Do you put the ice screw cap on when you lead?

Hi I wonder if it is common to take the ice screw cap off when one climbs, or is it ok to leave them on and take it off when you place it?

Is this a real question or is this bait ????

I want to tell you to leave them on, but my heart says I should tell you no.

How the heck are you suppose to keep them sharp without a cover? Leave it on, duh...

ok I am serious here. I have been wondering which will be more efficient. Since when you have to pause and take the cap off and place it, you may lose the cap or slip. But as you pointed out, leave all the cap off, the screw will not be sharp over times.

So I just want to see if it is a preference thing or there is actual argument.

yikes!

rack up you screws without the tops, pretty unanimous

www.gravsports.blogspot.com has great tips, posts and stories. you should cruis through the old posts and whatnot.

enjoy

I have led maybe a handful of ice pitches so my opinion isn't based on much experience...but....I don't see why anyone would want to deal with taking the cap off mid lead to place a screw. Just sharpen the screw when it gets dull.

Bang Nhan wrote:Hi I wonder if it is common to take the ice screw cap off when one climbs, or is it ok to leave them on and take it off when you place it?

Honestly, you probably shouldn't be leading ice if this is an actual question. Seek live instruction from someone who knows what they are doing.

And to actually answer your question, you absolutely should not leave the caps on. Caps are for storage, not for use. Placing screws, especially when you have only one hand free, is generally the one of the more difficult, tiring, and dangerous points in an ice route. You want to make your life as easy as possible here.

Based on your post about whether or not a screw needed sharpening and this one, it appears as though you're starting to get into ice climbing. That's awesome. Perhaps you should be looking for someone experienced to climb with and answer these questions as you get started.

IMO, that's the safest way to approach any form of climbing and especially ice climbing. The risks associated with ice climbing are higher than with sport or single pitch trad climbing and you can't really practice in the gym before you get outside.

I seem to recall a Grivel video somewhere of the climber removing the screw cap and putting over the knob just before placing. I think it was more of an alpine situation though. The fact that you can place the screw cap on the knob handle was one of the features they advertise.

Generally I do it one of two ways, cap on and cock out, or cap off and cock in

hasn't failed me yet

Mark Nelson wrote:Generally I do it one of two ways, cap on and cock out, or cap off and cock in hasn't failed me yet

http://youtu.be/pruYLmuEbjg

Mike Pharris wrote: youtu.be/pruYLmuEbjg

+1

shoo wrote: Honestly, you probably shouldn't be leading ice if this is an actual question.

Lol, yeah I of course won't go and jump on the ice and lead right away. But I have been having this question on my mind for awhile, so think it's worthwhile to ask for some tips up here.

Since when you lead rock, there is no protection cap or sleeve to worry about, so one may not need to think about it. But for ice, it seems to me it's a personal preference about the screw cap.

Just based on the response above, I have seen two trends.

In the spirit of education, professors are trained to tell their students that there are no stupid question, just ask if you wonder. I don't see there is any problem to ask such an elementary question here.

There is no problem with asking, that's how you learn. Have fun and be safe.

Sounds like a question that someone who has never actually gone ice climbing might ask.

Tom Fralich wrote:Sounds like a question that someone who has never actually gone ice climbing might ask.

thank you Captain Obvious :)

my buddy was leading a route a couple weeks ago. he went to place his first screw, only to look down and realize he had left all his caps on. luckily he was on very moderate ice at this point. i almost rolled down the hill laughing so hard.

in retrospect, as a diligent partner, i should have checked him and caught that before he started climbing.

take the caps off. you don't always have two hands or the time to mess with something like that. also, make sure you rack them on your clippers pointed behind you so you don't stab your leg / rip your pants.

Tom Fralich wrote:Sounds like a question that someone who has never actually gone ice climbing might ask.

To be precise, it is a question for someone never lead on ice :)