YakTrax or Similar for Kids?

[+Team Bacmac]

Thanks to the wonderful Cachemas & Grinchmas caches in Western Connecticut, my family only recently discovered the joys of winter caching. We're thinking of investing in some YakTrax. This is fine for the adults, and our almost 13-year old daughter, who wears adult size boots.

 

However, our almost 8-year old son is in, at the largest, a size 2 boot. Looking at the YakTrax website, they don't seem to go that small. Is there an alternative to YakTrax, or a special place to get kids' sizes?

 

We're visiting NH for a long weekend in February, so we'd appreciate your thoughts.

 

Team Bacmac

[+briansnat]

A warning about YakTrax. They are fine for jaunts to the mailbox or across mall parking lots, but if you are planning on using them for anything beyond that, like hiking or geocaching on anything but level terrain they aren't up to the task. They also break pretty easily.

 

Stabilicers a bit better than YakTrax, but don't perform well on steeps or rugged terrain.

 

Check out Kahtoola Micro Spikes. I've never used them but know a few people who have and were really impressed. I also read some very good reviews for them online and according to their website they come in the size you need.

Edited January 8, 2009 by briansnat

[+Team Bacmac]

Interesting. I see that YakTrax has two models: "walker" and "pro". We were planning to go for the "pro" model, which seemed to be geared toward winter hiking, while the "walker" was for trips to the mailbox.

 

I will check out your other suggestion.

 

Does anyone else have experience with the quality, good or bad, of YakTrax?

 

Team Bacmac

[+briansnat]

The difference between the Pro and Walker is basically that the Pro has an extra strap and slightly heavier gauge wire. My post above refers to the Pro. It isn't suitable for anything beyond perfectly flat ground and it breaks easily. I never tried the Walker but I assume that it's even worse for geocaching.

Edited January 8, 2009 by briansnat

[Mesa Mike]

There are lots of options for crampons, though most are rather expensive. However, if you're really serious about hiking in the snow, it might be worth the price.

[+briansnat]

There are lots of options for crampons, though most are rather expensive. However, if you're really serious about hiking in the snow, it might be worth the price.

 

Depending on the terrain, crampons may be the only safe alternative. The strap on treads just aren't suitable for steep and or/rocky terrain. I use 6 point heel crampons very similar to these and they should be fine for probably 99 percent of all winter cache hunts.

 

There have been a handful of times I wished I had 10 or 12 point crampons. If you are walking on very steep trails the heel crampons lift out of the ice when you get on your toes and need them to bite, so you have to stay off your toes and walk kind of duck-like so they bite. With the 10 and 12 pointers you don't have to worry about that because there are spikes in the toes.