Gear Review - Kahtoola and Hillsound Spikes

Hey Tribe,

I seem to walk a fair amount on ice and have tried a variety of footwear attaching traction devices meant to keep me from re-breaking my tailbone (or worse).  Today’s focus will be on Kahtoola MICROspikes and how they have worked (and not worked) for me, with Hillsound Trail Crampon elbowing into the post like an annoying attention-stealing sister.

I chose to spend my hard earned moolah on Kahtoola microspikes for trail hiking, because they’re a popular choice on the hiking forums I follow, and because they are 5 ounces lighter than the Hillsound’s - and you know I’m all about saving weight.  Then, of course, I went ahead and bought the Hillsound pair also.

After a bit of practice, I was able to quickly affix the spikes to my winter boots: I recommend practicing with the rubber and metal pointy contraptions in the warmth and comfort of your house before attempting to wrangle them onto your feet with cold, fumbling fingers.   They fit easily onto both my summer hiking shoe and my winter hiking boot and are snug enough to not flop or get sucked off in crazy snow, but not too tight that my feet feel squeezed; I actually forget I’m wearing them.

Winter boot

Summer shoe

Fly and I have given my microspikes a decent bit of trail time.  We’ve trekked fearlessly down all the icy trails we could find and along frozen rivers and lakes with nary a slip.

Fly is glad she has toenails.

Why is there only ice on the trail?

He approves of my footwear, I'm sure.

I’ve used them in hard packed trail snow down in SE Alaska.

Ketchikan

Prince of Wales Island

Climb these,

To see this!

They helped me summit Mt Kilimanjaro.

A lot of snow and a bit of glacier on the roof of Africa!

Yay me!  See my spikes?

I’ve used them in deeper snow when my boots just didn’t have enough traction.  This is where they fall short of impressive and where the Hillsound’s pop up and say, “Oooh, ooh, put me in, Coach!”

Clogged spikes.

The microspikes clog with snow.  Really, really clog.  I have to keep whacking my boots together every ten steps or so to try to knock off the accumulated snow speedbump that develops in the center of the spikes.  Granted this only happens when the snow is wet and sticky, which I can make allowances for, but when the other player outperforms during a literal side-by-side comparison, I cut zero slack.

Not helpful.

See what I mean?  TheMother and I thought maybe a difference in our boots or walking style was the issue, so we swapped spikes, but it didn’t matter who was wearing the microspikes – they clogged and the Hillsound’s didn’t.

Hillsound Trail Crampons were snow pack free for 6 snowy miles.

Another win for the heavier Hillsounds is when I am cutting across a sharp slope for an extended length of trail: the strap over the top of the foot keeps the spikes firmly in place, while the strapless microspikes will eventually roll off my boot as my weight is carried downwards/sideways with each step.  Having spikes come off my boots while on this type of terrain is slightly dangerous and super annoying. 

Those straps - they work.

So, if I know I’ll be using trails that cut across mountainsides or will be in sticky snow, I choose the Hillsounds to be on my team, despite their odious additional ounces.  But if I need fast, easy to use, light footwear traction, I will grab the Kahtoola MICROspikes every time.

All packed and ready to go.

A loathsome note, but if it helps you sleep at night, I wasn’t asked to write this review by anyone: it is, as always, just my written opinion.