Indoor Gym safe Ice Climbing Picks

So the ice season is over here in Kyrgyzstan for the year, but I'm not really ready to give it up yet. This was my first year doing anything big and I'm hooked and not ready to give in to spring. I've toyed with the idea of getting some of those wooden gym picks like the Fig4s, but being in Kyrgyzstan doesn't really lend itself to getting new gear all the time, and besides, they seem a bit hokey to me. So in lieu of those gym specific training picks I was thinking of making my own picks to put on my regular ice tools. Get a metal working shop here to cut me out the right size pieces for my tools, no teeth or sharp edges, have the tip downturned a bit, and then dip them in that liquid rubber that is used for the handles on tools. Has anyone else tried this/done this with much success? Also, thoughts on if the gym here will or should let me climb with them? Let me know what you think about this alternative to rainy spring days.

I like the liquid rubber thing for sure. Just dip your regular tools in that a few times and see if it works for gym dry tool work. Easy to re-dip and reuse it each day.

I can't imagine a rubber hard enough that your weight wouldn't cut through it immediately.

thanks for the thoughts. I'm going to give it a shot, and I'll put up some pics/results afterwards. But I think for sure that if I just use regular picks that have the teeth and edges that the body weight would cut through the rubber right away. But I'm thinking that maybe if there are no teeth, and the edges are a bit rounded that maybe it will stay. I might have to do some experimenting with different types of rubber stuff, but hopefully at some point I'll get a good result.

http://www.iceholdz.com/

Is what they use in our local gym here in the US with real picks. I don't climb ice so I can't comment but they seem to get a good amount of use at our gym.

Just show up with your ice axes and start dry toolin', nobody in there right mind will come up and start talking smack. If someone does, well then , you might have to show them whats up, and Then get back to business.

I was thinking about this, but was on the idea of using a fiberglass infused composite cut into ice "picks". Just an idea to throw out there.

Morgan Patterson wrote:http://www.iceholdz.com/ Is what they use in our local gym here in the US with real picks. I don't climb ice so I can't comment but they seem to get a good amount of use at our gym.

I've also looked into these too, but the gym here is really low budget (as is all of Kyrgyzstan) and because of that I don't think they'll put anything like that up. Too bad really because I've heard lots of great stuff about iceholdz.

Check out the Schmoolz: blog.americanpeyote.com/201…

There's another company that makes something very similar but I can't recall the name. Worth checking out as well. Climbing did a short review of both sometime around October or November of last year.

So I know I planned on making my own, but when I found these on Ebay, I just couldn't help myself. These are indoor picks made by Grivel for their tools. Awesome idea, but I can't seem to find out any info on them online. Anyways, I'm hoping to use them tomorrow!

Used the "indoor" picks yesterday and was actually disappointed. They just slide all over the holds. The plastic is so hard that it doesn't even grip anything. So I'm going to back to square one with these and coat them in liquid rubber stuff. I sure got some weird looks at the gym though!

Crag Dweller wrote:Check out the Schmoolz: blog.americanpeyote.com/201… There's another company that makes something very similar but I can't recall the name. Worth checking out as well. Climbing did a short review of both sometime around October or November of last year.

+ 1for those tools, but does not seem they have retailers outside Europe

How about buying a set of holds and getting your gym to put them up specifically for drytooling. that way you're not jacking up their tools.
my gym also uses a small piece of carpet to help protect the wall from the pick.