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Homemade ice axe

Original Post
Nate Berman · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2013 · Points: 85
My homemade ice axes

Hi, these are the ice axes I built. I'd like to hear what experienced climbers have to say.
Jason Todd · · Cody, WY · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 1,114

At least you won't be very far off the deck when they disintegrate.

Ray Pinpillage · · West Egg · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 180

Oh look, just joined today.

Nate Berman · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2013 · Points: 85

They're pretty solid. I've tested them in trees and they work fine

Jason Todd · · Cody, WY · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 1,114

Did you carve your initials in the tree while you were at it?

Nate Berman · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2013 · Points: 85

And Jason Todd, I asked for an experienced climbers opinion

Andy Hansen · · Longmont, CO · Joined Sep 2009 · Points: 3,130

I would like to hear more about your experience in the tree with these.

Jason Todd · · Cody, WY · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 1,114

Right on Nate. Carry on, best of luck, hope you do big things with your tools.

Paul-B · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2011 · Points: 115
Andy Hansen wrote:I would like to hear more about your experience in the tree with these.
+1
Tom-onator · · trollfreesociety · Joined Feb 2010 · Points: 790

Where would we be if Albert Franklin or Ben Einstein had listened to the haters?

I am quite impressed by the cellulose fiber handles with the built-in pinkie rests in your leashless tool design, and was wondering what materials you used for the picks?

Really looking forward to your home made crampon design.

Oops,

Hope I didn't let the cat out of the bag!

Ray Pinpillage · · West Egg · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 180
Tom-osaurus Rex wrote:Where would we be if Albert Franklin or Ben Einstein had listened to the haters?
They'd have waited until their atomic kites had worked until they they fired up the printing press.

You better get your shit together if you want to impress anyone with your homemade ice tools.

gravsports-ice.com/icethrea…
D Stevenson · · Escalange, UT · Joined Dec 2010 · Points: 25
Ray Pinpillage wrote: They'd have waited until their atomic kites had worked until they they fired up the printing press. You better get your shit together if you want to impress anyone with your homemade ice tools. gravsports-ice.com/icethrea…
Carbon fiber is actually pretty easy. Carve up a mold of what you need, then it's kind of like paper machete. Pour in solvent when you're done and you can dissolve the mold. Don't listen and give up... Back before the days of huge companies, this is how most modern climbing gear was discovered/designed.
Allen Sanderson · · On the road to perdition · Joined Jul 2007 · Points: 1,203

Here is my homemade ice axe. I did not make as I was not even alive back then, neither was my mama. Still pretty damn cool in my book for something made in the 1920s. I even know who made it, A.V. Goddard who ran a hardware store in Portland Oregon. It is a pickaxe that had teeth machined into it with a spike added to the shaft.

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Locker · · Yucca Valley, CA · Joined Oct 2002 · Points: 2,349

To the OP...

Even if it does turn out to be a total piece of shit, personally I think it's cool as hell that you're giving it a shot.

+1 for gumption!

Jon Zucco · · Denver, CO · Joined Aug 2008 · Points: 245
Allen Sanderson wrote:Here is my homemade ice axe. I did not make as I was not even alive back then, neither was my mama. Still pretty damn cool in my book for something made in the 1920s. I even know who made it, A.V. Goddard who ran a hardware store in Portland Oregon. It is a pickaxe that had teeth machined into it with a spike added to the shaft.
Now that is purty. Ever used it?
sonvclimbing · · bolder city · Joined Dec 2008 · Points: 25

Here is a link for you to check out and see what other people have done and maybe get some ideas.

mountainproject.com/v/anyon…

Peter Franzen · · Phoenix, AZ · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 3,730
Locker wrote:To the OP... Even if it does turn out to be a total piece of shit, personally I think it's cool as hell that you're giving it a shot. +1 for gumption!
++

I'm teaching myself how to work with carbon fiber right now, and there is a pile of shitty ugly 2" tubes littering the corner of my office.

But I have a f'ing great one on my desk that I can actually use for the project that I'm working on. Sometimes it takes a pile of failures before you get something decent.
Scott McMahon · · Boulder, CO · Joined Feb 2006 · Points: 1,425

Wasn't everything homemade at some point? Good thing Yvon didn't stop when he was hammering pitons and making jackets out of toilet bowl covers.

Wish I had the skill set to do stuff like this!

ze dirtbag · · Tahoe · Joined Jun 2012 · Points: 50

as much as i thoroughly enjoy the shit talking going on here....in my humble opinion, you have some work to do. use them somewhere low consequence and beat the dog shit out of them, figure out what fails. figure out how to fix it and repeat the process till you have something you feel comfortable with and go a little bit bigger. or do the rei shuffle....buy some tools, use them, return them and get a different set. keep doing it till you figure out exactly what you want out of a tool and start your process there....like a head that is more comfortable to plunge with on your mountaineering axe and a bent shaft on your tools

just my $0.02

Jon H · · PC, UT · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 118

Experienced climber's opinion:

A+ for effort, F for actual usability. Ice axes from the 1920's (as seen above) were more capable, and built more solidly, than what you've posted above. Do some research and prepare a 2nd draft.

highaltitudeflatulentexpulsion · · Colorado · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 35

Do you remember the guy here that made handles out of denim and a ton of epoxy? They were similar to carbon fibre but weird.

There have been a few people who've made them out of carbon fibre. Brent_e is the only one I can remember off hand.

Some brilliant woodworker made some (probably too pretty to be functional) amazing ones out of hardwoods.

These were all adults with a background in it. I'd be surprised if the OP here was over 17. 20 tops. I loved cobbling shit together in my dad's shop at that age too. I just didn't have the WWW to show anyone my failure. Give him a break.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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