Boots/Crampon Rental

[jbrown]

Some friends invited me to hike Marcy in February. Not owning my own crampons, I naturally called EMS in syracuse, intending to rent crampons and possibly boots. Surprise, surprise, they don't rent either. The young lady who helped me on the phone suggested that maybe the Placid store rents them and gave me the number.

Here's my question with stipulation for all you knowledgable gearheads:
Where can I rent these items? Stipulation: I'm probably leaving Syracuse by 5:30 or 6:00 on a friday to hike in to Lake Colden from Upper Works that night and do Marcy the next day. I'll want to pick up the gear on the way to the trailhead. We'll probably drive up 28 through Old Forge and whatnot, is there anything on the way there? I know the Mountaineer in Keene would rent them, but that's waaaaay out of the way.

Help!

Josh

 

[Desalad]

Hi, I don't know about renting equipment in your area, but for $100 you can buy a set of strap-on crampons that will fit right onto your normal hiking boots. I just bought the Black Diamond Contact-Strap crampons and love them. They were just about $100.

 

[Jasonst]

I picked up a pair of Grivel G-10's off eBay last year for less than 50$ I would seriouslly consider ebay for used crampons, especially if you think yyou will need them again someday...

 

[Oldsmores]

...I just bought the Black Diamond Contact-Strap crampons and love them. They were just about $100.

$79.95 at mgear.com

 

[Jay H]

I know Campmor retail still has BD contact 10pt strap ons. The last time I was there, they had those and some AustriaAlpins left. Not sure if they do mail order on the crampons though and there's of course, the fit issue.

Jay

 

[Desalad]

$79.95 at mgear.com

Aw crap. I was happy to give REI my business, and I'll get my 10% Co-op discount at the end of the year

 

[teejay]

You might want to try the Mountainman in Old Forge for crampon rental.

teejay

 

[jbrown]

There you go, Teejay, that's what I'm talkin' bout! I'm gonna have to check them out.

Everyone else, great information, thanks for the help, but if I had the money to buy, I'd scoot my butt down to EMS.

 

[Pucknuts61]

REI does rent them too, but you have to rent them with mountaineering boots. It's $35 a day for members, so for that kind of money you're better off owning them.
Besides, you'll have a great time and will want to go again, so you might as well own a pair.
There was another thread about the kind to buy (see the 12 pt crampon thread). Best advice is to buy new.
Grivels or Black Diamonds are the most common but make sure you get 10 or 12 pts. If you have a good solid pair of hiking boots, strap ons will work. More serious climbers will use 14 pt and clamp downs to mountaineering boots, but that's for vertical stuff, not for the day hikers (although we saw a lot of plastic boots on the trails this week).
Figure around a $100...check Campmor and Sportextreme.com (?) for the best prices.
http://www.sportextreme.com/pq314/
They do provide some information too that might help even if you don't buy from them. I haven't purchased anyhting from this company so please check them out first...their prices seem pretty good.

Best of luck
Bill (pucknuts61)

 

[Rugger]

Just ordered mine (grivel 10pt) from sportsextreme.com yesterday. They shipped today and will be here before weekend. Aside from the transaction being done in Euro's it was an easy process, $81.00 US including the anti-botts.

 

[Desalad]

REI does rent them too, but you have to rent them with mountaineering boots. It's $35 a day for members, so for that kind of money you're better off owning them.
Besides, you'll have a great time and will want to go again, so you might as well own a pair.

Exactly my reason for suggesting to buy. It's not cheap to rent either. Use them two or three times and you've paid for them, so to speak, vs. renting. Good luck with your decision. Maybe you can find a place that demo's crampons and applies the demo/rental fee to a purchase if you buy.

 

[Sparky]

Try the Mountaineer in Keene (rt 73). I think they rent gear.

Here's a link to their site:
Mountaineer

 

[KZKlimber]

The Mountaineer does rent plastic winter boots and crampons - but their store hours do not match JBrowns estimated time for passing through. They do open at 8 AM on weekends.

 

[Jay H]

For those of you ordering Grivel G10s online, check the prices to see if that includes the Antibott. I ordered mine from summithaus.com for $89 shipped and it doesn't include the antibott. Some of the stores advertising it for $100 or more include the antibott with the price. I am going to email SH to see if that was a mistake or not. Having only owned 6pt crampons up to now, I don't know how bad would wet snow affect the 10pt'rs but I haven't had any problems with the 6pts collecting snow so far.

Jay

 

[shadowcat]

The Mountaineer In Keene???

when i took my ice climbing class i rented my koflach's from them. they may have crampons and stuff too. i'd give them a call.

 

[woodstrider]

About renting crampons...

and other technical gear, like ice axes, climbing gear, etc- Too much liability involved. That's why these items are usually not returnable after purchase. Figure, if it is something that can't be returned to the store, then no one will want to rent it out, either. This is a good thing. I want to know that the crampons that I purchase (new) have not been tampered with by anyone.
Though I know that snowshoes can be rented- look them over well before you pony-up with the money.

 

[Jay H]

OK, Contacted Summithaus and they said they will ship me the Antibotts via priority mail for free. So that is a great offer to me, $89 for the Grivels from a place in the US of A.

Kudos to summithaus!

Jay

 

[jbrown]

Yet again, thanks to all who answered my query on this thread. I'm going to borrow an ice axe and some snowshoes and rely on the aluminum crampons thereon for traction if needed. I guess I hadn't thought of the liability issue as far as renting was concerned. Maybe by next year I'll have my own pair.

(Here's where everyone interjects, "but they're only $$xx,xxx.xx at overpricedgear.com, it's a steal!" If only bills weren't a priority over gear...)

later,

Josh

(In answer to the post below by Jasonst, I would like to add the following maniacal laughter, "HAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAaaaaa..." Thanks for the laugh... )

 

[Jasonst]

Yet again, thanks to all who answered my query on this thread. I'm going to borrow an ice axe and some snowshoes and rely on the aluminum crampons thereon for traction if needed. I guess I hadn't thought of the liability issue as far as renting was concerned. Maybe by next year I'll have my own pair.

(Here's where everyone interjects, "but they're only $$xx,xxx.xx at overpricedgear.com, it's a steal!" If only bills weren't a priority over gear...)

later,

Josh

Get your priorities straight, boy!!