pons & tennies

[Gary_Yngve]

I tried out a pair of the Camp steel 6-point "half-"pons on Saturday.

 

Took me several attempts to rig it so it wouldn't torque off (the instruction manual is useless / inutile / unbrauchbar / inutil).

 

Some important points:

-The pon shouldn't be too close to the toe.

-The straps need to be tight when the ankle is slightly flexed.

-The straps need to be rigged to keep the rear part of the pon from pulling from the shoe.

 

Once I figured it out, it worked great (better and lighter than an aluminum full pon on bare glacial ice).

 

Tennies and pons aren't that comfortable, but for a small pocket glacier, they work great.

 

Here are some pics of how I rigged the pon:

 

 

 

[Aya]

I like the duct tape.

[catbirdseat]

Camp also makes a 6-point aluminum crampons that weighs only 215 grams (8 oz.), versus 380 grams for the steel.

$60

Edited August 1, 2006 by catbirdseat

[olyclimber]

try it with socks next time, it will probably be way more comfortable

[Weekend_Climberz]

try it with socks next time, it will probably be way more comfortable

 

 

Not to mention wear some pants or freaking shave you sasquatch

[RuMR]

why? You two goin' on a date or sumpin'? :vomit:

[HappyCamper]

I usually bring 20oz Stubais for moderate snow - the 6 points look pretty neat though.

 

How did they compare traction wise from say a 10 point? How was it better?

[DirtyHarry]

Once again Gary enlightens all us half-wits with detailed instructions on how to perform the simplest of tasks. Gary, what's next? a photo essay on how to put on pants?

Thanks for helping out all us challenged folk though, keep up the good work!

[olyclimber]

Gary, maybe you can write a guide for Dirty Harry and I on how to not make other people feel uncomfortable.

[Gary_Yngve]

The traction for traversing and going up was good on moderate frozen snow.

 

They actually performed better than 10-pt Al Stubais on low-angle glacier ice because they were steel.

 

The downsides would be:

-need to face in when going down anything too steep

-can't frontpoint with them

-with tennies, you can get into a situation where the points want to shear through the soft top half-inch of snow but you really can't kick that good of a step

 

Crossing talus, I could sometimes have my heel on the rock and never have the points touch. Kinda neat, I guess.

 

DirtyHarry, figuring out how to put these pons on tennies in such a way that they wouldn't pop off was not a simple task. Go fuck yourself. Or a sheep. Whatever you find first.

[DirtyHarry]

DirtyHarry, figuring out how to put these pons on tennies in such a way that they wouldn't pop off was not a simple task.

 

Yeah, looks like fucking rocket science to me. Did you have to ask your advisor for help?

[Alpinfox]

 

Cinching that strap down on the achilles tendon is genius.

[DirtyHarry]

Bet it has a nice soothing feel on the skin too when walking.

[Alpinfox]

If you embedded little barbs in the strap the 'pons would probably stay on even better.

 

 

 

 

Editations:

A 490g solution that will actually be usable

 

I got a good deal on these, so they are what I use. 590g.

[fern]

previous thread

[Gary_Yngve]

Alpinfox, if I put the back strap around my tennie, it would slip up to my ankle, and then the pon would pop off. Have a better idea?

 

It actually wasn't uncomfortable on my Achilles (in the mtns I was wearing a pair of socks).

 

The previous thread, which I did not know about (thanks Fern) looks like it has a similar rigging.

[Alpinfox]

Alpinfox, if I put the back strap around my tennie, it would slip up to my ankle, and then the pon would pop off. Have a better idea?

 

Yes.

[G-spotter]

4 point instep crampons are even lighter and don't have some Rube Goldberg rigging job.

[Choada_Boy]

I was doing a seated glissade with my Camp Al crampons on the back of my pack. It wasn't until I got back to the car that I realized that one crampon must have caught on something, breaking the adjustment bar. I now have one and a half Camp Al crampons. Lighter is righter!