Harfang Tech Crampon

Harfang Tech

After using both the Harfang Tech and Harfang Mono (with the aluminum heel) on my touring boots, I wanted to try a pair for general ice climbing. I have a few days on the ice with Harfang Tech on Nepal Cubes and they are getting better with each use. I love how light and sharp they are. They pack away much smaller than my other crampons. I keep tightening the heel adjustment and they get a little better each time. My only concern is that there is a little a bit of lateral play in the toe. I have reduced it greatly by really tightening the heel screw, but I am afraid that I will bend it if I make them much tighter. I think that these will climb ice very well but that they may come up a bit short on mixed routes because of higher torque.

Great performance requires a touch of patience.

Let me say up front that these things perform incredibly well on technical ice. Very sharp out of the box, and well constructed. The weight savings lets me feel more precise with every foot placement - I'm sure it'd be even more appreciated in a drytooling context. There is some patience required to win that performance though. The dyneema strap is easy enough to adjust, but you really do need to get it very tight at first because they will "settle in". The flexible-cable on the heel bail is strong, but makes for a frustrating time putting these on because on my boots, with the dyneema adjusted properly, that wire will barely fit around the heel of my boot. Its not as easy as other crampons where you can just step right in and snap the heel lever up. I have to step in, coax the wire up and around my heel, then snap the lever up. These do pack down incredibly small, and I love that the included stuff sack can be put on the hip belt of a backpack. Overall this is a really impressive crampon and I'm excited to put them through a lot of ice this season!

Waiting to see

Have not used them yet. I had hoped they would fit my AT boots but the toe nail is small Fit my climbing boots just fine. Not a whole lot lighter than my other crampons( Grivel , Petzl) but they look like they will work at least as well as my others