Crampon advice for smaller boots

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 Joe Harborne 14 Jan 2022

Me and my partner are aiming to do some winter walking in the lake District in the future and we've both got some c2 salewa crampons, she has the salewa crow b2 boots in uk 5.5 and there's a gap at the sides of the rear bail as the soles are very slim under the heel, does anybody know if this will be an issue with the boot moving sideways on the bail?

 kathrync 14 Jan 2022
In reply to Joe Harborne:

My boots are smaller than that, and I also have gaps at the side of the rear bail.

In my experience, as long as the rear bail holds the heel down firmly, and there is a good fit  front-to-back, this isn't a problem.  My own test is to put the boot in the crampon and engage the rear bail but don't do up any of the straps. You should be able to pick the boot up without the crampon falling off.

Post edited at 14:34
scotthldr 14 Jan 2022
In reply to kathrync:

Agree with you, as long as the rear crampon fixing is secure within the rear welt and the front binding fits snuggly, you’ll be fine.

 CurlyStevo 15 Jan 2022
In reply to kathrync:

Hi, A good fitting c2 crampon should stay put without the rear bail engaged at all and no straps done up when you lift the boot off the floor just from the posts, well that’s an ideal fit imo and something I’ve achieved with several combinations in the past.

if you want to tell how secure it is do the rear bail up but not the straps and try to force the heal side ways and assess if it’s safe or not.

Post edited at 11:32
 CurlyStevo 15 Jan 2022
In reply to kathrync:

That said something like the gravel Rambo iV or cassin blade runners dont even have rear posts so you’ll probably be fine, I can’t tell without actually seeing the boot and crampon or atleast some pictures.

Is there a hole in the rear post? You could consider putting a nut and bolt through it to take up some slack and or bending the rear posts.

Post edited at 11:55
 LastBoyScout 15 Jan 2022
In reply to Joe Harborne:

Doesn't the heel of the boot go back far enough to touch the sides? If it's an issue with crampon length - you don't say which model - you may have to cut the link bar down/drill some more holes in it - used the be the advice for small boots.

Otherwise, you could try packing the sides somehow, but if the rear bail is tight enough, the boot is unlikely to move.

 girlymonkey 15 Jan 2022
In reply to LastBoyScout:

Shorter boots are also narrower, so with the boots at the back, the heel plate is wider than some of the boot soles. So there is a gap between the boot and the posts. 

I get the same gap, but I don't find it a problem, the binding still holds well

 LastBoyScout 15 Jan 2022
In reply to girlymonkey:

Yes, I realise that - I used to sell them. I didn't explain very well, but it depends on the design of the rear posts - some are an "L" shape that extends further around the heel of the boot and some are a bit further back than others, so it may be worth trying some other makes to find a better fit, but it sounds like you've already been around that quest in the past.

Obviously, if the boot is "that" narrow, then you're not going to find something that does touch.

 kathrync 18 Jan 2022
In reply to LastBoyScout:

> Obviously, if the boot is "that" narrow, then you're not going to find something that does touch.

This is certainly the case for me. I can pull my boots backwards through the rear posts, and the posts don't touch the boot until I get to the widest part of the toe box. There is no way this would stay on without the heel bail, as someone else suggested, but they are secure with the heel bail.

I've attached a couple of photos, mostly for the OP's reference. These are size 4.5 Nepals with Petzl Vasaks. The bar on the Vasaks is set as short as it will go, and the protruding end of the bar has been cut off - I couldn't make these shorter if I wanted to as the heel and toe plates touch. I've been using this combination for around 5 years now - no sideways movement and I've not lost a crampon. In the second photo, the straps aren't done up, and I'm holding the boot by the cuff.

Post edited at 14:15

 wercat 19 Jan 2022
In reply to kathrync:

The problem exists even with larger sized newer Nepals now (not a pair I have that are more than 15 years old.  I have size 44s that are not compatible with the back end of a number of different types of crampon.  I don't know whether boot manufacturers are forcing a particular make of crampon on us but significant crampon incompatibility (by which I mean a far from perfect fit rather than a slightly imperfect fit) is certainly much more prevalent than it was 20 years ago.  Seems like forced obsolescence to me and is pretty unnecessary as people climbed perfectly well with more rounded soles in the heels and front of the boot.  A  slender toecap can effectively shorten the front points too.

There is a degree of culpability on the part of the manufacturers here for sneaking this potential misfit  up on us.  You'd have to be able to afford to replace boots and crampons quite frequently to realize what was happening.

Post edited at 15:37
 oldie 19 Jan 2022
In reply to wercat:

I posted here some time ago about the forefoot on modern crampons not being wide enough so that one so that the foot could tip over on the crampon points while walking (I'm a 44 so completely different problem to the OP). There was some agreement that crampons were now generally "one size fits all". Salewa and IIRC other manufacturers used to make crampons in different sizes and some were highly adjustable eg a scissor action for width adjustment. 


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