Ultralight Ice Axe: Am I going to die?
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Just bought a 4.5 ounce titanium and carbon fiber ice axe. |
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I'm a big fan of using my 70cm BD Raven as a pry bar for trundling huge rocks as a snow stability test and to ward off those pesky Canadian thug-bears;) |
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Yes. |
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Surprisingly, it does not work against common welsh green dragons. |
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Bad idea jeans. That's really just a hill walking stick. |
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"The TiCa Ice Tool is not a replacement for a UIAA-certified ice axe on technical terrain and should not be used where life or safety is at risk." |
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CAMP Corsa Nanotech is the jam. I've heard speculation that the rivets(?) holding its pick together could be a failure point, but I've never heard of a failure of any kind in the field. And it weighs substantially less (3oz+) than any other axe with a steel pick. |
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I like Mark Twight's ideas on "how light is too light?" If you have to ask, it probably is... |
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Kai Larson wrote:Going to the Bugaboos at the end of August, and I figured that this might be just what I need for getting to the various climbs. Seems like it would get me up and down the Bug-Snowpatch col, and around the glaciers. Looks and feels adequate for self arrest and stomping up easy glacier terrain in combination with my aluminum crampons. What do you think? Am I gonna die?I've seen people go up and down that col with much less and they survived. Then again I've seen people run out into traffic without looking and survive. Surviving doesn't necessarily make it a good idea... |
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I've got a full strength Ushba titanium axe that only weighs 12 ounces. |
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I would be careful with carbon fiber life-support products that are not massed produced on a huge scale from a manufacturer familiar with carbon fiber. As someone experienced with carbon fiber bikes, I can say the manufacturing process is pretty labor intensive, and somewhat complicated. An inexperienced laborer can really mess up the product, compromising its safety. Even carbon fiber bikes, which are mass-produced in the tens of thousands, have been known to have defective carbon parts in some instances. |
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Horses for courses. |
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Looks perfect for rick climb approaching... |
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Better Idea
I think you'll be fine for the cols you'll encounter in the Bugs. However you'd have been better served with one of the CAMP Corsa axes. |
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How about a self arrest ski pole? |
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Wyatt H wrote:How about a self arrest ski pole?As for the functionality, it would be a hell of a lot better for the Bugs, but it's not UiAA certified either*, so if this is a "yer gonna die" kind of question, it wouldn't do any better.
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How bout my spidey web slingers? |
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should be fine for the bugaboos, you don't need an iceaxe for the 99% of climbs most people do there... |
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Back from the Bugs. I didn't die. |
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20 kN wrote:I would be careful with carbon fiber life-support products that are not massed produced on a huge scale from a manufacturer familiar with carbon fiber. As someone experienced with carbon fiber bikes, I can say the manufacturing process is pretty labor intensive, and somewhat complicated. An inexperienced laborer can really mess up the product, compromising its safety. Even carbon fiber bikes, which are mass-produced in the tens of thousands, have been known to have defective carbon parts in some instances. Carbon fiber is really cool where extreme weight savings is really required, but know it is prone to manufacturing defects from inexperienced manufacturers, and contrary to popular belief, carbon fiber is in fact not that strong. It is somewhat delicate actually.Judging by the fact that it is just a round tube, I doubt they do their own layup. Probably they just by premade lengths in bulk from a carbon fibre tube supplier and bond the head and spike to it. |