Laser Sonic

I had a chance to play with a couple of these late last winter they were prototypes and a little different than the one pictured here. I have yet to see any for sale anywhere so them may still just be vapour ware until later in the season.

I guess after a few seasons of dealers complaining of low sales, Grivel, BD and OP gobbling up market share and climbers clamouring for something other than the “Turbine” CM has finally seen the light. By now there are too many patents out there to just clone someone else’s idea so they had to come up with a more novel way.

Once you get past the idea of having to clip into hanger that is only riveted to your screw these are actually quite good screws. The hanger sits at a very good angel to the ice more like a bolt than any other traditional ice screw and it allows for much tighter placements than the BD or OP. CM screws have always gone in quickly and these ones are just as fast as any other and perhaps the easiest to start. They are also a little easer to screw in than the “coffee grinder” types as the hanger is a little bigger. They are also much easer to place above waist height though not as good as the Grivels for this.

On disadvantage is the way they rack. They tend to flop about quite a bit so they are not as neat as the BD to rack but a much better improvement over the Grivels.

I was assured that the rivet can hold any fall that ice will hold and being that it is quite a hunk of metal I have little doubt of this. Their chief advantage over any other “Express” type screw is that you can attach a sling to them while placing them. A great advantage to us clumsily types who do drop the odd screw.

In all a great product but it remains to be seen if climber’s will over-come the rivet on the hanger and I do have concerns about the longevity of this rivet as they do take quite a beating even while they are siting on your rack.

I give them a 4 becasue only time will tell if they will become a great product.

I have found the Laser sonic's perfect for vertical ice due to the hangers free movement. As stated the hanger does allow the screw to be set easily and with a biner attached along with a dog-bone or screamer. Bites into the ice like it's butter.

So, I have a rack full of BD Turbo, and one Laser Sonic. I almost never use the Laser Sonic. It is much harder to crank with gloves on. The hanger is shaped to be pinched as it is twisted, but that inevitably torques the screw weirdly. The upside is that the teeth are sweet.