clipless

I have been recently trying out clipless on my AM bike and am liking the improvement in climbing, however I am wondering if I'll ever get used to riding the gnar and skinnies.
With the right pedal/shoe combo can you unclip and ride as if you were using flat pedals? to get you over a skinny? I'm thinking of an SPD shoe like the 661 filters or Shimano MP66
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Categories.aspx?CategoryID=337
and a pedal with a cage like a regular flat pedal.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=24997

yes… keep at it and it will be second nature.

skate style shoes and pedals w/ a metal cage (IMO, dont bother with the plastic cage, it'll break) can help

I've found crankbro's are the fastest in and out. maybe i'm just too used to them. that being said I would never ride a clipless pedal on a mountain bike that wasn't being used for commuting exclusively.

that's just me… i'm no racer, and i'm not trying to beat my fastest time up the hill.

right now, to start I am using the Shimano M540 pedals
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=3760
and the Answer Speeder SPD shoes
http://www.qbike.com/product/a/Answer-Speeder-MTN-Shoes.shtml

these would be the next step:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=771

Stick with the Shimano if they're working for you. I've ridden most pedals and Shimano has the most positive engagement and release and they're are essentially maintenance free. They also allow for tension adjustment - crankbros do not. I ride 7 yr old red DX's and they're like magic. It's like having eyes on the bottoms of your feet. Step on the pedal and they always engage.

As for "unclipping" on technical sections - NEVER DO THIS!!! It' will guarantee a crash - no 2 ways about it. Commit or run flats. They become second nature. I think I probably twist my foot when taking my feet off flats ;) . New school trails are no trouble with clipless. Back in the day I went from clips to flats as skinnies where all the rage. Now trails are all buffed up and skinnies have fallen out of fashion - I've been back on clips for 3 years and love the control. It's like have another set of hands gripping your bike.

I've actually just gone through the same issue, but in the other direction, clipless to flats.

Clipless are great on the hills since they allow you to pedal "squares" and are very efficent. They are also great (in some aspects) in slow technical stuff since they'll allow you to easily pick up the move the rear wheel around without having to shift your weight forward or hittting the brakes. Once you get used to them they're like second nature and you can get in and out pretty quick.. I really liked Time's and had a couple of pairs.

On the other hand, there is the odd time when you just can't seem to get unclipped fast enough and depending on how much float you have or don't have, you may find you don't have quite the same range of motion (particulairily relating to slow speed balance work)

I've never used the crankbro's ones that you've linked above but they seem like a nice combination of flat and clipless…

Commit or run flats.

agreed

First of all, which type of pedal are you running? I have the Time Z Atacs and I noticed when combined with the 661 Filters they're tough to get into. This all became second nature after using it for 2 months. Skinnies aren't really a problem as once you're confident in your setup, it's like I said, second nature. The steeps are what I've had troubles with, or dead stops into steep/gnar. After riding them for a while I became confident in the setup and took'r for a spin down Empress. Believe it or not it was easier then using my old Flat pedals, just because I had that much more control over the bike.

Just my 0.02

Run flats.

I learned to ride clipless on Crank Bros Candy/Egg Beater/Mallets and they are good, but they break - a lot! Moved on to SPD style and they are solid. It will take sometime to adjust, but you will and it will become second nature.

As for skinnies, they are a little different when you do not have the ability to simply jump off the bike.

When the riding gets tech just commit to the line and you will be fine. Trying to unclip and use the platform of a pedal like the mallet of Shimano 647 will lead to a big time crash as you will not have a good solid contact on the pedal.

As others have said "Commit or Eat $hit."

crankbrothers do have a tension adjust… it's called time. :p

But really, clipless pedals have their place. in my opinion 90% of the riding to be done locally is not the place.

These are the evolution of my old DX's - excellent option.

skinnies are played anyways, clipped and shredding is the way to go.

I'm riding Atacs on both bikes, much better feel than CBs.