I’ve used phantoms for the past 4 years (previous version) and have had a few issues with a bit of heel lift or pressure under the foot and under the ankle lacing. Previously I had Rebel Ultra in 46, but these were super narrow and ripped up my heel. In my quest to solve this I’ve come to the conclusion that my boots were perhaps too big.

I’ve always had size 46 mountain boots, I remember
My original Rebel carbons were 46 and my toes brushed the end of those. And from there I’ve always gone for a 46. I tried on the latest phantom in a 45 and a 44.5 and these seem to solve the problems I had with the old ones (as a caveat I’ve tried all the other current super gaiter boots and nothing else works as well as the phantom, maybe the gsummit but it rubs at the seams). My foot measures 280mm, the Brannock device says 11.5 us , I have a relative square toe shape and wide forefoot.

Now my question is, which size should I use? With my thinnest sock the 44.5 is ok, maybe a little narrow in the forefoot, my outer toes touch the edge, my slightly thicker sock which makes the heel feel less rough my big toe touches the side a bit (now this is probably due to the shape as all boots taper inwards in a very round design). The 45 has more space but is it too big?

In my 46 I am fine on wi4+ but they feel a bit insecure and uncomfortable.

These seem so much smaller but kinda work. My Altra running shoes are 12.5us, other shoes are 46 or 45 with around 1cm space at the front and my b2 Trango pro are 46.5 for width (these cause no issue in this size as not really front pointing in them)

Any thoughts? Mostly asking as it’s a big investment to get wrong and the shop guys seem a bit unhelpful

Has anyone here tried sharpening ice screws using a wet grinder, like a Tormek?

I know there are dedicated machines for sharpening ice screws, but I'm curious whether anyone has tried doing it with a regular wet grinding wheel.

I'm using Petzl Laser screws and would be interested to hear about any experiences, especially how you managed the sharpening angles and kept the tooth geometry consistent.