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Topic Date User

Simond Ice Gear 15-Feb-2009 At 8:36:30 PM Glenn

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>Maybe your old CF Cobras had fat picks, but BD ice tools (Viper, new Cobra, Reactor)
have for years now been fitted with Laser Picks which are 2.5mm(!) thick at the very tip
and B-rated. They are also slimmer in terms of height at the tip than many other pick
designs. Plus they are already sharply beveled on the top which is usually a waterfall-
ice fine tune some people do for other manufacturers picks (which would include the
Simond picks). So I think your comment regarding ice shattering due to pick thickness
is off the mark for the recent BD waterfall-ice picks.

>Also BD's burlier T-rated alpine pick (the Titan) is only 3.6mm at the tip, which is
thinner than the tip of the T-rated pick on my Axars (4mm).

>How thick are the Simond picks at the tip?

Ah yes, you are quite right and I stand corrected. I was indeed referring to the previous
"cobra" pick, which was very thick and T-rated. That's very interesting. BD held out for
years with the fatter pick concept and they talked it up a lot.

Simond picks taper to 3mm at the tip.

>Now you are sounding like a Simond salesman ;o)

Well I am of course :-) , but since this thread became a discussion about what is
supposedly wrong with Simond ice tools then I thought I should point out that the other
tools mentioned on the thread as being great had borrowed a lot from the Simond tools.

That in itself is an interesting topic. For example, when I was in my early climbing days
it was BD making all the innovations -- the Express ice screws, the first Cobra axe, the
Android leash, etc. -- these designs revolutionised climbing and as such BD probably
did more for climbing in the last 20 years than any other manufacturer has, and they
deserve the kudos they still receive for this. And their designs were adopted by other
manufacturers. But in recent years, pretty much every design change BD have made
has been a copy of mostly Grivel and Simond design: adding a second clip point to the
Express screw, carved axe shafts, narrower picks, leashless/double grip designs,
stainless steel picks, bolt on comp crampons, softer anti-balling plates, top pick teeth,
etc. Well, maybe only an interesting topic for me.