Crampon fitting

But yeah it looks like you've achieved a better overall fit. As far as those gaps go I thought about hammering them in myself. But then I just reset the crampons as tight as physically possible and problem solved. 

Peter Regan wrote: I'm also running size 42 Nepal Cubes with Petzl Lynx - I don't have any photos but here is how I have the crampons set up to fit the boot.

- Toe bail in the furthest back position (the one farthest from the front points). This is to allow better secondary point contact as discussed above.
- When viewed from below, 'G' is the letter on the linking bar right before the heel bail. From above, 'H' is partially visible and 'G' is wholly visible.
- The heel bail is in the middle position

If I have time to pull my stuff out and take/transfer photos, I'll upload them here, but I hope this helps! It's probably not as tight a fit as some people demand, but I haven't noticed any wobbling while climbing and they haven't popped off yet.

Thank you. This is exactly the info I was looking for. 

Christian DuBois wrote: I'm learning so much more about ice climbing and crampon fit these days and it would seem those Stingers are a much better fit. Like I said I've been using LS boots with the Lynx myself and honestly not too sure how I like them overall. From here on out I may have to start rocking some BD monos. Let me know if you want to get rid of those things!

I like these BD Stingers overall quality a lot more than the Petzl Lynx. I almost forgot but they even came with a another set of a smaller front bindings. They look quite the same. You need to look really close to see much of a difference. These are stainless so they won't rust so much and all the corners are rounded and really nice to handle with bare hands. Unlike the Lynx. They are really sharp in every possible way. Front and back bindings in these Stingers are thicker wire and the fit is better. Also the back clip is way better to handle and it has a microadjustmet knob. The adjustment rails in these Stingers are much flimsier than in Lynx and the adjustment tab is really flimsy. I think I saw somewhere in this forum, that someone replaced it with a bolt. Another thing where Lynx is better is, that it sits more center of these boots. I quess Stingers aren't as curved or asymmetric. The difference is so small, that I don't think it matters.

Here the Lynx looks more curved (they follow the shape of the shoe) and the Stingers looks more straight. 

This tab bends quite a lot.

With the smaller front bindings.

I literally just made these adjustments with the same exact setup (Cubes with Lynx). Sorry if this is redundant, I did not read through all the responses. I found moving the toe bail back to the 3rd position allowed for me to get good secondary point engagement. Also you probably have noticed the "turned in" front points. I actually flipped by middle bar over and it makes the front points a little more straight. Anyways quick little fix might help you out!

Taylor "TBro" Brown wrote: Also you probably have noticed the "turned in" front points. I actually flipped by middle bar over and it makes the front points a little more straight. Anyways quick little fix might help you out!

Right, I haven’t even thought you could do that. I read somewhere here, that it is possible to put those wires asymmetric in different holes. Like inside one in the first and outside one to the second or so, but I had no success when I tried it. Maybe with different boots.

Don't worry about the gap on the toe bails.  The BD fit looks better but when properly fitted and tight the Lynx do not move.

I got Isa Nepal cube ladies model a few years ago. 41.5?  anyways her stingers kept popping off. we tried the smaller BD toe bail and they still popped off. I said the heck with it and bought her a pair of Lynx with the basket on the toe instead of a wire bail. pretty shure the crampons came with both the basket and the toe bail in the box.  anyways they have stayed on no problems and she loves the way they climb.  Its a big boost mentally to know your crampons are not falling off. 

Nice picture. Looks so easy. Here’s what it looks like for me :D Quite professional I would say.

I did get the crampons to stay on this time. I used someones advice to tighten them too tight to close and then taking back a notch. The clip flexed a lot because It’s so thin plastic and I was afraid of breaking it but it did work at the end.
I do like the idea of the basket toe bail. One of my climbing friend seem to use it. Btw. What is the protocol or what would you guys do if the crampon pops of middle of the lead? Should I try to clip to my axe(new Nomic) or try to put in a emergency screw or ice piton or just give up and throw my gear in a ditch and newer climb ice again. It of course going to happen at the most difficult part of the climb and not on the ledge.

Ah well that was suppose to be a joke. The crampons do work just fine. I was a bit lazy and didn't bother to kick hard enough and of course my friend got that exact moment on camera...

Ice climbing is  100 percent  gear  reliant.  In other words if  an ax or  crampons  break you are  in  deep shit.  The  answer to this  dilemma is to have the best gear available and  have it set up properly.  It will still fail  someday  on lead or solo  if you put your time in.   Result  being that you need to be able to get a screw in any  time. any  place  if  shit goes  south.  That  requires  a good  organized  system  and  lots of  practice.  If the  ice is not  thick enough for a screw  you may have to  clip a  tool  or  one hop  to a  better position. 

Heikki Pitkanen wrote: Btw. What is the protocol or what would you guys do if the crampon pops of middle of the lead? 

Surrender whip

^Good advice above.   As said, the options are straightforward.   Put in a screw, clip your axes, surrender whip (may want to kick off the other crampon and toss your axes like a whitewater boater tossing his paddle going over high falls, just as you pitch off! - make it dramatic)

...or just down climb (to good stance or last pro)

Down climbing is an important skill in your tool box and should be practiced.  Down climbing with one crampon is not too difficult.  

Andy Eiter wrote:

Surrender whip

Okay thank you. Good advices and now I know what call it. :) 

But seriously down climbing is probably a better idea if I can’t place a screw. I’ll practice it next time. I did try the hopping up with just one crampon the other day. It did kind of work but I was on top rope. Also I tried to put the crampon back on with one hand while hanging on with another. I did fail so I guess that’s not an option for me. Someone more athletic could probably do it but it seem to be very easy to slip.

Heikki Pitkanen wrote: Hi, I just bought a pair of new La Sportiva Nepal Cube boots. My first proper ice climbing boots ever. Before I used hiking boots with Petzl Lynx crampons. Kind of works, but you know, way too flexible. Anyway we went to try these out and the left crampon kept popping off the shoe. Is there anything obviously wrong with my setup? Maybe the front points are too back? Also after the climbing I noticed that I need to use a half step tighter setting for left shoe to get the similar tightness. Is this common that the shoes don't match? 

seems like you're good but with the shape of the toe bail on Petzls, you can offset the notches to close that gap a bit - I have one side of the bail in the middle notch, and the other side all the way in the back one. 

Thanks, that's pretty solid advice. That first option is, what we did last time. We tighten the crampon to the exetreme after it came out. It's suprisingly dificult to know how exetreme you need to tighten it. I really tried to set them up in home as good as I could but failed. For some reason it's just the right one that comes out.

I do have the bd stingers. I just need a bit more practise to go from two front point to one. I have done some drytooling with one front point so maybe I'm better at it on ice in this season.

Just use the fil flex toe baskets for the Lynx and you will not have to stress out about the crampon fitting.  As soon as the boot-crampon interface gets iced up or your toe welt wears down, you will start to have problems with the toe bails.  

Hi Karl.  I've seen your posts about using crampons with baskets on this and other threads, and while I can see where you're coming from, I respectfully disagree.  Baskets are obviously more versatile and easier to fit to different boots, and they reduce the chance of the front of the crampon coming off, and so are arguably safer.  But here are my points against baskets; 1) I don't think that they are necessarily immune to crampon/boot compatibility problems; like bails and welts, they need to be adjusted carefully, and not all combinations will fit, although, as above, they are more forgiving. 2) I don't think that the boot-basket interface is nearly as precise and solid when climbing as a bail-toe welt interface...the flex, the movement.  They obviously work for you--your tick list speaks for itself--but that hasn't been my experience.  Perhaps modern gear (last year or two) is better in this respect.  3) When using a basket style crampon, I don't like the way that the tension strap pulls the toe of the boot up when it's tight.  I think you can feel that when walking, especially on long alpine trudges.  That's my perspective, at least.  All the best.

Bruno Schull wrote:

Hi Karl.  I've seen your posts about using crampons with baskets on this and other threads, and while I can see where you're coming from, I respectfully disagree.  Baskets are obviously more versatile and easier to fit to different boots, and they reduce the chance of the front of the crampon coming off, and so are arguably safer.  But here are my points against baskets; 1) I don't think that they are necessarily immune to crampon/boot compatibility problems; like bails and welts, they need to be adjusted carefully, and not all combinations will fit, although, as above, they are more forgiving. 2) I don't think that the boot-basket interface is nearly as precise and solid when climbing as a bail-toe welt interface...the flex, the movement.  They obviously work for you--your tick list speaks for itself--but that hasn't been my experience.  Perhaps modern gear (last year or two) is better in this respect.  3) When using a basket style crampon, I don't like the way that the tension strap pulls the toe of the boot up when it's tight.  I think you can feel that when walking, especially on long alpine trudges.  That's my perspective, at least.  All the best.

Bruno, I appreciate your perspective.  I would be curious to know what boot, toe basket combinations you have had issues with.  

The only times I have encountered issues with toe baskets is on approach shoes (which don't have a toe welt).  I have yet to see a single or gaitered boot that is not compatible with the Petzl Fit Flex or the Cassin Semi-Automatic Toe Bails.  In all my climbing with Nepal Evos, Baturas, and Spantiks I have never had an issue with any toe basket systems.  I have never witnessed any of my climbing partners or students have any issues with toe baskets on mountaineering boots.  

I have personally experienced unexpected toe bail releases with toe bails from BD, Petzl, Grivel, and Cassin on these same boots.  As toe welts wear down, the toe bails become increasingly insecure.  Even on new, unworn toe welts, I have witnessed many unexpected toe bail releases.  

For an additional pespective, I recommend checking out Andy Kirkpatrick's take (https://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/view/getting_the_right_crampon).