Kahti Ryan

@jimy how do you find the setup for flatland stuff? Have just spent a large portion of this week buttering around with my students and can imagine doing it on anything stiffer than my soft setup (squishy DC’s and Cartels on a Trice pro) would cause some pressure points/serious lower leg fatigue!

Am keen for the idea of boots that don’t turn to…[Read more]

No personal experience here, but iirc there was quite a big thread about it on UKClimbing awhile back you may want to have a search for.
I think the general consensus was that the static line would do ok. Petzl uses a special construction for it compared with regular statics. Dunno how I’d feel on lead with it though, even on a snow slope where a…[Read more]

Thanks for taking the plunge on these and the detailed reviews buell, they look really good and amazing to finally have a split specific hard boot. That spring/elastomer sounds like the future of boots (inbounds as well as split – I’ve spent most of this season dreaming of a resort boot that doesn’t pack out after 50 days, not likely as then…[Read more]

@trailridge127

1. Yes, but is always going to be more dodgy than keeping snow contact. As buell said quick pivot turns are safer if possible. Having a slightly less stiff board can help with them.

2. For the ascent, Hardboots vs “resort” boots, yes. Vs split specific boots with a reinforced toe and crampon compatibility, not so much. For the way…[Read more]

I finally got to have a look at some proclines in person today! They look really nice. Didn’t get to try on but hand flexed and had a play about with the locking mech. The carbon version seems pretty stiff! Would like to see some non carbon ones.

I’m way too poor to actually be buying a pair anytime soon but had a thought about modding them:

If…[Read more]

Until recently I have had Petzl Vasak. Good fit although the heel on the fitwells is kind of wide to accommodate most back bails on semi autos. I cut a little bit off the sides of the heels for a better fit. For an all around mountaineering crampon I think the Vasak is pretty spot on.

I recently got a pair of petzl lynxes for use on proper ice…[Read more]

Have you seen the mods on the phantom Facebook page? Some good inspiration if you’re feeling brave!

Thanks for the great write up! Seems it is possible to overcome the small welt.

I also recently saw the new grivel ski tour. crampons.
The low profile front bails look like they might provide a closer fit. Not sure if it would be possible to order just the bails from grivel and retrofit them to phantoms but could be worth a shot.

@jvosburgh…[Read more]

While I’ve never owned TLT’s (their narrow fit and lack of alternatives in the UK until recently is the main reason I’m still on a soft setup) their durability always seems to get brought up. I don’t know enough about plastics really but wondering if there is a big difference in durability between pebax and grilamid. The old Scarpa Omega climbing…[Read more]

True we don’t know about the durability, but carbon fibre, whilst known for its stiffness and strength/weight ratio tends not to hold up well to impacts and is bad at dampening vibration. Hence why it is only used as a midsole on climbing boots.
I would really like one pair of boots that I could use for winter climbing and splitting. So either…[Read more]

Wow really cool!

I would agree with previous posts that this is too expensive and not durable enough for the kind of winter activities I want a boot to stand up to, but the statement of finally designing a hardboot specifically for splitting is massive! Let’s hope this inspires some of the big companies at last.

@buell I was thinking about the…[Read more]

Cheers! Great info and definitely not too much!

I ended up persuading myself the Dolomites would be worth the extra drive and headed down through germany and Austria to reach them.

Amazing mountains! Not very van friendly though! Still I had planned to stay there for the winter, except I just got offered a very good price on doing my BASI in…[Read more]

Afraid i’ve finally run away from Scotland this year. Go and speak to Scott, the manager in Black’s in Aviemore if your up that way, he’s always keen to get out and partnerless now that I’ve buggered off!

And in case you haven’t already, join the British Backcountry and Upbattle Facebook pages.

Yeah I really like the look of Austria, and could probably revive my high school German with some effort!
Am slightly put off by the €85 vignette I would have to buy to drive there though. Also it seems slightly crazy to drive past the alps to get to the Tyrol/dolomites without spending some time there (I have never been before) so am limiting m…[Read more]

Damn! That’s a bummer! The points about not being flexible enough and locking out the lateral flex weren’t too bad, as I’d assumed the carbon cuff version would have been to stiff anyway, and I would have thought the walk mode flex would be too much to ride. I was looking forward to it for climbing purposes though.

The small welt is a deal killer…[Read more]

In my rucksack I carry a stubby ratcheting screwdriver that holds a bunch of bits. It’s made by Draper and cost about £7 at my local hardware store. Then I carry a dedicated folding knife as multitool knives are always junk. If I thought I was going to be using it heavy duty (batoning kindling for example) I would take a fixed blade, but for most…[Read more]

Thanks Permnation!
I’ll try and get round to updating it with some snow photos and more build pics sometime soon. Not that i’ve really done much more, too busy out having fun and its liveable as is. Still need to add some shelves and build some kind of toilet setup, and hoping to get a solar panel on the roof, but that will probably wait until the…[Read more]