I need an ice axe

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hikerfast

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since another #@#$# stole my ice axe, im on the market. wonder if i can find a used one anywhere. ones with a long handle are best for shoving in the snow up ahead of you in steep places.
 
yes i do. on steep places and icy trails its nice to have something to self arrest with, and i use it on steep trails with snow to shove into the snow ahead of me and pull myself up. today on sandwich i turned around because i didnt have it. going up to noon peak was a sheet of ice
 
The good news is that you have here something pretty easy to buy online/over the phone

Try ebay...check craigslist in Seattle and Denver... Or the consignment sections of IME, Ragged Mountain (North Conway). There's also a HUGE consignment store in Seattle which will sell it to you and ship it...
 
found a 49 dollar one, 90 cm at campmore for 49 so far. thanks for the input. what consignment store is it?
 
2 gone in 3 weeks..my life is expensive. in 92 an ex took off with one to seattle. maybe i can get one in the consignment store there. last year somebody stole my best one. i wish they had taken the car and left the axe behind
 
Giggy,

I have an axe just like that one you posted the link to. I think it is heavy. I prefer my BD Raven (with rubber grip). It's not quite as light as the Raven but still has a good feel.
 
Woody48 said:
Giggy,

I have an axe just like that one you posted the link to. I think it is heavy. I prefer my BD Raven (with rubber grip). It's not quite as light as the Raven but still has a good feel.
At 1lb 8oz it does seem a little bit on the heavy side.
I tried my friend's Raven with a grip. I liked that axe, it had a good swinging weight.
FYI, my 60cm BD Raven Pro with leash is 15oz, my 70cm Grivel Air Tech with leash is 1lb 2oz.

But wow, a 90cm axe?
That's meatnormous! :eek: :D
 
I have a BD Raven Pro I got on sale a bit ago...

If you're willing to buy site unseen, I have seen some relatively inexpensive Cassin ice axes on SierraTradingPost recently... I'm sure you can search STP for ice axe.

Jay
 
Woody48 said:
Giggy,

I have an axe just like that one you posted the link to. I think it is heavy. I prefer my BD Raven (with rubber grip). It's not quite as light as the Raven but still has a good feel.


yes it is - right now, I have an old black diamond that is also heavy (about the same as this one) - kind of like the weight to help plunge into the snow nice and deep - but light is good too. While out west last year, I was playing with it a bit - the new raven and raven pro's - seem too light! I am sure they are fine, - just a personal opinion

I aslo like the moser ones
 
giggy said:
yes it is - right now, I have an old black diamond that is also heavy (about the same as this one) - kind of like the weight to help plunge into the snow nice and deep - but light is good too. While out west last year, I was playing with it a bit - the new raven and raven pro's - seem too light! I am sure they are fine, - just a personal opinion
I suspect the light-weights might be a bit light if one has a lot of step cutting to do or if one tries to ice climb with them.

Another issue is that some of the lightweights have a smaller diameter shaft (eg the BD Raven and Raven Pro) than normal weight axes. This makes them a bit harder to hold (unless you have a small hand) and reduces the resistance to horizontal forces when the shaft is plunged into snow.

But light is nicer to carry.

You pays your money and you takes your choice...

Doug
 
I bought a BD Raven Pro shortly after they came out, and they're a thing of beauty as well as light. Sometimes it's a little too light. More often than not, I find I still reach for my old Grivel Pamir when heading out on trip. It's beat up, scratched and been repainted. But, they're sturdy, reasonably light (much more so than REI's Mountain Axe) and last forever.

When I know I'll need the axe, I carry the Grivel. When I'm carrying an axe for security, I carry the Raven Pro.
 
Kevin Rooney said:
I bought a BD Raven Pro shortly after they came out, and they're a thing of beauty as well as light. Sometimes it's a little too light. More often than not, I find I still reach for my old Grivel Pamir when heading out on trip. It's beat up, scratched and been repainted. But, they're sturdy, reasonably light (much more so than REI's Mountain Axe) and last forever.
Same here, except I got the Raven because the Raven Pro seemed to be a little too light and the head seemed rather small. I had also read a report of someone damaging the shaft on a Raven Pro while knocking snow off his crampons.

When I know I'll need the axe, I carry the Grivel. When I'm carrying an axe for security, I carry the Raven Pro.
Same here, except my regular axe is an old 70cm carbon fiber handle Chouinard. (A great axe--also useful for up to ~70 deg ice climbing.)

I put some cloth tape at the balance point of the shaft of my Raven to keep my hand warmer when carrying. Also a bit down near the spike to improve handling. I'm tempted to add a bit on the center of the head for insulation as well.

Doug
 
DougPaul said:
Same here, except I got the Raven because the Raven Pro seemed to be a little too light and the head seemed rather small. I had also read a report of someone damaging the shaft on a Raven Pro while knocking snow off his crampons. Doug

Doug - I didn't notice the head being too small, and the report of shaft damage is probably a defect because in general it's an exceedingly strong axe. One of my reservations about it is the head is too strong, and it's tough to dull either end. Having them too sharp is a liability - on a long glissade down the headwall below Shasta's Red Rocks a few years ago, the head grazed my lip as I was braking and left a nasty gash, marring an otherwise great slide. I purposely dulled both ends a bit with a file, and was impressed with how hard the steel was. For my alpine purposes, having too sharp an axe is a bit of a liability.
 
Kevin Rooney said:
I didn't notice the head being too small, and the report of shaft damage is probably a defect because in general it's an exceedingly strong axe. One of my reservations about it is the head is too strong, and it's tough to dull either end. Having them too sharp is a liability - on a long glissade down the headwall below Shasta's Red Rocks a few years ago, the head grazed my lip as I was braking and left a nasty gash, marring an otherwise great slide. I purposely dulled both ends a bit with a file, and was impressed with how hard the steel was. For my alpine purposes, having too sharp an axe is a bit of a liability.
Compare them next time you are in a store--the head on the Raven Pro is noticably smaller than the head on the Raven. I just compared my Chouinard axe with the Raven: the Raven pick is about 3/8 inch shorter, the adz is about 1/8 inch shorter and 1/2 inch narrower.

IIRC, the shaft damage was reported by a Ranier climber who evidently spent a good bit of the hike knocking snow off his crampons. Lightweight aluminum tubing vs (presumed) steel crampon. No mention of defects. (The axe still worked adequately to get him off the mountain.)

From my ice climbing days, there are times when you want your tools to be sharp. (You particularly need sharp tools when dealing with hard-water ice.) A dull pick might make self-arrest more difficult on a hard surface. Sharp tools are a trade-off of perfomance vs risk of direct injury. I don't plan to purposely dull my Raven, but probably won't keep it as sharp as I would a technical axe.

Doug
 
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