Gear Review: Hillsound Trail Crampons

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Why Buy?

I purchased a set of Hillsound FreeSteps6 Traction Devices for my father-in-law earlier this year in preparation for our Mt. Whitney. Looking at their construction and materials, I thought they were very similar to my more expensive Kahtoola Microspikes. I began to wonder why I had not seen FreeSteps recommended on the several hiking forums and facebook hiking groups I belong to. It seems that everyone recommends Microspikes. I started looking at what other products Hillsound offered and their Trail Crampons caught my eye. I have found myself in situations where I wanted more traction than my Microspikes could provide, but using mountaineering crampons was overkill. Trail Crampons seemed to be a good solution.

First Impressions

When my shipment arrived, one the first thing I did was pull out my Microspikes to compare them to the Trail Crampons. In many ways the Trail Crampons are constructed similarly to Microspikes. There are a few key differences though – Trail Crampons have more aggressive spikes, which are attached to carbon steel plates.  They also have a hook & loop strap that prevents slipping. Here are a few pictures:

The day after I received the Trail Crampons, I was able to take them out for a couple of hours. After calling a ranger station, I decided the best place for me to find some ice and hard packed snow was Keller Peak in Running Springs, CA. I had hiked there a few times and knew that if I did some off trail walking, I could find some steep terrain. I also knew that many people went to the area to  go sledding. Walking up some of these sled runs would also be a great test.

The Test

I hiked approximately 2.8 miles on snow and ice covered terrain. I walked the first mile or so in the Trail Crampons until I found a steep hill. I then went up and down the same hill three times, alternating between the Trail Crampons and Microspikes. After that, I wore the Trail Crampons on one foot and Microspikes on the other. After a while, I swapped feet.  Near the end of my hike, I found a steep sled run that was very icy.

The Good

• Very easy to put on and take off.
• The performance of Trail Crampons compares favorably to Microspikes. I did not slip at all with the Trail Crampons, while the Microspikes slipped on two of the hills I hiked.
• The hook & loop strap:
  • (or maybe the design in general), reduces how much the spikes shift around on the bottoms of the boots. I noticed this when descending steepest hills I hiked.
  •  works as a security tether. I am not worried about the Trail Crampons falling off and losing them in the snow, which I’ve seen happen with Microspikes.
  • can be used to attach the Trail Crampons to the outside of your pack
• I hiked on some very steep hills and felt very sure-footed with the Trail Crampons. I felt safe walking straight up hills that I normally would have switchbacked.

The Bad

• Since the spikes are made from carbon steel, they can rust. They require more upkeep than MICROSpikes (made sure they’re dry before storing, light oil a couple of times per season). Since I first published this review, Hillsound has released a new product, Hillsound Trail Crampon Ultra, which is made from stainless steel.

Through the Wringer

2-3 miles of hiking is not enough use to rate the durability of the Trail Crampons. Based on my initial impressions though, the Trail Crampons will replace my Microspikes as my primary traction device for hikes that do not require mountaineering crampons (crampons with front spikes) . At this point, I have no reason to believe that they won’t hold up. I plan to keep track of how many miles I log with them and will post updates here.

Does anyone have experience with Hillsound products? If so, please comment below.

For a side-by-side comparison of the winter traction devices manufactured by Hillsound, please see this blog entry: Hillsound Equipment’s Winter Traction Devices