothing I did had any affect.

 

I made some anti-bott plates out of a milk carton. They helped on the mushy snow, but balling was still an issue.

 

I tried to find some bare glacial ice to further abuse my crampons, bu there wasn't any safely accessible on the route.

 

At the end of the climb, the crampons were dulled, but not horribly. A quick cleanup with a file would take care of it.

 

That's right, I climbed Mt. Rainier with aluminum crampons and soft boots and I didn't die. I'm a hardman now.

[Alpinfox]

 

I'd just like to add that my personal gear testing reveals that aluminum crampons do not hold up to being run over by a Subaru Outback.

 

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

[MountaingirlBC]

I love my Stubais. They are light, get the job done and don't tear up stuff in my pack or parts of my body when I fall. I've never used them on very hard ice or anything very steep but I have used them on rock with no problems. Mind you I weigh 124lbs. For light mountaineering and a light person, they certainly seem to perform well.

[JoshK]

Check out the Camp crampons. I, personally, found them superior to the Stubais. The setup of the points is much more agressive, like a typical steel crampon, where as the Stubais have a pretty "relaxed" set of secondary points. They camps were also lighter. I have used both and definitely perfer the camps. I think the model is teh XL430 or something like that. I have used mine on rock with no durability problems. I have climbed steep glacial ice in them on the Stuart Ice Cliff Glacier, and while I wouldn't recommend it (or, more importantly, do it again myself. ) they performed about as well as you could expect for an aluminum crampon.

 

-josh

[MountaingirlBC]

Don't lose the straps on the Stubais. Cost me $16 to get a new one.

[ken4ord]

I have Stubais and I like the weight of them, but as Josh mentioned the secondary points are quite relaxed. The secondary points hardly engage on anything steeper that 50 degrees. For glacier travel and hill walking they are fine. I'll have to check out those Camp aluminum crampons, even though I still have managed to get up some steeper than 50 degree ice routes with my Stubais.