[pct-l] crampon fit

[Brian Lewis]

Bill wrote:
"I think the ULAs were closer to 8 ounces though.  Since I know of no
crampon that is as light as the ULA, this may be a reason they don't make
them any longer (too many failures or something of that nature)."


Yes, I expect that is the case.  I originally bought two pairs of the ULA
units, one for me and one for my wife.  I'll be using "my wife's" pair
starting at KM, because I broke one tooth off each of mine in just very very
brief walking on hard ground amongst mostly-snow last year.  I reported this
to Brian Frankle and didn't get a reply, but not very long after these
disappeared from the ULA website.

I think they're still a great option as long as the user is aware of how
fragile they are anywhere but on snow. I *now* know that if I have to walk
even a single step on anything but snow, I'll stop and take the suckers off,
even if that means I'm putting them back on 10 feet later, or doing without
them in places that switch a lot between rock and snow footing.

Due to this hassle factor, I wouldn't now consider these for day hikes;
something like that Stubai 6-point hardened steel unit would be good.   Or
just my bulkier and heavier Stubai 10-point'ers --- the aluminum doesn't
wear as well as steel, but one can certainly cross the occasional hard/rocky
patch with those without fear of immediate breakage, despite the fact that
the teeth are significantly longer.


	Brian Lewis