I never have done this before, but I was wondering if any cross country skis are designed to have a cramp-on for your normal boots? I want to use these skis to increase my mobility when backcountry winter camping. Using purpose made boots is not really what I want to use and I don't want to carry 2 sets of boots.

Not as far as i know, i think you need to have the specific boots due to the way the boots pivot on the skis.

Been a long time since I've done it but the boots you use for x-country have hardware on the toe end that mates with the binding on the ski. I never saw any device that would enable use of hiking boots or anything else.

No.

XC ski bindings require purpose specific boots. There 3 basic styles. The more common and newer typre is the NNN "New Nordic Norm". In that style there are two levels, the BC type is heavier duty and intended for use on wider skis going off of the groomed trails.

The second type is the 3-Pin. They are the type with the square shaped toe piece. It's the older type and what was considered the norm for years. 3-Pin boots are can be beefier boots designed for downhill telemark skiing as well.

The third type is the Saloman brand's proprietory boot/bindind and resembles the NNN with slightly different specs/measurements.

Old school 3-pin boots could be used for some hiking and could fit into some crampons. Many a mountain have been climbed and descended using 3-pin gear.

Hope that's helpful info.

Cheers!
-JC

Back in the 1970's there were 2 common types.  3 pin were the popular and modern ones (now considered antique by many) and cable bindings. I still have 2 pair of skis with cable bindings.  They can be used on hiking boots.  You may need to groove the heels of the boots to take the cables.  Checking google I still found some cable bindings available.  Most of the current ones are for 3 pin boots with the cable added for extra control on downhill.  Send me a pm if you are interested in a pair of cable bindings.





If you are using boots that work well with crampons they should work with these bindings.

How about snowshoes? They're slower than skis, especially on downhills, and don't provide as much flotation (I think my 10x36 Tubbs w/325 sq in per shoe come darn close though), but climbing is at least as easy. I use my snowshoes with every pair of boots I have - Sorel Conquests, Asolo Fugitive GTX, and Vasque St. Elias GTX.

I am also looking at getting a new set of cross country skis this year.  Their design and function has defiantly advanced in the last decade that's for sure.

I have seen people retrofit snowshoe bindings to cross country skis.  Something like the top image in this article:
http://www.startribune.com/how-to-retrofit-snowshoe-bindings-to-cross-country-skis/235627401/
The problem is maintaining adequate lateral support.  A military snowshoe style binding is not going to work well on a narrow base, but other styles could work fine.

The lateral support would also be the issue with the example of cable bindings using conventional hiking boots posted above.

Anything other than using the appropriate boots is going to be a PITA and likely negate any effenciency gained.

Some nice old-school 3-pin boots would work well for xc skiing, hiking and crampon use on snow/alpine conditions(not for ice climbing though).

Cheers!
-JC

There are a few ways to maintain lateral stability, but they require extensive fabrication, and none would ever eject easily.  I would like to keep my knees unbroken.  If you really want to go with a bootless system, look up pictures of skis from before 1900 for some inspiration.  I thought about this a lot because I had a horrible time finding 3-pin boots in my size, and I did not want to upgrade to NNN because 3-pin is simpler and more rugged.  In the end, walking in the 3-pins isn't bad, and they even work in my snowshoes rather nicely.  

One thing about 3-pins though: if you are on groomed tracks, you may find yourself scraping a lot.  This is because the more popular NNN bindings sit higher, creating a deeper track groove.  I couldn't run in the same track as everyone else because my soles were constantly scraping on the top crust while everyone else rode high enough to glide along.

I use a pair of Silveretta 500's for light BC touring with mountaineering and ice climbing boots.....


But you won't get nearly the efficiency that you'd get with a dedicated XC set up.  And they don't really ski for shit but I never had to carry a second set of boots.  Get a good XC set up.

It's funny you brought this up.....I just took my new CC skis in to have the 3 pin bindings mounted.  I have an old set from the early 90's whose binding isn't made anymore and since my boots fell apart, I had to come up with another solution.  I just ordered a NNN BC binding and some boots from Fischer.  Anyway, during my search for what kind of binding I wanted to have mounted on my old skis, I ran across the web site below which might be exactly what your looking for.
http://x-trace-bindings.com/start.htm