Umbilical mods?

Anyone ever made mods to ice tool umbilicals?

I have the BD spinner leash, which works great, but I absolutely HATE the janky clips that are bar-tacked into the end.

I'm considering chopping them off in favor of accessory cord or micro wire-gates.

Thoughts?

Those clips are terrible and honestly should probably be recalled. Mine used to unclip themselves magically at least once a day, which is a huge pain in the ass and a potential danger.

I finally took them off this year. 5 minutes work with a file took care of it. I replaced them with two spare FS minis that I had lying around. They just barely fit in that loop. I would happily consider other lower profile options, particularly since they don't need to be full strength.

Cassin X-Gyro are sweet.

Swap out the toy biners for Edelrid 19g biners and they're close to perfect.

camp-usa.com/products/techn…

The ultra-micro lockers on the grivels are pretty snazzy. Smart design with thin, round stock and a deep basket. Not even close to full strength through...I think they said 750 kg. But the spring cord is only like 200 kg so it doesn't really matter.

When I made my own umbilicals, the camp nano 23s worked pretty well but you have to add cord to some spikes to get them to work.

I cut the clips off mine with a hack saw and never looked back. I use either Camp nano 23s on them or a piece of accessory cord girth hitch to the tool which works really well. The Camp Gyro is a great leash as well.

Sounds like I'm not the first to come to this - thanks guys!

I think my first step is to remove the clips, which from the sounds of things should be pretty straight forward.

From there I'll probably just use accessory cord which should thread through the pommel holes on my nomics nicely!

Not so much concerned with them being full strenght. In the event of the worst happening, I don't want to end up like this guy:

Ice tool in face = Bad

Kai Larson wrote:Cassin X-Gyro are sweet. Swap out the toy biners for Edelrid 19g biners and they're close to perfect. camp-usa.com/products/techn…

+1 for the Cassin's. Used them all last winter & they rock. The only thing that sucks, & this isn't Cassin's fault, is the connection with Nomics. You really can't use the 'biners with them because there's no place on the Nomics to clip into. There's obviously no pick at the bottom of the handle or whatever. I can only girth hitch the accessory cord through the small hole in the handgrip. Pain in the ass when I want to unleash. Anyone have a remedy to be able to use 'biners with Nomics?

Chris, thread a piece of cord through the small hole that can be found if you remove the grip adjustment bottom. Just finish off the threaded cord with a double overhand (or whatever really) and then you can clip the loop that hangs out the bottom of the handle. Way more convenient than clipping the handle directly.

Taylor Badeau wrote:Chris, thread a piece of cord through the small hole that can be found if you remove the grip adjustment bottom. Just finish off the threaded cord with a double overhand (or whatever really) and then you can clip the loop that hangs out the bottom of the handle. Way more convenient than clipping the handle directly.

Damn, I can't believe I didn't see that a year ago. LoL, thanks man!

Figured I'd update you all.

I chopped the stock clips and replaced them with a pair of Metolius FS minis. I also now have the option of removing the clips in favor of accessory cord if I want to use a girth hitch through the pommel holes of my nomics.

Here's what I ended up with:

Upgraded BD Spinner leash with Metolius FS mini 'biners.

Thanks for all the input!