Show Me Your Tools

I love the curve on my x-dreams. Absolutely love it. I've never had an issue with picks shearing out of the ice, ever. Including some sphincter-tightening 3/4" unprotectable verglas I climbed in RMNP against better judgement.

The picks DEFINITELY wear faster than other brands though. Softer steel. Luckily, replacement picks are commensurately cheaper as well so it's about even.

Just a side note,
I seem to recall seeing someone on here selling some raptors with modified cassin picks on them. Ill see if I can find the post.

Ice

Camp X-Dream, Trango Raptor 2.0, Camp Corsa Nanotech
Full rack of Laser Speeds (with 21cm Speed Light)
A couple extra random screws for special occasions
Petzl Dart
Petzl Vasak
BD Neve aluminum

Have a pair of G20 on the way for this winter to go with TLT6 ski boots (better fit than the Dart). Maybe a pair of Lynx too?

Woah Jon H, custom screw-up? or is that the guts to that weird north face pack Conrad was pushin?

Tom Sherman wrote:This conversation is faint in my memory, remembering it from last season... I remember picking up an X-Dream and chopping at the ice. The thing was like a drill bit, it just shredded up the ice. I remember talking to my climbing mentor about them and asking if they were good tools since it seemed reasonably easy to get good sticks. He told me that they stick in the ice easier than other tools, but they also blow easier than other tools. And I think he said the picks wear faster? (Something about the picks profile or it being narrower or smaller backteeth.... I can't remember) Any of you X-dream fanatics have an opinion to throw on this? I don't like the curve on the x-dreams.

You did a lap and didn't like them? If you don't like them you don't like them. You can lead a horse to water and all that.

I love them! As Jon said, thin ice is possible with XDreams..

Nothing fancy here. Just Quarks with Grivel umbilicals and screws. Pons are the ubiquitous G14s with step-in bindings.

Tom Sherman wrote:Woah Jon H, custom screw-up? or is that the guts to that weird north face pack Conrad was pushin?

Neither. It's from an old discontinued BD product called the Ice Box which was this silly briefcase designed to carry 2 pairs of tools, a pair of crampons, and had a removable hanging screw pouch (seen above). It's MUCH better than the "Screw-Up" that's currently available.

Nobody wants to carry ice gear in a briefcase and it sold poorly and they dropped it after a couple years. I managed to snag one for cheap, kept the screw rollup, and sold off the briefcase.

Tom,
I have the ice project, (conrad's bag) and it is as close to a perfect ice cragging pack as you can get. The screw holder has ten slots and buttons in and out. Awesome pack. I use it for rock cragging also.

Left work early today to pack for Cannon... And by that I mean re-arrange my ice gear and take gear-whore shots!

Schwagg

Hey Tom, what kind of tape do you use on your grivels?? I just got a pair of the matrix techs!!

Pat Crowe wrote:Hey Tom, what kind of tape do you use on your grivels?? I just got a pair of the matrix techs!!

you wont regret that decision.

Tom you went with the cubes. nice choice.

I have the cubes also. Love em. I use warmers when it's really cold though.

Pat, I followed others' advice and got the Cinelli Cork Tape. Had to search around a bit to get the color I wanted. I bought the other commonly recommended Scotch 2228 Mastic as well. And then used that to secure the ends. The Cork Tape definitely doesn't have the durability, but I really do like the feel of it. If your smart/ lucky and you can get your tools wrapped in a half of the tape-roll-for-one-bar-end, than for the ~$10 you pay for the tape you can get 2 wraps, AKA probably four years of climbing.

While everyone readily recommends the Scotch 2228 Mastic, I dunno if I'd wrap my whole tool in them, one year later, that tape is still sticking to everything, fucking up everything it touches, that stuff sticks! It pulls the top layer of veneer off my plywood table if I were to leave them set on it overnight, just an example.

The Scotch 3228 tape (mastic) has a more sticky and less sticky side. The trick with the 3M mastic is to wrap the less-sticky side facing OUT.

Look at my photo om Page 1. The shafts of my X-dreams are completely wrapped but there's no stickiness at all. Just a nice tacky grip.

I just looked in my toolbox, the tape I have is Scotch 2228 Mastic, fixing my post above.

lukeweiss wrote:I have the cubes also. Love em. I use warmers when it's really cold though.

agreed

tools

plus I sold 3 pairs in the last year hahah

I was waiting for you to post! ^

Zac.St.Jules wrote:I was waiting for you to post! ^

I wound not miss this one haha