by scottishkennyg » Mon May 13, 2013 11:19 pm
Hi,
I had some fun with the yaktrax pros this winter and tested them to destruction on the hills. Not sure if you intend to use them on hills or not but if so this was my experience. The black rubber strands snapped on contact with protruding rocks, the rubber on the toe section was prone to slipping off on descent to fold under the boot, and the coiled wire section repeatedly stretched away from the boot sole. On side loading they were not great.
A mate who bought the walker model, lost one of them crossing a small snow section on Slioch. That was probably because there was no velcro strap to go over the instep on this model.
The positives were that they were comfortable, lightweight, did not tear the gaiters, and there was no need to walk like John Wayne. They seemed fine for providing basic grip over less demanding terrain i.e. on level ridges, paths and approaches, but were no good for use on steep or icy sections, and definitely no substitute for crampons and ice axe. I still keep a pair of them on the outside of the rucksack for speedy use as they are very lightweight. Reckon I'll leave them there until after the summer... I also bought the Kahtoola mini spikes which are a bit more robust than the yaktrax pro but still not good enough on true demanding sections but they are handy to pull on over lighter 3 season boots. Hope this helps...
Kenny
