Leash for Icicle training tools?

Not sure where to put this, sorry.

I bought a pair of Icicle tools this winter, because I was enjoying the ones my gym has and wanted to have my own to perhaps use elsewhere.

Mine don't have leashes on them. To use them at a gym, I need to add leashes so no one can get hit by a dropped tool. Question is, what is best for that? Should the leashes break, if I somehow manage to fall past them? Or, should the leash hold my weight also, and eliminate any possibility of the tool hitting someone below me, if I part company with the tool still hooked on the wall? In theory, this sort of fall should never happen, as the gym climbs would always be on a top rope with a belayer.

And, I may be mixing up "leash" and "tether". I mean longer cords, clipped to my harness, not around my wrist.

Thanks! OLH

If you are practicing for the real thing, might as well just buy the real thing and to get used to how it feels.  My favorite tether is the Grivel Double Spring Leash.  If you aren't psyched to spend $60 though, I don't see why a little bit of thin cordelette hitched to your harness wouldn't work. Tethers aren't meant to be fallen on in general.

Thanks, Chris! I just bought some real tools this winter, too, so the tether recommendation is welcome also.

The real ones were an impulse purchase, I admit it, but a local was selling his, and a good price. One climb in, sheesh. I truly enjoyed it though!

I was surprised, on that first trip, when the tools weren't tethered. I asked my friend, who was belaying me on top rope. His reply? "You won't drop them." And, I didn't. Once I got launched, I  didn't worry about it, didn't think of it, didn't even come close to dropping them, even when I lost my feet briefly. Stick, foot, foot. Hot damn! :-)

My indoor gym is closing very soon, a huge loss for our climbing community. I have no idea what I'll do now, but I'm trying to stay optimistic.

Best, OLH

What I always weigh when deciding to put on the tethers are the repercussions of losing a tool mid-climb vs having a loaded spring shooting a tool at my face/arteries.  Generally, I find that if I am top roping or seconding a non-committing route, dropping a tool is no big deal.  On the other hand, if I am leading/simuling or seconding a very committed route, dropping a tool can be very bad.  

Sorry to hear about the gym, seems like a tough business.  

Chris C. wrote: What I always weigh when deciding to put on the tethers are the repercussions of losing a tool mid-climb vs having a loaded spring shooting a tool at my face/arteries.  Generally, I find that if I am top roping or seconding a non-committing route, dropping a tool is no big deal.  On the other hand, if I am leading/simuling or seconding a very committed route, dropping a tool can be very bad.  

Sorry to hear about the gym, seems like a tough business.  

Thanks for the info! Based on that, I'll not bother with a tether for the actual tools. I'll wait on the others to see if I can even use them somewhere.

The gym got their land bought our from under them, for development. They were supposed to close in a year or two. Instead, they recently got about a month notice. It's a big hit for Boise. There are other gyms here, but this was the main one for roped climbing. It's bleak right now, for many of us.

Best, Helen

You can make your own full strength tether with some elastic cord and tubular webbing. Super cheap and customized to your arm length, which can be important. alpinedave.com/leashless_ri…

Nate Tastic wrote: 

 Just raise your arm with a tool in it and get a cute girl to measure it. OLH, are there any cute girls in Idaho?

Being originally from Idaho I will go ahead and field this question. Yes, Nate, there are cute girls in Idaho, but being a conservative state they rightly get offended when you approach them with your tool in your hand.

Ryan Pfleger wrote:

Being originally from Idaho I will go ahead and field this question. Yes, Nate, there are cute girls in Idaho, but being a conservative state they rightly get offended when you approach them with your tool in your hand.

Oh, most excellent!

Thanks, sirs, a good laugh! I probably shouldn't say anything about your tools in my hands, eh?

Best, H.

A friend of my wife grew up in Idaho - said she was called the N-word about once a week at the grocery store, or park, etc.  Great place to live I reckon.

Locals Only wrote: A friend of my wife grew up in Idaho - said she was called the N-word about once a week at the grocery store, or park, etc.  Great place to live I reckon.

That isn't everyone, nor is Idaho the only place that happens. I'm 61. Just a guess, not knowing the age of your friend,  I think the world I grew up in was considerably worse.

Change can seem glacial, but it is happening. I can testify to that, and, am one of those who put effort into it.

Truly, I am sorry for your friends experience, and yes, all sorts of crap is still going on. Dumping everyone into one boat is convenient, but hardly helpful.

Hope you're doing well, sir! We've had this conversation before, but I'd still be totally up for meeting you if aliens ever kidnapped you and deposited you in Idaho!

Best, Helen

Locals Only wrote: A friend of my wife grew up in Idaho - said she was called the N-word about once a week at the grocery store, or park, etc.  Great place to live I reckon.

Like many states, some parts of it are great places to live, some parts aren't. This article is sad but amusing.

 https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2012/06/15/racist-skinhead-flattened-man-he-attacked-goes-prison

Basically a bigoted douchebag  (from Montana, apparently) was harrasing a black guy,  Marion Baker, in a bar. Telling him he should leave or there would be trouble. Marion quietly leaves rather than make scene. Asshole follows him, continuing to verbally harrass Mr Baker. Asshole pushes his fingers into Marion's chest and promptly gets knocked out in one punch. Idaho cops come and arrest racist white asshole. Idaho judge gives asshole 3 to 5 for malicious harrassment.

So yeah, obviously some not great folks hang out Idaho. But then again, the Idaho cops didnt shoot anybody, they arrested the right guy, and the Idaho judge sent the fuckhead to prison. There are plenty of places where the outcome would have been much less just. California? Ever hear of a guy named Rodney King?

Cool story bro.  Facts are facts - certain states have higher percentage of the population involved in organizations with racist agendas.  If that's an issue for you, take it up with reality.   I believe Maine is another state that is mighty white, for example.  

Idaho is a largish state, with a small population. Geographically, it's such a hodgepodge that it is a shorter drive to 8 other states, than from Ketchum to Sandpoint. Two different time zones. Southwest Idaho (Boise and environs) bears little resemblance to anything in the rest of the state. Obama chose to stump here, running for president. Obama won Boise, several counties in Idaho,and had a surprising percent of the vote (more than a third of the popular vote statewide) in what is considered a staunchly red state.

Pop up this article from the Smithsonian on refugees. Look at the pie charts, keeping in mind the really small population in Idaho. Most of those refugees are hosted in Boise, some are my coworkers. Hmmmm.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/by-numbers-united-states-refugees-180962487/

Is it great? Not entirely. Has it changed, and is changing? Yes. You aren't incorrect, but there are more "facts" than you are presenting.

Best, Helen

Nate Tastic wrote: Honestly, let him believe what he wants to believe. I really don't want to run into him and his chapstick/vitamin water sponsored self anywhere near these places. And that goes for Las Vegas, Nevada just as much as it does for City of Rocks, Idaho. Yes, I know, I'm a selloutaphobe but, he let us all down when he started huffing chapstick to make a buck.

Note: cross threading with prior permission.

Nate! I'm shocked! Locos Only is a serious man, uh, person, creature who, I am sure, if the price is right, ie adequate grams/ounces, uh, only chuffs gluten-free vegan chapstick that is grown on a sustainable organic farm with free trade labor, is GMO free, certified by the Monterey whatsits fishery dudes, on a bird friendly shade plantation, and packed in 200% recycled materials with certified sustainable forest product boxes to haul it's ass to market on a solar powered bicycle.

Or, he palmed it. I'm good either way.

Best, H. (Lawn Mowing Season has abruptly arrived)

Nate Tastic wrote: Honestly, let him believe what he wants to believe. I really don't want to run into him and his chapstick/vitamin water sponsored self anywhere near these places. And that goes for Las Vegas, Nevada just as much as it does for City of Rocks, Idaho. Yes, I know, I'm a selloutaphobe but, he let us all down when he started huffing chapstick to make a buck.

Note: cross threading with prior permission.

Prior Permission noted.

Don't worry, I'll keep my black wife and mixed kids FAR away from Idaho and Maine, and really any major sports climbing destination in general just because.  

Nate Tastic wrote: Honestly, let him believe what he wants to believe. I really don't want to run into him and his chapstick/vitamin water sponsored self anywhere near these places. And that goes for Las Vegas, Nevada just as much as it does for City of Rocks, Idaho. Yes, I know, I'm a selloutaphobe but, he let us all down when he started huffing chapstick to make a buck.

Note: cross threading with prior permission.

Your loss braj.

Locals Only wrote:

Prior Permission noted.

Don't worry, I'll keep my black wife and mixed kids FAR away from Idaho and Maine, and really any major sports climbing destination in general just because.  

You're a good man, sir. Keep up the fight from your end, I'll be doing the same here. We have the same future in mind, I think. 

Best, Helen

In all seriousness, if you need off season training for ice without a gym, just take a 5 to 10 pound weight and swing it slowly like an ice tool and be sure to add the wrist flick at the end.  Do 30-40 repetitions per arm, rest and repeat.  Doing staggered holds on a pull up bar helps too.

Nate Tastic wrote:

Both Burch and jg fox are being serious? Wow! I feel like I'm in reverso world all of sudden.

jg fox wrote: In all seriousness, if you need off season training for ice without a gym, just take a 5 to 10 pound weight and swing it slowly like an ice tool and be sure to add the wrist flick at the end.  Do 30-40 repetitions per arm, rest and repeat.  Doing staggered holds on a pull up bar helps too.

Thanks! Things like that, working with weights, getting on the treadwall, all helped me do a respectable job first time out this year.

The icicles, I found, were actually a rather pleasant way to climb, now and then, entirely apart from anything to do with ice. Just a minimal grip on a tool, is much easier on battered old hands than most climbing is. Even easier than hanging on jugs.

The treadwall helped, in transitioning to the rythym of ice: stick (grab jug), foot, foot, with the "stick" staggered and the feet parallel. It also helped me concentrate on my toes straight forward. Even then, my mentor told me I was on one front point much of the time, as my feet kept tending to point out. That, is the bad knees. Getting better, though. I'm stubborn!

Best, Helen