Making the original Black Diamond Cobras leashless by adding pinky rests

Has anyone successfully converted the original (old style) Black Diamond Cobras to leashless by adding aftermarket piny rests / handrests? I'd like to do this by adding something like Petzl Trigrests or Salewa Handrests to mine, but not sure if it will work... Or if there is a better option...

I did it with mine like 15 years ago. I can’t remember which brand of pommel I did it with though. 

Doable, though you might have to modify the pinky rest to suit. I added Black Diamond rests to old Charlet Moser Pulsar Evolutions. A bit of faffing, but I now have a foam padded, metal reinforced, rest which is great for glove free dry tooling.

I suspect I'm not alone in having learned that adding a griprest to the bottom of a (relatively straight-shafted) tool is a far cry from making it "leashless". Do folks do it? Ansolutely. Does it crush your pinkies against said rests? Probably. Does it magically transport you to 2018 level leashless tools?  Pfff, as if.

Back in the 90’s I was out on the ice one day as a poor college student and had just upgraded from my old X-15’s to a brand new pair of Carbon Fiber Black Prophets and I was as thrilled as a pig in shit in Nirvana for their maiden voyage. --  for about exactly an hour.   Up walks Scott Backes with a pre-production pair of original Cobras.   WTF.  Now what am I gonna do with these “piece of shit” CFBPs?!?  Lol.  (Gave em to my sister in law)

But for a long time, I thought there would never be as fine an axe as the original Cobra.  Till leashless was born a few years later and I got my hands on the first Grivel Top Machines.   Was hooked, and never looked back.   I loved the trigger and pommel of the Machines, but still loved the swing and balance of the Cobra, so tried to retro my Cobra’s to leashless.   It worked and I climbed with em for several years, but on hard leads, I never could quite totally trust my home brewed grips - always imagining theyd finally blow off at the worst time (never did) sending me ripping down the ice.

Needless to say, this is not good headspace to be in and after just converting to new Cobras and Nomics when they came out, haven’t looked back.  They were noticeably far better.  And Ergonomics or X-dreams are even better on the steepest stuff.  

TL;DR :   Do yourself a favor. Don’t bother.  Get new tools

Mark Pilatewrote:

TL;DR :   Do yourself a favor. Don’t bother.  Get new tools

I have a pair of the straight shaft CFBP. Used them last in 2018 on the second ascent of Cascade route. Good tools for their time and still are for the right route. Also have a pair of the 1st generation Cobra. Still climbing WI5 on them with leashes. Great tools for the right route. I just sold an extra pair and still have an extra shaft. They are my go to tools for the alpine.

That said, I agree, don't bother, get new tools.

Mark Pilatewrote:

Back in the 90’s I was out on the ice one day as a poor college student and had just upgraded from my old X-15’s to a brand new pair of Carbon Fiber Black Prophets and I was as thrilled as a pig in shit in Nirvana for their maiden voyage. --  for about exactly an hour.   Up walks Scott Backes with a pre-production pair of original Cobras.   WTF.  Now what am I gonna do with these “piece of shit” CFBPs?!?  Lol.  (Gave em to my sister in law)

But for a long time, I thought there would never be as fine an axe as the original Cobra.  Till leashless was born a few years later and I got my hands on the first Grivel Top Machines.   Was hooked, and never looked back.   I loved the trigger and pommel of the Machines, but still loved the swing and balance of the Cobra, so tried to retro my Cobra’s to leashless.   It worked and I climbed with em for several years, but on hard leads, I never could quite totally trust my home brewed grips - always imagining theyd finally blow off at the worst time (never did) sending me ripping down the ice.

Needless to say, this is not good headspace to be in and after just converting to new Cobras and Nomics when they came out, haven’t looked back.  They were noticeably far better.  And Ergonomics or X-dreams are even better on the steepest stuff.  

TL;DR :   Do yourself a favor. Don’t bother.  Get new tools

I have a mismatched pair I bought secondhand - one of the tools is a cobra with exactly this kind of retro-fitted grip. I found it worked ok to learn on. Partners will hate it/make fun of you, but it works ok. I still have it and climb on it. Sentimental attachment maybe, or they're good for alpine routes.

But as Mark says, the modern tools will feel way more comfortable and confidence-inspiring.