Dan_Harris Posted January 20, 2002 Posted January 20, 2002 Just got back from an outdoor shop. They have some SMC 12 point strap on crampons there. I have not heard of them before. I would use them for general glacier travel with Montrail Moraine boots, nothing vertical. Does anyone have any information on these? Are they any good? How do they compare, say, to Grivel G-12 Quote
freeclimb9 Posted January 20, 2002 Posted January 20, 2002 they work fine. Old skool design and reliability Quote
chucK Posted January 21, 2002 Posted January 21, 2002 They're indestructible, but heavy as hell. Quote
Bronco Posted January 21, 2002 Posted January 21, 2002 Go with the G-12s. I have experience with both and can tell you the SMC as a crampon works fine, but the stupid straps will take you no less than 10 minutes to properly put them on in nice warm temps. If it is cold add 5 minutes for each 10 degrees below freezing. Your partners will want to beat you for buying cheap gear and taking so long. If you do buy them, practice putting them on your boots no less than 10 times to get the hang of it. Quote
Rodchester Posted January 21, 2002 Posted January 21, 2002 I concur with Bronco. I have owned both and the G-12 rocks. Sold my SMCs. Don't miss them. Quote
jblakley Posted January 21, 2002 Posted January 21, 2002 I've have both a pair of the SMC and a pair of the G-12's. The SMC's are now loaners to friends. The SMC's have absolutely no advantage of the Grivels and by the time you buy straps for the SMC's the cost is about the same. G-12's are a lot easier to put on and perform a lot better. Also with the better design of the new generation of step in crampons, the issue about old style crampon strapping sytems being more secure is now almost a non issue. Quote
wdietsch Posted January 21, 2002 Posted January 21, 2002 For general mountaineering you may even want to consider something like the G10's Quote
David_Parker Posted January 21, 2002 Posted January 21, 2002 Basically I concur with the strap thing. I looked for Scottish style straps to replace the long thong system but haven't found them. The SMC's are the only pair of crampons out of about 5 pair I own that fit my Tele Boots so I still use them occaisionaly. They kinda suck for bundling up to put on your pack too. Quote
Rodchester Posted January 21, 2002 Posted January 21, 2002 You may also want to consider some aluminum crampons for general mountaineering. Light is right. I had the SMC with the scottish straps, which are better than the older system, but they still suck. Quote
jblakley Posted January 21, 2002 Posted January 21, 2002 I have a pair of the Stubai aluminium crampons and they are very light. I bought them originally for taking in alpine rock outings with steep glacier/snow approaches. The only reason I would not recommend them for general mountaineering is I'm not sure how they would hold up to that kind of abuse. Anyone out there use these crampons over a long period of time? Curious how durable they are. Quote
allthumbs Posted January 21, 2002 Posted January 21, 2002 I too have a brand new pair of the alum. Stubais. I'll never use them, and they're collecting dust in my closet. I paid $100 and will sell them for $80. Screw the loss, I want a new gun. Let me know if anyone wants them. trask [ 01-21-2002: Message edited by: trask ] Quote
Dan_Harris Posted January 22, 2002 Author Posted January 22, 2002 Thanks for all of the great information. I will now present it to my money manager and see what I can get. Quote
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