Petzl picks

Who uses Petzl Ice picks, and what do you like them for? My thought is they are ideal for alpine climbing on mostly ice but with rock too. 

I mostly stopped using them when the Pur'ice came out. I use the Pur'ice for ice climbing, and the Dry picks for mixed. Now I'm undecided as to whether the Ice picks really fill a need for me anymore. When I sharpen them up, the Mixed picks swing ok on ice, particularly alpine ice. 

My dilemma is mostly between buying new Ice picks for alpine climbing vs keeping a sharp set of Dry picks for alpine and a beater set for crag drytooling.

All three sets of picks I have are up for replacement in the next season or so, and I'm just considering what to prioritize. And I realize that probably any route I climb could've been climbed with any picks, but at some point I'll have to pick which to order (haha), and nerding out on gear is half the fun for me.

I think your assessment is pretty much spot on.  The Petzl Ice pick is really an alpine mixed pick best used on a Quark or Sum’Tec, where you will be holding the tool by the head a fair amount.  The Dry picks are generally better suited for a Nomic or Ergonomic, where you might be caning with the tool “upside down” and you should not be holding the tool by the head much.  Overall, the difference between the Ice and Dry picks is fairly minimal. 

I have owned and used all 4 Petzl picks.  I actually do most of my alpine mixed climbing (usually involving more rock than ice) with the Petzl Pur’Dry pick.  For alpine climbs involving mostly snow and ice (with some rock), I prefer the Ice picks.  I do most ice climbing that with the Pur’Ice Pick.  I generally reserve Dry picks for mixed climbs that involve thin, delicate ice or pulling onto a hanging curtain / dagger.  

If you are handy with a file, you can modify any teeth on the Dry or Pur’Dry picks that bother you.

Karl Henizewrote:

I think your assessment is pretty much spot on.  The Petzl Ice pick is really an alpine mixed pick best used on a Quark or Sum’Tec, where you will be holding the tool by the head a fair amount.  The Dry picks are generally better suited for a Nomic or Ergonomic, where you might be caning with the tool “upside down” and you should not be holding the tool by the head much.  Overall, the difference between the Ice and Dry picks is fairly minimal. 

I actually do most of my alpine mixed climbing with the Petzl Pur’Dry pick.  If you are handy with a file, you can modify any teeth on the Dry or Pur’Dry picks that bother you.

do you feel any difference between the ice and dry picks when it comes to removing the picks when slightly overdriven? I could see the added hight and teeth on the top could potentially get in the way especially in hard ice. I also heard people are filing down the slightly larger 5th teeth to make the removal easier.

I have a set of Krukonogi PND5(A) picks for Dry routes. Anything mixed or pure ice I just use the Ice picks. Haven’t tried the Pur’ice yet, but I have no complaints with the Ice picks. They clean well and do their job.

Jakob Melchiorwrote:

do you feel any difference between the ice and dry picks when it comes to removing the picks when slightly overdriven? I could see the added hight and teeth on the top could potentially get in the way especially in hard ice. I also heard people are filing down the slightly larger 5th teeth to make the removal easier.

The Dry picks can be a little bit harder to clean, but the difference isn’t really significant.  The key to making picks easy to clean is having a sharp bevel on the upper edge and not driving the pick past the beveled part of the upper edge.  I would focus on the upper edge, before deciding to file down the teeth on the bottom.  

Karl Henizewrote:

I actually do most of my alpine mixed climbing with the Petzl Pur’Dry pick.  If you are handy with a file, you can modify any teeth on the Dry or Pur’Dry picks that bother you.

Do you mod them at all for alpine? As far as removing/changing teeth. I remove the first tooth on my dry picks, which I think helps on rock and is passable on ice. The pur'dry look to have slightly different geometry, and I'm not sure whether I'd mod them the same way.

J Cwrote:

Do you mod them at all for alpine? As far as removing/changing teeth. I remove the first tooth on my dry picks, which I think helps on rock and is passable on ice. The pur'dry look to have slightly different geometry, and I'm not sure whether I'd mod them the same way.

This video does a good job of explaining the differences between Ice, Dry, and Pur'Dry Picks.

I sharpened the bevel to make the Pur'Dry picks easier to place & clean in ice.  I also removed the first stein tooth.  If I had a belt grinder or more patience, I would remove all of the stein teeth in front of the head and have a sharp bevel running all the way to the head.  If you prefer to climb with the pick weights, there probably isn't much reason to remove the stein teeth.  

I  removed the first tooth on the bottom of the pick and used a round file improve the bite on the first 5 remaining teeth.  

Karl Henizewrote:

This video does a good job of explaining the differences between Ice, Dry, and Pur'Dry Picks.

I sharpened the bevel to make the Pur'Dry picks easier to place & clean in ice.  I also removed the first stein tooth.  If I had a belt grinder or more patience, I would remove all of the stein teeth in front of the head and have a sharp bevel running all the way to the head.

Good tips - I always had trouble cleaning BD picks with stein teeth (typ overdriving in soft ice/snice or sublimated/refrozen with a veneer). More recently I avoid designs with substantial stein teeth because shaving them off or reducing their profile is such a pain. Steeper angles at the tip is still more difficult to clean, but nowhere near as bad.

There's an art to the details and I'm still learning what works best.

CDubwrote:

Good tips - I always had trouble cleaning BD picks with stein teeth (typ overdriving in soft ice/snice or sublimated/refrozen with a veneer). More recently I avoid designs with substantial stein teeth because shaving them off or reducing their profile is such a pain. Steeper angles at the tip is still more difficult to clean, but nowhere near as bad.

There's an art to the details and I'm still learning what works best.

I think the BD Ice+ Pick is an example of good stein teeth design that doesn’t make the picks more difficult to clean.  

By contrast, the BD Mixed pick is an example of poor stein teeth design for real outdoor mixed climbing.  The stein teeth on the Mixed pick go way too far forward of the head and will make the picks very difficult to clean, whien the picks are deeply embedded in ice.  I think BD should either change the design or rebrand it as a drytooling pick.  

Colton Hwrote:

I have a set of Krukonogi PND5(A) picks for Dry routes. Anything mixed or pure ice I just use the Ice picks. Haven’t tried the Pur’ice yet, but I have no complaints with the Ice picks. They clean well and do their job.

I am considering Krukonogi as well, because I hear they are far superior for drytooling. How are they for ice? Currently I am mostly looking for picks for alpine mixed climbing, and I'm thinking I'll wait on the Krukonogi due to price/shipping cost vs Petzl. Open to changing my mind on this though. 

The Krukonogi picks do not really climb ice well at all, unless you're hooking. They are not tapered at all and are intentionally blunt.

J Cwrote:

I am considering Krukonogi as well, because I hear they are far superior for drytooling. How are they for ice? Currently I am mostly looking for picks for alpine mixed climbing, and I'm thinking I'll wait on the Krukonogi due to price/shipping cost vs Petzl. Open to changing my mind on this though. 

The PND5(A) picks are designed solely for dry. The front of the beak where it would usually be sharp is intentionally left flat to be more durable when you panic swing into the rock. I do have a climbing partner who uses a pair of krukonogi picks that are designed for ice. The steel is much more durable and requires a diamond file to sharpen properly. Also as far as price and shipping cost, Rock and Resole sells Kruk products on their website and I think the price is comparable to buying new petzl picks. Only get the PND5(A) picks if you dry tool a lot and don’t want to ruin the picks that you use for ice. 

Colton Hwrote:

Rock and Resole sells Kruk products on their website and I think the price is comparable to buying new petzl picks. Only get the PND5(A) picks if you dry tool a lot and don’t want to ruin the picks that you use for ice. 

I totally want a pair for drytooling to save my other picks. But the Rock and Resole site is showing around $120-220, I assume per pick, depending on style. If I'm misreading it and that's the price per pair, that's not too bad. If that's the price per pick, then I'll stick to Petzl for now.

https://rockandresole.com/product/krukonogi-pnda-copy/

J Cwrote:

I totally want a pair for drytooling to save my other picks. But the Rock and Resole site is showing around $120-220, I assume per pick, depending on style. If I'm misreading it and that's the price per pair, that's not too bad. If that's the price per pick, then I'll stick to Petzl for now.

https://rockandresole.com/product/krukonogi-pnda-copy/

 The picks without the titanium cheeks are generally $140 per pair.  

Karl Henizewrote:

 The picks without the titanium cheeks are generally $140 per pair.  

That seems reasonable. Their website makes it look like that is the price per pick. 

I'll give them a call to clarify. Could someone give me the phone number for Rock and Resole?

https://rockandresole.com/product/krukonogi-pnd5a-replacement-pick/

This is the direct link to the page for the picks. As you can see it says “sold in pairs” and “without titanium cheeks”