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Topic Date User

Simond Ice Gear 15-Feb-2009 At 1:35:46 PM Glenn

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Hi, I should start by saying that I am involved with selling Simond gear, but I would like
to add some comments to the points raised.

>The head on that axe (Vautour) looks seriously uncomfortable to hold in your hand for
plunging the shaft into snow (what you do with an axe a lot of the time when in snowy
mountains) and all those teeth all over the top are gonna shred your gloves IMHO.<

This is a logical assumption to make from a photo of the Vautour. In fact I often
suggested to people that they might want to bevel the top teeth with a file to protect
their gloves. However, all the feedback I received was that it wasn't necessary. I should
add that the Vautour is a specialist tool specifically designed for Scottish/Darrans
mixed climbing (lots of chopping of ice and turf and banging in of pitons, etc). As such it
isn't really for general mountaineering (plunging into snow, etc.) and 9 out of 10 people
would be better off with the Naja axe, the head of which sits nicely in the hand.

>Did notice that the new? Vautour pick doesnt have the aggressive teeth on top of the
pick. <

As far as I'm aware, it still does.

>I've never used Najas personally other than a swing of my mates' over in Canada, but I
have a few mates in various parts of the world who have used them and say the same
thing, the teeth on the supplied pick don't grip and they said something about the angle
of the pick causing the tool to prematurely release when hauling out over steep sections
(cauliflowers, etc). We are talking steep ice here so like most tools of their ilk I imagine
they'd be fine in lower angled neve / ice etc. Personally I have Aztars which are
awesome in everything, but I'd still love a pair of CF Cobras like the ones Jono is
selling...such awesome tools, possibly the best all round tool ever made IMHO.<

I can't say I can relate to this. I used Black Diamond (BD) CF Cobras for about 5 years
and loved them to bits and it was a sad day when I sold them. But my Najas are a
serious step up in performance. A large part of this is to do with the pick. BD are the
only manufacturer I know of who still do the fat pick. Although this allows them to
market the pick in terms of strength, the pick shatters the ice more and this both
weakens the ice and decreases holding performance. The first few times I climbed with
the Simond Najas I found I was actually severely overdriving the picks because they
entered the ice so much more easily. So instead of finding they had less holding power,
I found I was having to do some serious work in removing them until I reduced the power
of my swing. It is true that different manufacturers make picks having slightly different
attack angles. But that just means that as a climber changing between brands, you
might have to adapt your swing and the angle at which you pull on the axe. There are
advantages and disadvantages for different attack angles. For example, if you find your
axe holds more when you are passing over the top of a cauliflower with the axe held low,
then that also means it will take more effort to release your axe after every swing, which
is done by pulling the axe upward, thus making you more tired on a climb. The Simond
and Petzl tools in fact have very similar attack angles as the designer of the Simond
tools actually came from Petzl and I believed designed the Aztars. Finally, I have
climbed some very steep ice with the Najas and I haven't had them pop yet.

It is also interesting to note that Petzl have changed the front teeth design of their picks
to be more like Simond's recently, and BD have copied Simond's carved shaft design for
their new range of technical tools.

>here's an online review i found: http://gearreviews.org/?tag=simond-anaconda<

Pretty short review and I can tell you a lot more about them. I feel the main
disadvantage the Anaconda has is the attachment (the metal button) for the detachable
leash. It is placed right where your palm is when daggering, and it can thus bruise the
palm if daggering on hard ice for an extended period of time. Therefore, I am about to
hacksaw off the buttons on my pair and use the leashes that come with the Naja
instead. The Naja leashes are in fact quicker and easier to get into and out of when set
in their ice climbing mode than a detachable leash system is anyway. I am sure the
Naja leash design will result in the death of the detachable leash as it is copied by other
manufacturers in the next few years. The reason for going for an Anaconda rather than a
Naja is you can put a second finger rest on the shaft and go leashless climbing (which
requires two finger rests per axe -- the Naja doesn't have a base finger rest whereas the
Anaconda does), which I am about to do for my pair.

Cheers, Glenn