BLUE ICE HARFANG TECH CRAMPON REVIEW

LIKE MANY CLIMBERS, WE WAITED ENTHUSIASTICALLY FOR BLUE ICE TO RELEASE THE HARFANG TECHS. FOR YEARS WE HAVE RUN WITH GRIVEL G20s, FINDING NO REASON TO CHANGE WHATEVER THE CLIMBING, SO IT TOOK SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGES IN WEIGHT AND DESIGN FOR US TO STRAY OVER SOMETHING SO FUNDAMENTAL. TALK OF A MIXED CRAMPON THAT WAS 20% LIGHTER THAN WHAT WE HAD IS NO LAUGHING MATTER, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT CAME FROM BLUE ICE WHO HAVE SHOWN SOLID INNOVATION PREVIOUSLY.

OVER THE LATTER HALF OF THE 23/24 SEASON WE HAVE BEEN GETTING THESE OUT THERE, WITH LOTS OF MILES AND ENOUGH SNOW, ROCK AND ICE TO GET A FEEL FOR THEM. LONG ICY APPROACHES IS A TEST FOR THE ATTACHMENT SYSTEM OF ANY CRAMPON, WITH POP-OFFS NOT UNCOMMON WHEN STAGGERING OVER EASY BUT MESSY TERRAIN, WHERE THE TIRED MIND LOSES FOCUS AND FOOTWORK IS NOT ALWAYS PRECISE.

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WEIGHT-WISE THE HARFANG TECHS COME IN AROUND 345g EACH (MONO, WITH ANTI-BALLS), EXACTLY 100g LIGHTER THAN GRIVEL G20s (AN ALREADY LIGHT CRAMPON). THIS IS WITHOUT GOING TO ALUMINIUM, AND IS A FULL SPEC CRAMPON THAT STILL HAS SECONDARY AND REAR TEETH PLUS A FULL FRONT CLUSTER – ARGUABLY A MORE FULL SPEC EVEN THAN G20s – AND IS ATTRIBUTED TO SHAVING MASS IN SEVERAL PLACES INCLUDING POINT THICKNESS, THE HEEL MECHANISM AND OF COURSE THE DYNEEMA BAND.

TO FIT, THE HARFANG TECHS ARE EASIER THAN OTHER DESIGNS, HAVING NO SPRING STEEL PARTS TO FIDDLE WITH AND ANNOYING CENTER BAR HOLES TO COUNT. REPORTS THAT IT TAKES A FEW POP-OFFS TO PERFECT AT FIRST WE CONCUR WITH, SO DO THIS BEFORE GETTING TOO COMMITTED, AND IT’S DUE TO MECHANICAL STRECTH IN THE DYNEEMA, HEEL CABLE AND FLATTENING OF THE BAND THROUGH THE METAL.

WE FIND THE BAND NEEDS TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY TIGHETR THAN YOU’D EXPECT, AND THAT THE HEEL SITS A LONG WAY FORWARD BEFORE CRANKED INTO PLACE. THE BAND BENEFITS FROM BEING FOLDED FORWARD AGAIN AND THEN EITHER TAPED DOWN OR HELD UNDER THE BOOT HEEL, TO GIVE AS MUCH LOCK-DOWN AS POSSIBLE. WE FOUND IT TOOK ONE OR TWO POP-OFFS EACH CRAMPON BEFORE NO FURTHER ADJUSTING WAS NEEDED.

BEING WITHOUT A LATERALLY RIGID CENTER BAR THEY HAVE A UNIQUE WAY OF ANGLING TO THE FRONT,NOT BEING ABLE TO BE HELD IN LINE BY THE CURVE OF THE BAR. THIS MEANS TO GET THE FRONT POINT LINED UP WITH THE TOES CAN INVOLVE OFFSETTING THE FRONT BAIL, AND ALLOWS FOR A BETTER ORGANIC FIT ONCE IN PLACE.

THE TOE BAIL IS VERY SELECTIVE AND IS A REAL WEAKNESS IN THE DESIGN, FITTING ONLY STANDARD BOOTS FROM THE USUAL BRANDS AND NOTHING APPROACHING AN 8000m BOOT, WITH THE MAMMUT NORDWAND 6000 BEING AN EXCEPTION. THE STOCK BAIL WOULDN’T RELIABLY GO ON HALF THE BOOTS WE TRIED, BEING TOO NARROW. A SKI BOOT BAIL IS AVAILABLE THAT MAY OR MAY NOT SOLVE THIS, OR DO AS WE DID AND SWAP OUT A BAIL FROM A G20 AND THEY FIT PERFECTLY. THIS WON’T BE SANCTIONED BY BLUE ICE OR GRIVEL OR ANY OTHER MANUFACTURER, BY THEN NEITHER IS COOKING INSIDE TENTS, USING SINGLE RATED ROPES, WANDERING INTO RESTRICTED AREAS OR MUCH OF WHAT WE REGULARLY DO.

THE HEEL IS PERHAPS WHERE THE MOST WEIGHT REDUCTION IS GOING ON, HAVING NO STOPPERS, NO METAL USED IN THE FITTING, A CABLE FOR THE BAIL AND A NOTICEABLY SMALL HEEL LOCK. THE HEEL STRAP IS VERY POSITIVE AND REFRESHINGLY MINIMAL AND LOW BULK, BUT THE PLASTIC BAIL CLIP ITSELF LACKS ANY SHAPE AT THE TOP THAT CAN TAKE A TOOL OR POLE TIP FOR EASY POPPING OFF. SOME OF THE REDUCED MASS OF THE DESIGN COMES FROM STRIPPING DOWN THIS ASSEMBLY, AND THOUGH WE SEE NO ISSUES AROUND DURABILITY, IT COMES WITH A GREATER NEED FOR ATTENTION AND FOCUS WHERE THE DUMBNESS OF OTHER CRAMPONS CAN BE A NICE FEATURE.

AND LIGHT? YOU FEEL IT, WITH NOTICEABLY LESS MOMENTUM ON THE FOOT, THAT DOESN’T NEED ANY MORE AND WHICH THE HARFANG TECHS REPLACE WITH PRECISION. LIKE A LIGHTER TOOL IS EASIER TO WIELD AND PLACE SO THESE ARE EASIER TO STICK WHERE YOU WANT THEM, AND IN COMBINATION WITH LIGHT MIXED BOOTS MAKE A VERY REFINED PAIR. THE HARFANG TECHS DON’T TRESPASS INTO THE TOO LIGHT CATEGORY BY ANY MEANS, AND HAVE ZERO CONCESSIONS TO REAL MIXED CLIMBING THAT WE CAN SEE YET.

DOES THE DYNEEMA BAND STAND UP? OF COURSE IT DOES. WE DON’T DOUBT THAT BLUE ICE DID EXTENSIVE TESTING BEFORE EVEN RELEASING THE IDEA, AND BEING FAMILIAR WITH THE MATERIAL KNOW THAT IT CAN TAKE ABNORMAL ABUSE BEFORE FAILURE. ASIDE FROM THE INITIAL STRETCH IT PROVIDES A VERY RIGID CONNECTION, WITH ENOUGH TORSION SO AS NOT TO BECOME A TEETERING POINT OF BALANCE LIKE THE FIRST GEN OF G20s SUFFERED.

BALLING-UP WISE, THE DYNEEMA STRAP IS MAYBE THE BEST SOLUTION ANY CRAMPON HAS EVER HAD, WITH THE FLEX OF USE EASILY FLICKING ANY SNOW AWAY. EVEN WITH THE VERY HIGH MID FOOT OF MAMMUT 6000 BOOTS WE FOUND NOTHING GOT STUCK, EVEN DURING LONG POST HOLING SESSIONS IN ISOTHERMIC ‘BASTARD’ SNOW.

TO CARRY THEY OBVIOUSLY HAVE LESS MASS AND VOLUME, BUT THEY FLOP ABOUT UNLESS ‘COLLAPSED’ BY PULLING THE DYNEEMA BAND UP THROUGH THE FRONT PIECE, BUT STILL OFFER NO GREAT ADVANTANGE HERE OVER OTHER DESIGNS. THE POUCH THEY COME WITH WE DIDN’T BOTHER WITH AS ITS TOO FIDDLY FOR REAL USE, BUT SOME BUNGY CORD ON A PACK WILL WORK WITH A LITTLE NEW LEARNING.

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ALL UP, THESE ARE WHAT WE CHOOSE NOW, THOUGH WILL STILL KEEP CRAMPONS LIKE THE G2Os IN STORE. BE AWARE THAT THESE CRAMPONS, WILL NOT PAIR WELL WITH A SOFT BOOT FOR SERIOUS CLIMBING, AS THEY HAVE ZERO RIGIDITY THEMSELVES SO RELY TOTALLY ON THE BOOTS. THEY DO FLEX WONDERFULLY AS AN APPROACH CRAMPON WITH THE BASKET BAIL SWAPPED OUT, BUT FOR SAY SUMMER MIXED ALPINE IN A BOOT NOT EXPLICITELY FOR MIXED CLIMBING, EXPECT TO STICK WITH THE G20s WITH THEIR SUPERIOR CENTER BAR DESIGN.

FOR US, AT ALTITUDE, PAIRED WITH A HYBRID BOOT THIS IS A BIG DEAL, WHERE TAKING 100g OFF EACH FOOT IS REAL MONEY. THE OLD MILITARY CLICHE THAT ‘A POUND ON YOUR FEET IS WORTH TEN ON YOUR BACK’ MAY OR MAY NOT BE REALISTIC, BUT IF EVEN HALF TRUE THE HARFANG TECHS HAVE THEIR PLACE AS THE NEXT GENERATION OF HIGH ALTITUDE CRAMPONS.