I don't know squat about crampons, bought my first pair of Hillsound trail crampons last year. I used them for hiking on some snow-and ice-packed trails, none of which were exposed but they did have some steep sections that I would've had a really hard time negotiating without the spikes, as some sections were really icy. So they came in really handy for that application, without an ice axe and without worrying about being tripped up. The spikes are short enough on trail crampons so that's not really an issue, at least it wasn't for me.
If you attempt to hike the AT north of GA from JAN to early MAR without Kahtoola micros, hillsounds or similar, you take a pretty significant risk of a fractured rib(s) arm, clavicle etc. Happens every year. What happens even more often is someone will take a bad fall with no Fx and they'll have to literally crawl off the trail and wait for a thaw.
