BD Snaggletooth?

I'm sure a lot of us have seen BD's new crampon design, and I know there were a few threads once they came out speculating how they would act in different conditions.

I was wondering if anybody has actually tried these out since then and has any positive or negative feedback. ....Or maybe I should just bite the bullet and write a review :)

Thanks!
Chris

I would describe their performance as "sick", depending upon whose feet they are attached to.

hope that helps.

BRB wrote:I would describe their performance as "sick", depending upon whose feet they are attached to. hope that helps.

Any suggestions on where to buy new feet?

I have a pair that I ordered a while back, but haven't had a chance to put to good use yet. FYI if you are planning on biting the bullet, I got mine for ~$130 shipped from trekkinn.com.

Alternatively, I think I live somewhat near to you (I'm just across the border but frequently find myself in B'ham) so if you wanted to do some Saturday ice cragging (I'm a fairly new ice climber but willing to be a belay bitch and top-rope hero) you could test drive my pair.

I didn't try a pair but there were some available to demo at smuggs this past weekend. Rumor was that they're awesome, especially in wet/soft conditions while also performing well on rock. Didn't hear anything negative but I also had a very limited sample size.

That said, they're no blade runner!

chrisccc wrote: Any suggestions on where to buy new feet?

I've had this same problem. I'm a 5.12d / WI5/6 climber, but my feed and hands have been holding me back.

Mark Ra wrote:I didn't try a pair but there were some available to demo at smuggs this past weekend. Rumor was that they're awesome, especially in wet/soft conditions while also performing well on rock. Didn't hear anything negative but I also had a very limited sample size. That said, they're no blade runner!

If I only had to own one pair of crampons, it would be the Snaggletooths. They excel at everything except maybe cold, brittle, vertical (WI5+ and up) ice. I own the Bladerunners, Lynx and about six other pairs of crampons and I almost always use the Snaggletooths. On mixed and soft ice they are WAY better than the Bladerunners.

It is the norm on Mtn Project to to speculate on the performance of products that one has never used for reasons I don't understand. I predict that the Snaggletooths will one day become standard kit, but it will probably take years because of inherent biases about things that are different than established norms.

I have a pair of Snaggletooths, and I've used them 2 days this year, both days on long (2000') WI3. I'm coming from using Grivel G20s.

On that kind of moderate terrain, the Snaggletooths are way better than the G20. Much more secure in French technique. In addition, the single point worked about as well as the single point of the G20 on rock edges. The main front point is much wider than a standard horizontal frontpoint. Kind of like a shovel. I imagine they might not be super great for brittle vertical ice. I'm taking them as my only crampon this week to Ouray, so we'll see

I've been psyched on my my snaggletooths. They've climbed thousands of feet of rock/mixed, snow of all the kinds you'd want crampons, softer/wetter ice, vertical ice, brittle junk, you name it.

They walk and snow climb well. Pretty natural gait (for a crampon) and plenty of horizontal surface to avoid slicing through snow.

On fat ice they climb just fine, similar to the sabertooths. On wetter/slushier stuff, funky moist top outs and bulges, chandeliers, etc., they perform better thanks to the horizontal point.

Up to about M4 I think they climb rock well. Once I get into M5/6 territory, I tend to prefer vertical front points depending on rock type as I can get into vertical seams more easily. However, the snaggletooths can offer two options for crack sizes if you can get balanced on the outside front point.

For really brittle stuff, it depends on the ice formation. If there's enough ice for some hacking, you can make pretty good enhanced footholds with them if you're willing to put the energy into kicking the platform out. If the ice is thinner or candled, I prefer vertical monos.

Great general purpose crampon. Only downside is that the front points aren't replaceable, which may affect the life of the crampon depending on what you tend to climb.

Doug Hutchinson wrote: If I only had to own one pair of crampons, it would be the Snaggletooths. They excel at everything except maybe cold, brittle, vertical (WI5+ and up) ice. I own the Bladerunners, Lynx and about six other pairs of crampons and I almost always use the Snaggletooths. On mixed and soft ice they are WAY better than the Bladerunners. It is the norm on Mtn Project to to speculate on the performance of products that one has never used for reasons I don't understand. I predict that the Snaggletooths will one day become standard kit, but it will probably take years because of inherent biases about things that are different than established norms.

Doug, I hear you but blade runners are the #onetruecrampon.

Thanks for the feedback guys! If everybody who has bought them likes them, that is a pretty good sign!

Gavin W - You are probably a better rock climber than me, so "belay bitch" is probably going to be mutual haha. I'll send you a PM and maybe we can get together for some climbing!

Mark Ra - I've got those too! haha.. The issue with them is that you wouldn't want to be doing any technical glacial routes with them in mono point format. You can change them to alpine dual points, but then what's the point.

I got a pair last season and I think they're one of the best all-around crampons I've used. I still prefer a vertical mono point for steep ice, but I've actually found the horizontal mono point doesn't do so bad on chandeliered ice; in those cases you can almost treat the top of a drip as a mixed edge for your feet and the wider horizontal point feels more stable. Not that I'd want to climb an entire pitch like that, but for small intermediate foot steps it's okay.

On snow, the mono point does sheer a bit more than a dual point horizontal crampon, but not enough to offset the advantage on ice.

I think their best use is in the alpine, as you get the advantage of horizontal points for snow, neve, and aerated ice, but still have the nimbleness of a monopoint for steep ice and mixed terrain.

If you're just ice/mixed cragging or climbing multipitch water ice, the Bladedunners, G20's, etc might be a better choice, but for big alpine routes I really like the Snaggletooths.

chrisccc wrote:Thanks for the feedback guys! If everybody who has bought them likes them, that is a pretty good sign! Gavin W - You are probably a better rock climber than me, so "belay bitch" is probably going to be mutual haha. I'll send you a PM and maybe we can get together for some climbing! Mark Ra - I've got those too! haha.. The issue with them is that you wouldn't want to be doing any technical glacial routes with them in mono point format. You can change them to alpine dual points, but then what's the point.

Just so you know, if you tried to PM me I didn't get it (had problems with that in the past). You can email me at gavinski91(at)gmail.com

I've used a pair as my primary alpine crampon since late 2017, and they have gotten a lot of use on routes ranging from snow slogs up to WI4/M4.  I really like them.  I still use a vertical mono (G20) for dedicated ice and mixed (mostly cragging), but I use the Snaggletooth on everything else.  They climb mixed really well in my grade range (M6 and down), and are pretty darn good on ice.  I like my G20s more on steep, delicate, hard water ice.  So long as they keep making these, I will not use a horizontal dual point crampon again, I don't see the point.

I ended up buying them around when this thread original died. I’ve used them a fair amount. The horizontal monopoint is certainly versatile. For routes where I don’t know what to expect or just exect a bit of everything, they are great. I still reach for my Sarkens most often though, I feel like they have more stability in snow.