Traction device specialist Kahtoola is preparing to launch its most portable MICROspikes wearable to date, one so light it calls it the Ghost. The new design builds on the company's popular lineup but replaces stiff chains with a collapsible TPU frame that disappears away in your pack until it's needed for a slick, sketchy traverse. Within seconds, basic hiking boots gain toothy, ice-biting steel spikes to keep you secure, stable and confident on otherwise treacherous terrain.
Born from near-tragedy, Kahtoola was founded by Danny Giovale immediately after an icy hiking descent led to a death-defying 650-foot (200-m) slide in the Italian Alps. Upon his return home to Flagstaff, Arizona, Giovale used the defining life-flashing moment as inspiration for a product design, developing the portable hiking crampons that launched the Kahtoola brand in 1999.
The company's premier product followed nearly a decade later when it introduced the original MICROspikes in 2007. These wearables have long combined a stretchable-elastomer over-shoe upper attached to under-foot steel traction spikes by small chains, a different setup from the metal coils, intimidating crampons with spikes like knife blades, studded flat-soled cleats, retractable-stud footwear and myriad other traction alternatives.
Kahtoola has since expanded its lineup with various other forms and grades of traction gizmo while gaining some major MICROspike competition from other brands. Hillsound Equipment's Trail Crampon (debuted in 2009) and Black Diamond's Access Spike (2020) are two that come to mind.
Still, MICROspikes have persisted as Kahtoola's signature flagship product through four design generations. To avoid growing stale, the company has been working on a lighter, more portable version of these originals for nearly a decade. It's now previewing what it calls the MICROspikes Ghost.
At 11.9-oz (338 g) for a size medium, a pair of current-gen MICROspikes isn't necessarily super heavy or cumbersome, especially for something that could save life and limb. But the trail runners, fast packers and thru-hikers Kahtoola has in mind with the MICROspikes Ghost are always looking to shed as much weight and bulk as they can. And for less serious hikers, being able to throw a traction aid comfortably in a jacket pocket or small daypack could mean the difference between bringing them along for a cold-weather hike or rolling the dice without them.
In place of the chains on the original MICROspikes, Kahtoola relies on an under-foot TPU matrix that holds the spikes to the thick upper. The new build cuts over 2 oz for a size medium weight of 6.9 oz (196 g) per pair, but more importantly, it promises to improve packability since thin, stretchy elastomer compacts down much better than stainless steel chain links.
"For years, we’ve dreamed of creating a lighter, more packable version of the original MICROspikes – one that provides the same reliable traction but with significantly reduced weight and bulk," said Kahtoola R&D chief Chris Bunch in a recent product announcement. “This vision set us on a multi-year journey that involved rethinking everything, from materials and construction to rigorous testing."
Unlike some other packable traction aids designed to leave loads of weight behind, the MICROspikes Ghost covers the full sole with 12 traction spikes, not just the front of the sole. In our experience using traction aids while hiking on snowy trails, this is essential because you land on your heel when descending, a time when proper traction is crucial. No spikes in back means no traction boost at times you need it most. So while Black Diamond's Blitz Spike traction device is less than half the weight at just 4 oz (114 g) for a medium pair, it has only half the spikes and sole coverage.
Kahtoola adds in articulating rivets that move independently to help prevent the spikes from getting buried by stuck-on snow and becoming ineffective. Reinforced eyelets at critical stress points help boost durability.
The MICROspikes Ghost looks like an innovative spin on a product so tried-and-true it's been welcomed into the Backpacker Gear Hall of Fame. Sadly, though, while they'd make a great upgrade for the fast-approaching '24/25 snow season in the Northern Hemisphere, winter wanderers looking to get their feet on them will have to wait a year for their Fall 2025 launch.
Pricing has not yet been announced, but if you need traction this winter, Kahtoola's regular MICROspikes retail for $74.95, and the company also offers lower-priced traction devices. The aforementioned $79.95 Black Diamond Access Spike is another option that weighs only 8.8 oz (250 g).
Source: Kahtoola
