Most likely the only pound in I will ever use again.
I have somewhere at home Snargs, Griffs and even a Warthog or two slowly rusting away all of which I acquired during the days when using ice pitons was the way to go. (Actually they where the only option, short of not using pro, little wonder I never did a WI4 until a few years ago)
There is still some use for these on a modern rack especially if the ice is soft, deep and you want to save your screws for something further up or you just run out of them.
They are easy to beat into the ice as they have a wide but narrow target area and missing doesn’t do much damage to the ice, the tool or pin. For best result you still have to start them in a shallow pick hole and give them a good hand push. Hopefully they do not pop right back out on the first hit if the ice is really hard (don’t laugh it has happened to me)
Coming out is totally dependant on the quality of ice but you normally need to crack them with you ice pick to get them going you can also lightly tap them with you hammer as well without destroying them. They do take forever to get out but you can also chop them out which I have done in the past. The climbers behind you will not appreciate this though.
The slot in the side means that they clean out quickly, faster that most screws
As for going in faster than any screw I do not think this is the case anymore and they can actually be more troublesome than modern coffee grinder type screws. But I still keep one of each size on my rack somewhere in the back as I find them most useful when setting up belays on larger ledges. They also have the best hanger IMHO.
JScoles - May 8, 2003 12:57 pm - Voted 5/5
Untitled ReviewI have somewhere at home Snargs, Griffs and even a Warthog or two slowly rusting away all of which I acquired during the days when using ice pitons was the way to go. (Actually they where the only option, short of not using pro, little wonder I never did a WI4 until a few years ago)
There is still some use for these on a modern rack especially if the ice is soft, deep and you want to save your screws for something further up or you just run out of them.
They are easy to beat into the ice as they have a wide but narrow target area and missing doesn’t do much damage to the ice, the tool or pin. For best result you still have to start them in a shallow pick hole and give them a good hand push. Hopefully they do not pop right back out on the first hit if the ice is really hard (don’t laugh it has happened to me)
Coming out is totally dependant on the quality of ice but you normally need to crack them with you ice pick to get them going you can also lightly tap them with you hammer as well without destroying them. They do take forever to get out but you can also chop them out which I have done in the past. The climbers behind you will not appreciate this though.
The slot in the side means that they clean out quickly, faster that most screws
As for going in faster than any screw I do not think this is the case anymore and they can actually be more troublesome than modern coffee grinder type screws. But I still keep one of each size on my rack somewhere in the back as I find them most useful when setting up belays on larger ledges. They also have the best hanger IMHO.
Most likly best of breed now.