Evan from above, "something just wasn't working for me."
Reminds me of this other guy talking about jamming his spikes in and ripping out etc. - something was amiss in my opinion. Climbing with spikes feels like walking up a tree to me. When I climb in my Bashlin aluminum climbers with pole spikes they set themselves. On really big Pines, Firs, and Redwoods where some of the tree can have bark three to six inches thick and soft on the outside I will use tree spikes but they still set themselves until I get to the top of the tree and the bark is too thin. Then maybe I am consciously setting them some.
Since I rather casually walk up a tree I have never thought it odd that I could rip out at times. The lanyard tricks mentioned above are great for that, also I was told early on that when you do rip out angle your calves in and your climbers will automatically catch again. Works like a charm - at least a time or two every few months.
Pictures of those Climb Rite spikes look ok to me. But the results I hear from people using them make me suspect. Try borrowing some other high quality climbers. By the way Bashlin aluminum climbers also take a jog around my ankle bone and give me zero contact there.
