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I thought the BD Contact's were not aluminum. I got a pair of BD Neve's (strap version), which are aluminum and damn light (much lighter than the Contact's). They've been working well and holding up so far. I think they're fine for typical splitboard missions. I think the fit on my Driver X's (size 11) is OK, but it seems like they just barely fit. The Stubai ones seem to be little bit wider, so maybe a better fit for softboots.

i have the grivel 12 points. love em.

The Contacts are steel for sure. They fit on my 11.5 boots, but barely. If it's helpful, the CAMP Universal Aluminum crampons were too narrow for snowboard boots.

BD does make a long spreader bar that will let most BD crampons expand for bigger feet. I know it works for my Sabertooth clips and the Contact Straps, so I would presume it would work on the Neve as well.

With the bar, my Contact Straps work with size 13 drivers, but it is not the most solid connection ever. They slipped off once, so I pay close attention and retighten/adjust when I get the chance. Not ideal, but worked ok so far.

It's not the length that is the problem to me. It's that the toe and heel plastic bails don't provide a lot of coverage on a wide softboot, so if you don't have it really cranked down, you could slip out. Also I think it would be nice if the crampons themselves were a bit wider, and I *think* the Stubai's might be. But anyway, the BD ones do work and I haven't had any problems yet.

I have the old style Contacts and they have an adjustable heel and the toe is in two parts with a big eye connecting the two halves, this lets the toe accommodate wider boots. I also have 2 small points under the ball of your foot that the newer style doesnt have. I've had them for 10? years so I'm not really sure of their name.

So I finally settled on the BD Neve Strap Crampons.

I'll see if I regret getting the aluminum ones...but truthfully I don't think I'll be wearing them for too much mixed rock/ice traveling, and know I won't be using them for frontpointing/ice climbing.

Used them on frozen snow at Mt. Shasta last weekend, and plan on an overnighter out there next weekend so I'll let you all know...thanks for the help everyone!....

now to hi-jack my own thread....I have the old split crampon, and wonder if it makes sense for me to get the new one? I don't know what the difference is other than the new one has a bit more aggressive bite. I could easily use my bench grinder to sharpen the ones I've got...

any feedback?....all appreciated!

jbaysurfer, I was looking at the difference in bite between my set of burton crampons and the two sets of newer voile crampons. The bite angle is more aggressive with the voiles for sure...and I have never used them as of yet. I did use my burtons on a few trips early this year and even with less bite they really held me well compared to the struggle I was having trying to skin up a section too firm and steep. I would say grind yours to return them to like new sharpness and keep wearing them when you need them. I wish my burtons with the drop in ease fit my voile system some how.

How did you like the bd neves? I need to get a set of crampons for my soft boots. I too am not looking for anything to handle technical stuff, just don't want to bust my ass. I was also thinking going light with the newer aluminum. Less durable, but around here most of the rock I'm going over is covered by many feet of snow.

Mumbles,

Thanks for your reply! My BD neves fit my K2 boots pretty bomber. The guy at 5th season who helped me fit them to my boots initially said he thought that fit was just as secure as any of the hardboot setups he's seen.

How they hold up remains to be seen since they ARE the aluminum ones. I'm planning a Mt. Shasta summit attempt (on the splitty of course!) next month, so I'm sure I'll have a better gear report on them after that, I'll be sure to report back to ya!

I bought a pair of the BD Neves and the CAMP aluminum crampons
http://www.rei.com/product/751754
Kept the CAMPS. They seemed to fit better on my Malamutes, plus they are 12 point crampons. Finally got into some spring conditions and was able to use them this weekend. Seemed solid.

I know 4 or 5 soft booters using the Stubai ultralights. Mine work great on Malamutes.

Very informative. Thank you.

Would aluminum crampons (eg. bd neve strap or grivel air tech) be a problematic for a general mountaineering course in the summer/fall?