crampon question

I was considering the petzl lynx for ice cragging or technical ice but am now considering this option.

Sarken for my ice cragging:

https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Crampons/SARKEN

Then either one of these for general mountaineering:

https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Crampons/VASAK-front-sections

https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/Crampons/IRVIS-front-sections

I don't ice climb hard, just starting out again after being away from the sport so I thought sarken will be good enough for now. And it's also lighter than the Lynx.  I considered the dartwin over the sarken but read that the dartwin has no anti-ball and could be dangerous if the snow piles up.  What do you guys think?

Also with the irvis or vasak, should I  consider getting the reversible or flex bars if I want to use regular hikers?

I work with a guide service that uses Sarkens (and other) crampons for novice ice climbers. Everyone seems to struggle with them. A crampon that's more dedicated to water ice is clearly easier to use (we're on Cyborgs now; similar to the Lynx).  The latter also will let you run monopoints, which I'm willing to say that once you try them, you will prefer them.  And AFAIK you can still swap the fronts with Irvis/Vasaks for alpine stuff.  As to Dartwin anti-botts, I use Darts for 80% of my climbing and snow balling is ALMOST never a problem. The flat frame just doesn't grab snow the way a vertical frame crampon (M10, Rambos, Terminator, Harpoon - OK some of these are obsolete models) does.

May like grivels options.  I love the g22 and g20.  G22 would allow you to do some hiking too and they are among the lightest pons out there.  Otherwise the g12 work great and have been used on nearly all the big mountains of the world.  I’ve used them for ice, glacier travel and I think they are a great all around pon. 

I second the grivels. The g-20-22s are fantastic. Perfect fit and no chatter. I rocked the Lykz for two seasons. Noticeable improvement for vertical ice. I wouldn’t use them as a general mountain crampon though. The g-12 would be awesome for that. 

I failed to mention that the pons will be for the Mont blanc pros.  The grivels and petzl will fit fine?

RWPT wrote:

I failed to mention that the pons will be for the Mont blanc pros.  The grivels and petzl will fit fine?

Shouldn't be any problem.

Sarkens are pretty tough with waterice. I love them for everything else, but for waterice it is best to get a waterice crampon. 

I run Lynxes on my Mont Blanc Pros. They’re great. Vertical ice or general. I tried the cyborg and the G14s and the Lynxes were much higher quality and ease of adjusting the front points. 

Have 2 friends with multiple Lynx wire breaks...

Luc-514 wrote:

Have 2 friends with multiple Lynx wire breaks...

Wow. I would not have thought of that as a primary failure mode. The bail wires are pretty beefy. Does Petzl know about this?

Rich Murray wrote:

Wow. I would not have thought of that as a primary failure mode. The bail wires are pretty beefy. Does Petzl know about this?

Charles R has had the wire replaced free of charge 3x by Petzl in one season...

I would much rather climb steep ice on a sharp pair of Vasaks than on a pair of Sarkens. IMO they are angled too sharply downward

Rich Murray wrote:

Wow. I would not have thought of that as a primary failure mode. The bail wires are pretty beefy. Does Petzl know about this?

I bought a set of Lynx pons in 2014. I replaced the toe bails this season because I'd heard of this issue. The new ones have a slighty different shape and color, so I'm guessing they have made some modifications to the material and/or manufacturing process at some point.

The Sarken is a good all-round crampon if you don't want a quiver but it doesn't seem to fit into a quiver if your primary uses are water ice cragging and glacier slogging.

If you're really just ice cragging then I wouldn't expect snow-balling to be an issue and I'd get a dedicated ice climbing crampon (dartwin or darts maybe).  I have a pair of Sarkens and actually really like them as a good all-rounder but that isn't what you want if you're interested in a quiver.  It would make more sense to do a dart(win)/Vasak or Irvis combo (I like 12-point 'pons on my size 12 boots, my wife prefers 10-points on her size 6 boot).  I like the plastic toe baskets on the Petzls better than the basket on the Grivels and feel that the stability of the plastic basket is better on my Nepals than the wire bail.  

FWIW I have BD Sabretooths, Grivel G12s and G14s, and Petzl Sarkens on the shelf along with some aluminum CAMPs.  I had some BD Contacts too but gave them to a friend.  The only pair I reach for anymore are the Petzls.

Thanks!

So I've made up my mind.  Likely get the combination of:

Lynx AND Vasak/Irvis combo.  Probably the Vasak as they have more points.

Would I need to consider the flex bar if I'm using the vasak for pure glacier travel and softer  boots? (https://www.petzl.com/CA/en/Sport/Crampons/FLEX)

OR the bars that come with the Lynx is good enough.  For reference, using size 42.5 boots.