Gear Review: Crispi Super Granite Hiking Boot
A rigid, all-leather boot with an integrated heel crampon.
For total grip on icy terrain, you need crampons. But they’re heavy, sometimes overkill, and taking them on and off in mixed terrain can be a hassle.
Enter the Super Granite. This rigid, all-leather boot has an integrated heel crampon—little serrated blades mounted to either side of the heel—that flips down with the press of a button. With the crampon engaged, testers walked securely over the ice-glazed cones of New York’s Haystack and Little Haystack. But on the exposed rocky sections, they simply locked the crampons away in favor of the deep-lugged rubber sole.
The Super Granite—made from nubuck leather and an insulated Gore-Tex Comfort Liner—proved toasty warm, even for a tester who tackled several of New Hampshire’s Presidentials in sub-zero temps. “The boot gave me all of the tools I need for the sketchy winter traverse with a 40-pound load,” he says, noting they could handle 60 pounds. Need forefoot traction? They’re compatible with strap-on crampons.
Downside: weight.
$459
5 lbs. 4 oz. m’s 6-13
crispiusa.com