UKC

Does anyone have experience with this style of crampon, with the dyneema mid-section?

Are they a pain to get on and off? do they feel secure whilst climbing in?

Tempted to try them out but concerned its a bit of a gimmick and in reality are rubbish...

I've had a pair for a few months. They're no different to other crampons to put on and off. I've used them with B2 and B3 boots, climbing and walking and they've performed well with both. The only real problem is that the strap underneath stretches initially. If you're using them with only a toe bail you want to make sure they're really, really tight, and probably take them off and tighten again during the first few uses to make sure. With that in mind it probably best to use them with a toe basket (they come with both bails and baskets) for the first few times.

I really like them. They're noticeably lighter when walking, and perform well on low grade mixed routes and snow.

There is a wave of dyneema taped/ strung crampons available (petzl, edelrid, blue ice, camp) so there must be something in it. But BI is the only one doing a dedicated ice climbing crampon.

I have the Harfang Tour that I added the Harfang Mono with the horizontal tooth front section to (I have always used the snaggletooth for winter alpine stuff and really like this design). I will probably get the tech front section too when my Cyborgs wear out.

For ski mountaineering/ winter alpine climbing I think the BI crampons work very well, they are no faff once adjusted properly but its worth making them a little too tight and having some wiggle room in the heel clip adjustment for when the buckle stretches out over time. I carry a spare bail, ankle strap and connector strap in the bottom of my pack to fix any emergency issues, these weigh basically nothing and are golden when you need them.

For steep ice climbing on now ever bendier boots my worry isn't so much the fit as these will flex nicely with the boot, but the possibility for the front section to rotate underfoot if they are a little loose. Although from my own observations watching people climb steep ice on these there is a lot of movement when compared to a metal centre bar crampon when front pointing.

People I know climbing steep on these haven't reported any serious issues yet. As for durability of the strap that also remains to be seen, I am also not super convinced at having a slippery underfoot in contact with ice, if climbing featured stuff - but maybe that fear is misplaced.

 

I'm sure there was a recent post about the same thing, and I think I'm repeating what I said before here! Might be worth having a search for it.

One of my least pleasant climbing experiences was a pitch of hard alpine black ice with a pair of Petzl Irvis hybrids on some of the original Scarpa Ribelles. So bendy, so insecure. Would not recommend. 

That dyneema string will last about four minutes if it's regularly used on rock and then you've got a disaster on your hands. Great for walking on flat ice. Not hard to put on/take off. Useless for anything where you want to enjoy the climbing. 

I have a pair I really like them. Used them in cogne water ice earlier this year. They fit great, can get a better fit than normal link bars, it takes a little time to get them set up initially but then they fit perfectly. You’ll need to tighten them a bit after the first few uses (can do this easily while out but adjusting the screw at the back) as the slack tightens in the rethread.

they are noticeably lighter and more agile, they pack down super small and are nice to walk in. You get 2 sets of points and bails in the box.

only issue I’ve had is the front can rotate inwards slightly if you aren’t kicking straight. This seems to be just the nature of the stitches block flexing against the steel, I don’t think they’d come off though 

they were great for me on WI4+ and saw several people climb m7 and above in them with no trouble

Mine rotated inwards slightly, didn’t seem to matter how tight they were, they tend to gradually shift inwards if you don’t kick completely straight. I don’t think they’d come off though

I saw lots of people with them, there’s maybe a bit more flex visible underfoot - only really observable on other people when they are above. The back of the front section kind of pivots downwards slightly. People were climbing some very hard routes in them with no trouble though 

I was going to get some as I liked the light weight nature of them and how well they fold up. In the end I got BD Serac instead mainly because my local shop had some on sale for 99 quid so a bit of a bargain. They've been fantastic this winter, from grade I ridges, to easy ice II/III-ish, to III,4 mixed. But I'm still intrigued by the Blue Ice ones. When I asked about them earlier this winter the consensus seemed to be great once the original set up and slight stretching had been dealt with.

Brilliant. Thanks for the responses everyone. Seems like I'll be better off sticking to my Petzl Lynx's for the kind of climbing I like. 

A friend did the Walker Spur with crampons like that last year and said they were fine. I don't know the make and model but he said they were steel and not aluminium.