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Topic Date User

Simond Ice Gear 30-Jan-2009 At 12:06:57 PM Paulie

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On 28/01/2009 dmnz wrote:
>That's interesting to hear. So you think BD picks are better for ice then?
> I just like the idea that they have 3 different picks for their tech tools.

I don't think they're necessarily better per se, perhaps their tool designs are a little more accomodating, but that gap closed quite a few years ago when P/C introduced their Quark. To be perfectly honest I can't tell the difference between the Cobra B and Petzl/Charlet B picks on their top end water ice tools at all, at the time it was more the choice between something like a BD Rage or a Simond Piranha...the Rage, even tho it was a heavy bugger of a thing in steep ice, won hands down IMHO.

>But it may be a personal preference thing as Im not a big fan of the Aztars
>(sorry) myself

That's ok, we all have our faults ;) The Aztars are an awesome all round tool and are capable (or is it the climber?!) of clearing steep ground easily and then torquing up some heinous iced up crack in the Scottish Highlands (again, I stress, the tool is more capable than the climber!). I loved mine on mountain routes and on steep hard ice, they were just more versatile than anything else I've used with the exception of the old BD Cobras. The only issue with them (again, this is the climber not the tool) is that if you have poor swing/wrist technique you'll find them hard to use.

>I've seen the new Cobras and Vipers and couldnt tell the real difference
>in them, not that I had the chance to plant them in hard ice thouhg

Can't comment on the new ones as I haven't used them. There was a significant difference in the older ones with the Cobras more suited to general and mixed while the Vipers were for steep ice and dry tooling, at which they excelled. That's not to say the Cobras were a lesser tool, just more knuckle bashing going on in steep ground. I loved the swing weight of the old CF Cobras, such a solid feeling.

After reading their design specs on the new ones they seem to have kept that flavour going between the 2 tools. The CF shaft of the Cobra would definately give it a better swing but also make it a very exxy tool. The old Cobras also had a wider grip which made it unsuitable for many females and guys with small hands, they seem to have remedied that design aspect in the new ones to give an ultralight tool suitable for everyone. If I had the $ I would go the Cobras over the Vipers for sure.

>what do you think of the BD line then Paulie? or the Grivel tools for
>that matter, if you've had a chance to use them

BD Range: Yeah they look great, and with regard to steep ice there'd only be degrees of separation in terms of performance (which is usually dictated in the climber anyway), but IMO I wouldn't want to be french tech-ing or daggering up something using that latest Cobra either... I'll stick to my Aztars thanks! The choice of several different pick types with BD is great too. They certainly make some amazing gear, no doubt.

Grivel: I have an older deisgn (reverse positive pick) walking/easy mixed axe with an chromo shaft and plastic coated head, the forerunner to the futura series I suppose? It's a great axe and has served me very well, from chipping the ice off 1/2 a basketball court to kick off the season, to dry tooling up mixed easy ground and long ascents / descents on neve. I haven't used any of their other tools that I can remember (maybe had a swing in some Grade 3 stuff in CA with a pair of old monsters?) so can't comment. I've got a pair of G10 wide crampons that I use (very occasionally these days!) mainly for backcountry snowboarding on Bogong etc. Very functional and bombproof.

Have a look at the Petzl/Charlet range too, their stuff is just fantastic. The Quark in particular is a bloody great tool, just amazingly confidence inspiring.

Hope all that helps more than confuses!?

Paulie