Converting from dual to mono and back

How many of you actually spend the time to convert your crampons back and forth like the Lynx, Rambos, M10 etc?
I just see chances of losing hardware, screwing up threads and generally waste of time.
Changing the picks maybe useful when you wear them out fast but you're building up wear and tear elsewhere in the crampon which could lead to failures elsewhere.
I prefer simplicity, a pair of G20 and a pair of G22. (For technical ice)

What's your quiver?

Every set of crampons I've had that are mono/dual convertible have spent their entire time with me in mono mode. The only reason I keep the extra bits needed to switch to dual is when it comes time to sell them. There are potential buyers out there who think they prefer dual (because they haven't yet learned how awesome monopoints are).

Just buy two pairs ... crampons are like boots one can not have too many.

Any pair of convertible poons I have owned have lived their entire lifes in whatever configuration I initially set them up in.  Way too much of a PINTA to change them. If you prefer the mono setting the extra point is a good replacement. They basically come with a spare pick :)

^^^ yep, have a pair of mono's and some horizontal dual points for easy ice/ski mountaineering.  If you're a good climber  you can climb pretty hard ice and mixed with either and just use whatever you fell like.  Although mono's are definitely preferable for most mixed situations and like Nick said they come with an extra point when you inevitable destroy the first ones.  

The bd ones take about 2 min to switch. If loosening and tightening a bolt makes you fear that you might ruin the hardware then you’re probably right, you shouldn’t. I posted a step by step instruction on MP for the initial conversion. It’s pretty simple. 

I generally switch from mono to dual while climbing mid-pitch, usually by about the third or fourth screw but never the fifth or sixth. I'll stop, make a good mid-anchor, switch over, and then climb to the anchor proper. It makes for a longer day, but it's totally worth it

I used to switch out points with my bladerunners, generally starting the season with dual and converting to mono as time goes on. Now with  alpinist tech / pro I generally just grab one or the other, and leave the bladerunners in mono mode. I do tend to agree with you that if the front points are at their limit it's likely the rest of the crampon is worn down in other places as well. 

Jake wander wrote: The bd ones take about 2 min to switch. If loosening and tightening a bolt makes you fear that you might ruin the hardware then you’re probably right, you shouldn’t. I posted a step by step instruction on MP for the initial conversion. It’s pretty simple. 

It's clear from the comments in the thread where you posted your step-by-step (link below) that many people don't find the Cyborg D->M change to be a straightforward 2 minute operation. And I'd challenge ANYONE to go through your steps incl. the requisite Dremel cuts, in 2 minutes.

Gunkiemike wrote:

It's clear from the comments in the thread where you posted your step-by-step (link below) that many people don't find the Cyborg D->M change to be a straightforward 2 minute operation. And I'd challenge ANYONE to go through your steps incl. the requisite Dremel cuts, in 2 minutes.

Switching back and forth takes two minutes. As I stated above, my instructions are for the initial conversion which requires cutting the anti-bot plate. You don’t need to use a dremel to cut the plate every time you change out your points....

I started ice climbing last season and purchase a pair of Lynx.  They came set up with dual points and I ran them that way.  I had read that dual points are good for beginners, more stable.

This season we started climbing ice Oct 13th.  Then had to go to dry tooling for a while.  I quickly realized that dual points are worthless on rock and needed to switched to mono's.

My first ice climb on mono's was also my first full pitch ice lead Nov 23rd.  Was a bit nervous about doing my first lead on mono points (not being as stable?)...Can't say I noticed any difference, did not feel less stable or less secure than dual's, if anything it was an improvement.

I now have a spare set of points when I wear the others out.  Have no plans to go back to dual points.  May end up with two sets of crampons at some point.  One for ice, one for mixed and pure scratching.

All that being said the Lynx are really easy to switch.  Only worry would maybe be the nylock nuts no being as effective if reused a lot.  Of course you are supposed to replace nylock nuts after each use. Otherwise don't cross thread or over torque fasteners and they will generally last a long time.

You guys must have too much time on your hands. Its all I can do to get the ice pack thrown together and get out the door.  Funny that Duals care useless for climbing rock.. I guess someone forgot to tell Kevin Mahoney that..  

Nick Goldsmith wrote: Funny that Duals care useless for climbing rock.. I guess someone forgot to tell Kevin Mahoney that..  

No need, he seems to already know.  Here's a video of him sharpening his monopoint crampons: https://youtu.be/ocgLL9N7weg?t=76

 Cool Video.  My friend who climbed with him in NH  told me that he was using duals on evenything up to when the fruit boots went on..  Lots of folks in the N. Conway area had that conversation where he felt that on thin ice the duals were more stable.  Lots of shots of him climbing locally with duals. he certainly  may have switched back but he certainly showed that duals could climb rock way harder than I can. One of my regular partners climbed with and was converted to duals. he climbs circles around me and talked me into trying duals. I felt them to be more stable. Climbing is 90% mental so if you feel something is helping your game it will.  It's all good . Just don't say something silly  like duals are useless on rock when lots folks have climbed real serious stuff in them...  

From Will Gadd article in Gripped magazine, February, 2018

https://gripped.com/routes/15-takeaways-from-ice-climbing-in-norway/

I’m done with vertical mono-points for hard ice climbing. They are a junk show for climbing really fresh ice. Ice on mixed routes often forms slowly and has good density, fresh ice is just too hollow for mono-points, Sabretooths work far better. I’m going evangelical on this, I just had my vertical monos rip too many times to ever want to use them again.

I find on really candled stuff I can cam little icicles with my duals,  ( used to do this with Foot Fangs BINTD) on super thin slabbly stuff the duals are twice as stable as monos and for the level of rock climbing I do in the winter  5.8 ish they work just fine.  YMMV

Lynx take 5 min to switch over, simple. Use linking bar as wrench on the locknuts.

Some people are better with tools than others. I have a buddy who would strip every bolt and nut if he tried to change over even once.
I used to change them all the time, but haven’t since I added G20+ to the quiver.

AirTech alum, skiTour 2.0, G12, G14, G20+, Rambo 4

Duals have their place.

I just go climbing.. :) I'm lucky to have enough time to check and test if shit is tight and still fits the boot.. 

I shouldn't have made the statement that "dual's are worthless on rock".  As I am a total noob and this season is my first dry tooling.  So far my experience with a lot of the bolted sport routs for pure rock climbing or dry tooling have been challenging for me.  Placing a tool pick in a thin crack surrounded by smooth rock and torquing on it is one thing but getting a crampon point in there with duels...
I should climb way more dry and mixed routes before forming an opinion, but my mentor who has been climbing here for 7 years, after going to mono's doesn't feel any need or desire to use dual points again, so maybe it is just the nature of  the rock we have locally available for dry tooling routes.

If I was climbing compltly dry routes ( not likly to happen) I would go straight for the fruit boots. the kind of rock you encounter on regular routes that have thin ice and incidental mixed climbing I feel pretty solid on the duals. Dike, Repentance, Fafnir etc...  a few years ago I led the 1st pitch of the gent in pretty thin and hollow conditions. 3 pieces of gear in 100ft. and felt that duals helped a bit. that being said I would still have gotten up it in stingers  though I might have had to clean my pants out with a snowball at the belay...