Microspikes: to sharpen or not

[Dehydrator]

Do you think there is any real benefit to sharpening dull microspikes? Of course dull spikes might dig into snow and ice more easily. Yet, if they are dull, each spike will have more surface area with which to latch into. Also, sharpening is tricky and risks damaging the rubber band that goes around the boots. Are there any real advantages to sharpening and are they worth the effort and risk?

 

[DougPaul]

Sharp will give you more grip on ice than dull. (Ice climbers tend to be obsessive about keeping their tools sharp...) There is a previous thread describing how to sharpen Microspikes.

Doug

 

[1SlowHiker]

I'm kind of a newbie (only 46/48 NH4K), but I can't imagine why you would not want to sharpen dull microspikes, other than; "I'm too busy and will hope for the best" or "I have plenty of money so I'll just buy new ones every year". After reading the other posts that Doug mentioned, I sharpened mine with a two sided hand file from HD, after dulling them last fall, and found that it is really easy and not that time consuming. Actually kind of a soothing way to pass time like whitting. (I don't really whittle but thought that was a good analogy). As far as the risk of cutting the rubber, I cant really seeing that happening as long as your aware it's a bad thing. BTW, I dont use the suggested method of putting them on your boots when sharpening (I think its harder to get the angles you need), though I do wear light gloves.

 

[Dehydrator]

My main point is that the greater surface area of a dull microspike might actually provide greater traction than the diminished surface area of a sharp microspike. A wide tire tread gives a car greater traction (and drag) than a narrow one. Might this principle also apply to microspikes?

 

[DougPaul]

My main point is that the greater surface area of a dull microspike might actually provide greater traction than the diminished surface area of a sharp microspike. A wide tire tread gives a car greater traction (and drag) than a narrow one. Might this principle also apply to microspikes?

Maybe on rock*, but not on ice. Traction on ice is achieved by the metal points sticking into the much softer ice and sharp points penetrate farther. If the points just sit on the surface, you will get very little traction. Really dull points can also shatter the ice (rather than penetrating it) which doesn't help.

* Soft metals will work better than hard metals on rock. However, soft metals will not hold the point/edge required to cut into ice.

Doug