Upcoming new ice screws

Bryce Dahlgrenwrote:

I know the main thing is how much do the aluminum screws bind up in wet ice, but since the BI screws have the largest diameter how much more likely are they to fracture brittle ice when compared to the 3 tooth Petzl aluminum screws? Or is it an insignificant difference in diameters which won’t really affect it at all?

Putting an ice screw in isn't like driving a nail into wood; there's no outward pressure exerted on the ice (as long as the teeth are in good shape. In fact, splintering or spalling of the ice is a dead giveaway that there may be a bent tooth.)  I would go so far as to suggest that under load, a larger diameter screw will have less risk of fracturing the ice due to lower surface pressure (force is applied over a larger surface area). But, we'll see.

Wow, it looks like BI milled the hanger instead of the typical bent sheet metal. (Am I seeing that right?). Fancy. 

This is an old Fixe screw. All aluminum, probably 20 years old, which I found in a Spanish(Barrabes) mountain shop.

Over the years they have dabbled in the ice market, even marketing through Metolius for awhile

LL Binerwrote:

This is an old Fixe screw. All aluminum, probably 20 years old, which I found in a Spanish(Barrabes) mountain shop.

Over the years they have dabbled in the ice market, even marketing through Metolius for awhile

What are the dimensions of that thing? I cant tell whether its either really short or really wide....

5 1/4" tall X 2 3/8" wide

I've only placed it once, if you look at the knurled end you can see slots, they were intended to allow you to use your axe to help lever the screw into the ice.

LL Binerwrote:

This is an old Fixe screw. All aluminum, probably 20 years old, which I found in a Spanish(Barrabes) mountain shop.

Over the years they have dabbled in the ice market, even marketing through Metolius for awhile

........they must use that to make these:

https://icecores.org/about-ice-cores

Ice screw comparison. Definitely not as long as the petZl.  8 grams lighter than the bd screw 

They look awesome! Think the Blue Ice will rack better than Petzl on an ice clipper?

Bryce Dahlgrenwrote:

They look awesome! Think the Blue Ice will rack better than Petzl on an ice clipper?

Yes, they will IMHO. 

All I can say is that these better be frickin awesome, lol 

If there’s one thing I don’t need more of is ice screws, but I caved to curiosity

I'd be really interested in how folks like the crank handle on the Blue Ice screws - I never liked Petzl's floppy handle, and with the Black Diamond ultralights it seems like it sticks way out, but maybe I'm just too used to my BD Express screws.

Blue ice handle is rly good , snappy like bd, but short like petzl , they also rack super well 

BI, looks like the crank also uses two wires to connect to the hanger like Black Diamond's.  Doesn't BD have issues with these hangers breaking really easily?  Wondering if this will be the same for BI's version.  Looks awesome though.

I used the Blue ice screws for the first time yesterday- they are definitely better than the BD, rack nicely. They didn’t blow me away, but seem to be the best of the aluminium/steel screws. 

I got a chance to use various sizes of blue ice screws yesterday in RMNP. Conditions were bitter cold, very windy, and snowy and the ice was totally hard, dry, and brittle. Sadly the blue ice screws performed terribly. I had one 16 that went in smoothly but every other screw got about half way in and started binding, with a squeaking noise as I tried to twist them further. I abandoned the crank arm, and just started muscling them, but alas could not - they all stopped with several threads standing proud out of the ice. Petzl steel binded just a little, and also squeaked, but ultimately went in with the crank arm no less. It's a shame, because really this where you would want the weight savings - on a several mile approach with a heavy pack. I'll keep trying them in differing ice conditions, but so far I'm pretty disappointed.

hmm. this i why i carry a mix of steel and alu screws..

A cool video talking about the new Blue Ice screws

I took the blue ice screws out yesterday again, and they worked really well in a variety of ice conditions - including cold, dry, brittle ice and also wet, soft ice. I'm not sure what caused them to bind last time so badly, but this time they impressed. v threads are really easy with them. 

Super interesting info from the video is that we may have a 7 cms stainless steel ice screw from blue ice in the near future.