Didn't find them very grippy at all, even with longer pins and had issues with getting pins out, threads stripping, pins getting torn out with light bumps on rocks.
@bikes_knob - I've found the Saint pedals to be a definite improvement on the DX platforms. A nice wide platform more comfortably fits my size 15 plates, and the pins are easier to swap out than the old ones ( although you still have to swap to the longer ones ).
Care to elaborate on the bad Shimano pedal experience?