I’m thinking of getting some of these

http://www.bivouac.co.nz/gear/climbing/crampons/kahtoola-microspikes.html

Off tramping this weekend and there’s still going to be a decent amount of snow above 1400 m.

They’ll also be useful for some trekking in Nepal next spring – might well be snow on the passes round Manaslu.

Anyone used some? We’re hardly in to winter climbing territory but I can imagine they;ll be very useful if the path crosses old snow or ice.

Cheers

No point in being in snow and ice without an walking axe first.

Crampons get you up and down places – but also into trouble.

Axes are there to get you out of trouble through arrests and cutting steps, even glissade.

Those things will also likely break, just when you need them, and have no real edge for hard ice.

However , it’s early in the season so you more likely find slush and wet, heavy snow rather than hard ice and crusted snow.

Even small gully’s etc of snow can pose Avalanche risk.

If you can’t cross it in normal boots, kicking steps etc, don’t go there. If you do go there, get training and an axe before anything else.

Edit: just realised you are in NZ at the end of the season. There will be hard ice and iffy crust and melting all sorts.

They are really good on icy pavements. Not sure I’d go far up a mountain with them, though.

Should have clarified my location a bit 1st. 😀

Yeah we’re not carrying ice axes – this is juts a spring tramp over the long weekend. I was wondering if they were fragile and broke easily of if they were great for encountering the off patch of old, hard snow.

I’m not sure we’ll encounter any snow at all where we’re going (Kahurangi, north of South Is, specifically up to Mt Arthur ~1700 m).

Nepal will be guided and proper mountains anyway.

Actually surprisingly good. We carry them in mountain rescue, good for icy paths and helping folk across small hard snow patches. Pretty robust, and can be used with any footwear. Novices are less likely to trip over their feet or spike their calves than full crampons. It does take a bit of knowledge to decide when they are appropriate, mind. Very popular with winter fell runners round here (Lakes).

Actually surprisingly good. We carry them in mountain rescue, good for icy paths and helping folk across small hard snow patches. Pretty robust, and can be used with any footwear. Novices are less likely to trip over their feet or spike their calves than full crampons. It does take a bit of knowledge to decide when they are appropriate, mind. Very popular with winter fell runners round here (Lakes).

Presumably light enough to carry on the off chance. I have encountered frozen water ice on may paths on days otherwise clear of snow. I think these could be handy for that

Ive had mine for a few years now and they seem pretty robust. Great for winter trail running and have come in very handy when theres no way on earth I would have carried proper crampons and axe walking and on the bike.

Thanks everybody for the snippets of info and of course Matt for an experienced and cautious PoV.

If they have any today on my way home I’m very temped to give some a whirl. I would have loved some earlier in the winter for hiking walking tracks up to and from ski fields (Temple Basin)!

Have a look at YakTrax as well.

Similar idea but about a quarter of the cost! And man enough that I used my first pair on the South Kaibab and Bright Angel trails in the Grand Canyon – lots of snow and ice for the upper third to half of the height in February / March.

They go on and off very easily, too, so for a changing trail they’re ideal.

And, yes, they definitely work!

I’ve got those Kahtoolas and have been down Swirral Edge in full winter ice/snow – found them fine. I’ve used proper crampons before and didn’t find them any worse (and a lot easier to put on/take off). Obviously I wouldn’t use them for technical climbing.

Similar idea but about a quarter of the cost!

Having used both and sold thousands of pairs of both can I just point out that buying YakTrax over Microspikes would be the very definition of “buy cheap buy twice*”. They really aren’t a comparible product in terms of function or of durability. Microspikes are a genuinely brilliant product.

*may be a serious underestimate

Not seen the Microspikes in the flesh, so can’t evaluate that side, lemonysam.

That said, my yaktrax have done The Grand Canyon twice and several winters of walking to work in the snow in the UK, so for the £20 or so they cost, I’m quite happy that they are value for money.

Testing this weekend was… inconclusive. The snow patches we encountered were short, soft and slushy so I didn’t use them. Towards the summit of Mt Arthur there was a decent snowy climb where I would have used them but as the Mrs has a cast on her broken hand we played cautious and turned back to get on to the hut for the night.

I have been using kahtoolas for a few years for work, strimming grass bankings. They’re not amazing on ice, too ‘blunt’. The flat rubber sole type with stud spikes are better for that, plus cheaper, lighter and more compact to carry.

I’ve had both yaktraks and microspikes.

Bought the yaktraks first. Great for nipping down to the shops when it’s compacted snow/ice underfoot. They’re non-destructive enough that I ha[[ily walked round Sainsbury’s in them. Used them a few times for walking in the Peaks in the snow. They worked OK, but they do move round a bit on your boots, and the rubber spider bit snapped after about 3 walks rendering them useless.

The microspikes are a much better tool for “proper” walking on snow/ice, but far less user friendly as a urban proposition (you’ll trash shop floors instantly). They’re quiet a bit heavier and they can end up jingling as you walk. Function very nicely for the kind of stuff I do in the snow in the Peaks, probably would in the Lakes too, but as MOAAB & TomB say, you won’t be front-pointing up the Eiger in them.

Essentially, both YTs and MSs are tools for “a” job, but its your shout if they’re the right one for the job you want them for.