A flexible crampon design

The design of crampons is studied and a new, more comfortable, flexible crampon design is proposed. A brief history of crampons is provided and then the current state of crampon design is discussed. Two major problems in modern crampons were identified. The first big problem was that the crampons are extremely hard to use and adjust especially in cold, wet conditions. The second problem was the comfort of the crampons on the hikers feet. While this issue may seem somewhat trivial, when hikers are on a multi-day expedition they need to keep their feet in the best possible condition. Therefore, a crampon design that makes use of larger safety straps operable by a person wearing gloves is proposed. The center of the crampon itself is flexible, being made from spring steel. This allows the crampon to flex with a hiker's foot, thereby improving walking comfort.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Fahey, Nicholas J., S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• David R. Wallace.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32975

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/32975