Hillsound  FreeSteps6 Traction System

Solidly constructed. No cheap feel here. Not easy to take off/on so put them on a dedicated set of hiking shoes/boots and leave them on for the winter. Not so sharp they will puncture your linoleum floor for a few steps while you get ready to go outside. But I wouldn't feel comfy walking into a grocery store, office, etc.. On the trail, go with supreme confidence without trekking poles. ADVANTAGE: they do not hide your hiking boot lugs/tread. This allows boot tread to do it's work keeping me stable in snow, and provides grip for the icy spots. These are for trails in town and out of town. These are not for dress/casual shoes commuting to work, stores, office.

Bought these after hiking Cucamonga Peak through the snow, without crampons. A couple of weeks ago we did Baldy with these and the difference was night and day. Sure, lots of people were going up without them, but with these the snow was a non-issue. Once I put these on, I went from sliding around to feeling like I was walking on basically normal ground. My boots are 5.5 Lowas. I got the S (smallest REI carries) and they are a little loose on my boots, but not so much as to compromise grip or fall off. Husband's boots are 9.5 Lowas and the M works fine for him. Last weekend we went up to San Jacinto in the snow and these again worked great. I think a link opened up on one of husband's pair, but nothing that can't be fixed and didn't slow him down that day.

We bought these crampons for my dad (size US mens 9), and we've had to return them twice because they've been too small both times. REI's website recommends size medium for hiking boots of US men's size 8-10), so these should have been fine, but the crampons turned out to be too small, so we returned them for a size large. However, even size L turned out to be too small for a US mens 9, so we've had to return them for an XL pair. The crampons themselves are fine, but beware the size problem. REI does not pay for the return shipping, despite the error on this product's website.

These things are EVERY bit as good as the other brand of micro spike, but they clock-in at a deep discount! I maintain trails in Wisconsin, and I spend a good amount of time on Mississippi River Bluff sides with a chain saw in winter attempting to control invasives. I had worn Kahtoola brand micro spikes until I tore one BETWEEN eyelets! So, NO MORE kahtoolas on my feet. I ware size 10.5 wide with the Haix Airpower XR200 sawyer safety boots and I team those with the micro spikes for winter work. These bad boys hold me steady on steep side slope and help me traverse really slippery trails. I bought the XL size FreeSteps6 after reading reviews, and I become a bit sweaty getting these boys off-and-on.

I read all the glowing review for these and bought with confidence. What a disappointment. I wear a men's US size 9 winter boot, and bought the indicated size. I wore these for 2 days, amounting to nothing more than a 1 mile round trip to Sable Falls and ambling about camp. The morning of the third day, the left crampon fell off of my boot due to a complete failure of the rubber webbing.

Went on a hike at rattlesnake ridge with these after a snow melt and refreeze and they made the difference! We were helping people down the icy hills like it was no big deal. While they were sliding on their butts we were going down like it was a walk in the park. With these the ice and snow was not an issue. Easy to get on and off and worth every penny.

I've tried a couple other brands of put-over-your-boots icy walking aids. They fall off easily, or they don't grip all that well, or both. Sure, they've been okay, and they were better than going without, but when I had to replace the last set when they fell apart after one fairly warm winter, I decided to look at other options. These are AWESOME. I'm city walking, where sidewalks maybe aren't shoveled, so they get icy. Please note that I'm not climbing rocks or glaciers; I'm just trying to walk my dogs without slipping and breaking something. For that kind of walking, these are great. They grip well without destroying well-cleared sidewalks. They stay on well; the rubber part comes way up the back of my boot, and the front comes far enough over the toe that I'm not worried about its coming off. We've already had a couple of decent snows here, and these have proven to be just the thing. I don't think you want to wear these in the house; I suspect they'd be hard on nice floors. I leave my boots at the door, so that's not an issue. I think this is the product I'm going to stick with.

I bought these for my husband and I back in 2017 and just had our first opportunity to use them this weekend. We did a 7.5 mile hike near Truckee, CA on packed snow / ice, climbing around 1,750 feet to an awesome lake. We started with just our boots and were slipping and sliding. We put these on and had perfect traction. There were easy to put on and worked better than expected! Other than the improved traction, I couldn't tell I was wearing them. They did slide around a bit on my toes but this didn't impact their performance.

After having several other brands of crampons, that either broke or kept sliding off while hiking on snow covered trails, I decided that I needed a more robust pair of crampons. These are great! They are easy to get on and off. Zero sliping while hiking through 6" of fresh powder with lots of ice underneath. Highly recommended. Size M, are a perfect fit on size 10 Asolo Fugtive boots.

I used these for fly fishing. They lasted a half a season (10 trips?) before one of the chains wore through. Very soft metal material.