UKH

The new version of Edelrid's most technical axe, the Rage, is well-made, well-designed, and a lot of fun to climb with, says Toby Archer. 

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Nice review Toby,  I certainly enjoyed using them at masson  , comparing them to similar tools, ie ergonomics,  x dreams etc they felt very similar in terms of stability on edges, hand and wrist position so maybe it's more down to orange or green? Would be interesting to see how they compare on ice ( if they fancy a holiday in Canada next week I'd be more than happy to find a space for them ! 😉)

Cheers Neil. I should have got Dan to add to the photo caption that it is you stylishly stein pulling on the Rages. There were some pictures of me on the same move, but I was on a very tight top rope so it didn't look nearly as cool.  

I'm hoping to get up to Scotland the week after next when it's half term, so I'm afraid the Rages will be occupied. Otherwise, I'm sure they would have enjoyed a Canada trip! The top corner on the tip of the blade does need rounding off though before they do any serious ice. Not as sticky as some new blades, but definitely a wee bit sticky as they are.

Haha, hope you find good conditions!!

I think it'd be useful to let us know the grades you used them on, sorry if I missed it.

D6 drytooling if I remember right - on a top rope for that one! The pictured drytool route I'm leading is D4 I think. IV,4 for the mixed route, and the ice route is Crowden Clough (Winter) (II), although a grade like I,3 might actually describe it better. 

As I say in the review it's very much a preliminary review - I just haven't had chance to do more winter routes with them, but I wanted to get my initial impressions down before this winter had gone, just in case anyone was looking for new tools and considering these - I couldn't find any other reviews of them in English, and I don't think in other languages that Google searches either. I'm not sure , but it may be that Edelrid is having some issues with production or distribution though, as a number of UK shops that list them don't seem to have them in stock yet. 

Uhrgh, triggered. 

"It is at that moment where if you are relaxed enough the tool is, just to a tiny degree, "rolling" over your index finger and that's why some people want a handle small enough to feel the top of the handle against the upper edge of your index finger."

I have to question this, your Vipers don't have this neither do North Machines or Quarks but they all swing very well into ice. There are a lot of gimmicks out there, most are harmless like this. the only time I can think where you would have your hand too high on the handle was when your leashes were too short back in the 90s. Having the handle brushing the top of your index finger ... nah.

A good swing can be achieved with most axes with a bit of practise but a well designed handle helps, the X Dream and Nomic both have this with a palm swell which really helps prevent over rotation. The Quark/North Machine etc achieve this as a function of the spike protruding below the hand which prevents over rotation by acting in the same way. Note the X-Dream isn't adjustable for size but you can change the trigger or remove it.

Something like the Dark Machine is woeful for me and the handle requires quite a bit of work. It's too thin and contoured at the base meaning as soon as you relax you're going to over rotate. This isn't helped by the balance with all the weight in the head but hey, developed by Greg Boswell so what do I know (time stamp 3:25)

https://www.ukclimbing.com/videos/categories/gear/grivel_-_dark_machine_and...

These Edelrid Rages (cool name) look to have it nailed however and the plastic thingy can be discarded into that top drawer of gimmicky things you're never going to actually use and is harmless enough for people with small hands.

Never used North Machines so don't know, but Quarks and Vipers don't have an offset handle so the geometry of swinging them is a slightly different anyway. But my Vipers are the second generation ones (orange) which have a permanent secondary hand rest above the main handle, I'll need to check when I get home, but with gloves on, I think the top of my index finger isn't far below it. 

I did wonder about the plastic widget - even if it doesn't make a difference to the swing, maybe some people like the feeling of security of your hand being 'in' the handle. For people with small hands that's going to be different for people people with bigger hands - so maybe it size the hands for the bigger handed people, then add the widget so that smaller handed people can get the same feeling? 

I don't need it, but I can't imagine Edelrid when to all the trouble of setting up a plastic moulding machine to make a bunch of the widgets for no reason. Besides anything else they could have just sold the tool for a bit less without the little extra bits.

I can well imagine they did. It's the same as any sales pitch, another point in the axes favour as the novice compares different models. This though is something that should hold no weight when making a purchase. It's strange that both the Reactor and the Rage look like really good axes that don't need gimmicks, in the Rages case incredibly close to the X-Dream. People should be looking at the cost of replacement picks after their first season swinging at snow hoping it's ice, in this example the win goes to the Rage at between £16-£25 a pick to the Reactors at £32-£33.