New Black Diamond Ice Axes

How many different ways can you reinvent the wheel???

Actually these do look interesting to me. It's all about the details. I can't tell much from the picture, but it looks like the head is thinner and presumably lighter, the lower handle or pommel is longer and flatter, which will fit big gloves and hands much better and offer a better swing, and perhaps most importantly, the spike is rounded and smooth on the back edge, allowing more rotation in the hand. All good changes. Excited to seem them and climb with them.

Not a perfect alignment, but good enough to compare angles.

Continue the speculation masturbation.

PT

Amazing how much the geometry lines up with the current Fusions. I was thinking that BD would be coming out with something soon that would replace the Reactors, something relatively low end, rather than adding another option to the very highest end of their ice tool line.

paintrain wrote:Not a perfect alignment, but good enough to compare angles.

Not really good enough at all actually. Check the angles of the handles/grip in your comparison. Prototypes of the tool have been around since 2010/2011 at least. Open up the pommel, ditch the hammer head, deliver with a ice specific pick, repaint and rename.

Looks like a nice tool with the lack of extra weight on the head and a better pommel design. But nothing new or already in use I suspect.

Dane wrote: Not really good enough at all actually. Check the angles of the handles/grip in your comparison. Prototypes of the tool have been around since 2010/2011 at least. Open up the pommel, ditch the hammer head, deliver with a ice specific pick, repaint and rename. Looks like a nice tool with the lack of extra weight on the head and a better pommel design. But nothing new or already in use I suspect.

Sure it is. Mentally give it a little turn with your imagination. Looks like a Nomic.

Ya, don't they all.

The shaft curvature is similar (relative) with all three. The difference is in the grip, BD has the grip at different angle which changes overall (global) curvature which then sets the pick tip in a similar location. What I see is that the Petzl has more curved tool while the BD is more vertical. As such, they are quite distinct and each has their place on the ice.

Regardless of the preferred tool the picture sucks. I hate top down photos. That has to be on of worst I have seen in recent times especially as there is no background contrast.

HI,

I'll dig out this fossil as I've stumbled on something weird.
Those things in the picture look like more aggressive fusion/fuel tools but with Petzl Ergo curve.

Could be just fusions and weird angle

dezz wrote:HI, I'll dig out this fossil as I've stumbled on something weird. Those things in the picture look like more aggressive fusion/fuel tools but with Petzl Ergo curve. Could be just fusions and weird angle

?

Those are just regular old fusions. There is nothing "ergo"-like about the curve. Ergos make a full ~90 degree turn from the pick to the handle.