World's Best Traction
Tuesday, June 26, 2012 at 12:02AM 
Same shed, same guy working in it. Photo: Matt Stoecker
Forty five years ago Yvon Chouinard took a hammer and steel and forged the future of ice climbing with a completely reimagined crampon. His rigid, front point design changed what was possible on vertical ice, and the climbing world has never been the same.
Yvon's latest innovation is a solution for sketchy footing in swift, slippery and rocky rivers.
The River Crampons are the highest-traction wading device ever built. Soft malleable aluminum bars are attached to a burley stainless-steel adjustable frame with corrosion-resistant brass rivets, to cut through weeds and moss on slick river bottoms and to grip on rock. Although not fly-line friendly, the design is simple, easily cleaned, and its fast drying materials help prevent the transport of invasive species.
Do the crampons work in the water, the answer is a game-changing yes. Patagonia's fishing ambassadors and testers, (myself included) can't imagine wading without them.
