Has anyone ever BROKEN a modern carbon fiber ice axe?

Old thread but thought it worth mentioning since Jon had asked. I had never heard of a broken Cobra prior tothis. BD is good at replacing gear failures quietly and quickly out of the public eye.

Just heard a first hand account of a new Cobra shaft failure that ended a trip in Alaska last spring. The story surprised me. But a single broken tool will do that on hard technical ground.

Thanks for the update Dane. Any idea what caused the failure? Swinging into a bulge, torquing the shaft over a fulcrum point, etc?

The guess is it broke after hitting ice/rock against the unprotected part of the shaft while chopping with an adze enough times the shaft failed. Sure not common though. I was suprised when i heard the story.

Never, say never, I guess.

I've got a pair of the Quantuum Techs. Haven't pushed them too hard on mixed but haven't had any issues with the CF yet. They're B-rated shafts. I saw one at a used gear store once that had a bent pick from mixed climbing (or so I was told), but the shaft appeared to be fine.

One of my climbing partners had a pair of first-generation cobras that he used for everything, including pretty hard mixed, 3-4 days a week, and never damaged.

Haven't tried smashing them over a curb yet, though.