Third tool?

Back when I first started leading ice, it was a given that you'd carry a third tool in case the unthinkable happened and a pick broke when you were on lead. Looking at a lot of climbers these days, it seems almost no one carries a third tool anymore. 

So, was wondering why people think that is? Also, do any dinosaurs like me still carry a third tool?

It's tempting to repeat what my father used to say, through clenched teeth, when he found something amiss in his shop and was wondering which of his sons to beat down: "Tools don't break themselves!"

Been climbing ice 40 years. Rarely ever carried third tool. Dont remember seeing lots of other folks carrying third tool either. Sure it used to be more common in the 80s. 

I Usually carry spare pick.

Paul.  That's the line  BD took  with me  when I  broke 4 picks  in 3 years.  Didn't  impress me much.  Been  climbing ice  almost 40 years and  never had that  problem  before  or  after  BD...  I did have to carry a 3rd tool when I had the silver Vipers.  Ditched the BD tools and the 3rd tool.  Never  looked  back. 

While I don’t think I’ve ever carried a third tool on a “cragging” route, having something like a Sum’Tec is really nice on big routes where you need to pound pins. Nice thing with the Sum’Tec as opposed to a straight up hammer is that you can use it to climb with in an emergency.

Picks may be better, but screws are also lighter to carry and more efficient to place. On pure ice routes you can usually place a screw quickly and tie off to sort things out if something happens to your tool. 

With the old Chouinard screws, a third tool was sometimes handier for wrenching in the screws than the full-sized tool.  I, and two of my regular partners,  carried third tools until about 2000 or so.  I didn't break picks until a few years ago (2 BD picks in as many weeks), where I found that you can still lead with a broken pick, although I don't recommend it.  

Chiounard, Simond, Petzl, Grivel and and Cassin picks don't break. BD picks do break. I had a really nice little hummingbird that was my hammer to start screws BINTD but at some point I started climbing with two Simond Chakals which were both hammers . I did not carry a third tool often with that setup. looks like in this shot I am climbing with the hummingbird in my right hand and almost certainly a Simond Chakal in my left. I don't see a third tool and my rack is Tiny compared to what I bring now ;)  leashes on both tools and a teather on one tool to a shoulder loop, not  tied to my harness.  also note that no runner on the screw just two biners. Some reason we thought this was ok... 

NG, you forgot to mention the foot fangs that have wonderful v slot between the front points ready to cut your rope in half if you weren’t careful.  Never had any picks break but good idea to have spare.  Yep, 2 biners & no runners was the practice clipping to screw. Be interesting to see that tested on a fall as compared to using draws.

I did  accidentally  kick the  rope/ biner combination once  and it unclipped the rope.  That's less  likely to happen with a quick draw. 

how about a helmet that weighed 4lbs... the infamous Joe Brown.  My good friend Jud did not believe in them ;) 

I used to carry a little hummingbird as a 3rd tool all the time, but mostly used it for placing snargs or those old Chouinard screws on vertical ground. Found the old hummingbird recently and am probably going to start carrying it again since a) it’s so much easier to drop leashless tools (and tethers suck, tried those in the the 80s and they sucked then too), b) modern tools suck as hammers and I still have to drive the occasional KB (or snarg if my 2nd is being a whiny weenie and I want to punish them), and c) if you snap a pick you’re often on sketchy ground where you can’t just crank in a screw. The only time I ever broke a pick was on P1 of Who’s Who at the Lake. Thin, baked, delaminated ice with no chance for any gear, suddenly the right tool is being a prick and when I look at it realize the last inch of the pick has snapped off (yes Nick, it was BD). Nothing like amping up an already stressful situation. Would have liked having that 3rd tool then.

Jim.  The 3 seasons that I was on the silver BD Vipers  it was so bad that I was looking at my tools after every swing to see if the  pick was still there.  Used my 3rd tool 3 times.  Leading crux of Float in a nasty snow squall,  leading Auclard,and soloing  Standard.  The 4th time I switched out the pick at the belay. Bought  Quarks and immediately  ditched the 3rd tool.  Never needed it. Been on X Dreams for 6 or 7 years now and never worry about the  picks. The only person I know who climbs hard these days with a 3rd tool is Alden. 

Nick, seems silver vipers were contemporaneous with Cobras and at least bent shaft carbon fiber black prophets…why vipers?

At one point the vipers were between first and second gen cobras and were marketed as BD’s best ice tool. Also the first leashless tool with the viper fang and strike attachments. 

When I bought them they were supposedly the shit.  The picks sucked though. Even Conrad broke one at the Keen valley ice fest and had to bum a pick off the guys at the  Mountaineer. 

Ahhh, that’s right, that was at the cusp of the transition and Vipers were the first BD leashless possibility.  I went from leashed first gen Cobras to Grivel Top Machines.  If the heads hadn’t cracked, I’d still be climbing those Machines.  In my opinion, the best pommel/grip of any ice tool, and I loved the Grivel picks - compared to the BD offerings.  

Oh yeah, to OP:  No need for third tools with modern screws and axes. Just can’t imagine a scenario where a third tool would be warranted.  

Mark, just switch to BD and you will be wanting that third tool again ;) 

I want to know the average age of the fellas on this thread please.  ;) 

Double J wrote:

I want to know the average age of the fellas on this thread please.  ;) 

Lol.   I fancy myself to be around 28

As far as I’m aware, I stopped aging after taking a large ice chunk to the noggin back in ‘96

39. Sounds fucking old when I say it like that.
for the record I really liked my silver vipers and never broke a pick… first tools were bent shaft black prophets (non cf) and I agonized over whether I needed different tools for alpine climbing because it would be so hard to plunge them!