Crampon Bindings?

[robpatterson5]

Hi all - wondering what people thought of semi-auto vs. automatic crampon bindings? Basically between a wire toe and flip heel and flip heel and basket toe?

 

When I bought my first pair of crampons I got G14 semi-autos b/c they also fit my summer boots - later I bought semi-auto saber teeth.

I have used the automatic G14s and liked them, and they felt more secure - but thought I'd ask around before cutting off the current toe-basket mounts

[DPS]

As long as your boots have a prominent groove in the toe for the bail to fit, they work fine but I have seen older boots worn to the point where the crampon bails pop off at inopportune times.

[robpatterson5]

Hi - I'm well aware of that. What I was wondering about is peoples experience with the different bindings for WI3-4?

Its less a question of boot fit then of the bindings themselves

[RafalA]

The biggest difference I find is how prominent the front points are beyond the toe of your boot. With a wire bail, there is usually a two or three hole adjustment range so you can fine-tune the binding to your boots. This allows you to locate the front and secondary points closer to the front of the boot, where as with semi-automatic binding the distance is pretty much fixed (and, imo, too far behind the toe of the boot).

 

For reference, I only have experience with my crampons: auto: Grivel G14 & Petzl M10, semi: BD Sabretooth SS

[robpatterson5]

no worries - I was wondering what people thought of the semi vs automatic bindings for WI?

I'll be using them with Nepal Evos and Spantiks

[RafalA]

I think you'd need to find someone who's tried the same crampons on the same boots in auto vs semi to get a clear idea of the differences. (Based on my browsing the forums here, Dane?) Was in the store today and took a closer look, and, as above, came away with the same conclusion - semi is non-adjustable as far as front point position, whereas with autos you can place the crampon either further forward or backward on the boot.

 

From my brief experience climbing with semis on WI3/4, I hated them. For WI, I like my front points far beyond my boot with the secondary ones beyond the edge of the sole, and the semis did not achieve this fit. I wouldn't even dream of trying them on anything harder.

[OlympicMtnBoy]

I prefer step in/fully auto bindings for WI. I don't have any semi-auto crampons and only one pair of boots they would fit so I generally use universal bindings for anything other than steep ice. I have fully auto WI crampons (Petzl M10s), and fully strap on steel crampons and aluminum crampons and this setup seems to serve me well for everything I can think to do. I can't comment on step-in vs. semi-auto for the same model of crampon though. I generally wouldn't want to climb steep ice in anything other than step-in though, although some people do.

[Dane]

Good read here on the same subject:

 

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/982342/Strap_On_or_Clip_In#Post982342