Modeled after the popular curved, double-gripped Black Diamond Fusion and Petzl Nomic tools, the Raptor is a fairly worthy competitor. Female and small-handed testers especially loved this tool for its light weight (19 oz. without the optional 2-oz. pick weights) and smaller grip size. “I have tiny hands, and I didn’t have to over-grip for fear of losing a tool. With a mid-weight glove on, the main grip above the pinky rest encased my hand near perfectly,” said one tester.
Snow flukes (aka deadmen) have been around for ages, but most mountaineers today seem to prefer carrying pickets for snow anchors. The new Brooks-Range Deadman will challenge alpinists to add this gear back into the mix. These flukes (available in three sizes) feature a single-cable design—unique in the fluke market—which makes placements faster and stronger in firm snow, especially in the smallest size, since the cable readily slices into the snow.
In ice and mixed climbing, gear is your primary point of contact with the vertical world. As such, the design of this gear is critical for more than just safety, but for upward progress itself. With their new Fusion, Black Diamond offers mixed climbers a sweet new tool for going higher on longer, harder, and steeper lines.
A year and a half ago, I noted in our leashless tool review that the designs then available were only a precursor of shapes to come.
Sub-zero temps, brittle ice, horizontal snowfall - if terms like that get your adrenal glands revving and your hands grasping for tools, then it's time to check out what's new in gear for this season.
There are certainly more folks out there who are still using leashed tools, but my bet is that their next tool purchase will likely be leashless.
The growth and popularity of waterfall ice climbing has financed tremendous R&D by climbing manufacturers trying to create the perfect ice tool, and it's obvious in this year's stable of tools.
We collected the premier screws offered by seven manufacturers and gave them a rigorous shakedown. Climbing online ice climbing equipment review.
Trango’s line of ice tools is modular, with interchangeable grips and numerous head options based around a common shaft design; the Mantis is the latest design in the line.
The Coyote is a very direct descendant of the first World Cup-driven designs and suffers greatly for it, earning the worst marks for dry-tooling overall.
The Petzl Ergo was one of the first commercial leashless tools to hit the market. It’s also the best on the market right now, taking top honors for our test in both ice climbing and dry tooling.
While Grivel, which has been manufacturing ice-climbing equipment for much of the past century, was one of the first companies to offer leashless capability on its traditional tools, it was one of the last ice-tool makers to bring a “full-on” leashless tool to the market.
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