dexhiker from United States, MA Public Profile

I had been looking for some time to find crampons that would fit on my size 13 wide heeled 400 gram winter boots. For this boot size most crampons would not work since the boot would sit too far forward on the crampon heel and then would come off under certain conditions. The ones I had tried were designed to work with a narrow heel boot, i.e. mountaineering boot. The placement of the heel tabs on the Hillsound Trail Crampon Pro are positioned a little differently allowing the use of a wider heeled boot. The boots are easy to put on. One concern I have is the use of orange alpine stoppers which prevent the straps from accidentally getting released. They are relatively small and run the risk of getting lost.

One final comment regarding Hillsound’s names for the different models. Hillsound crampons and Hillsound crampon Ultras are actually similar in design to what are frequently referred to as MICROspikes or spikes. Historically crampons refer to traction devices that have much longer spikes and require stiffer boots. The Hillsound trail crampon Pros are indeed crampons. This has created some terminology confusion among the winter community. Also a one word unique model name would be desired. In some trail reports the hikers will only mention that they wore their "Hillsounds". It is not clear which model they wore!