DIY - Nail polish marks The Spot on your crampons

If you wear your crampons with one and only one pair of boots, you can stop reading.  But many climbers swap crampons between different size shoes, such as stout boots for a more technical climb, and maybe lighter ones for later season travel.  But unless you remember the right crampon setting for each boot, switching from one shoe to another can lead to a trial and error process of finding the correct size setting.  (Do I use crampon hole number 6 or 7 for the light summer boot I’ll take on my Middle Sister climb?)

After you get your crampons dialed into the correct length for the boots you use most often, try this simple trick to be sure you can easily reset them.

Dab a spot of fingernail polish around the crampon hole that matches your most-used climbing boot.  That way, if the crampons ever are moved from that adjustment, it’s easy to see the right setting and instantly move it back.  If you want to get fancy, you could use two different marks, one for each different sized boot.

Fingernail polish is also great for marking metal climbing gear like rock and snow pro. Enamel paint pens, available online and at better art supply stores, are another good option for marking metal equipment.