UKH

Hi,

Sorry for the double whammy thread but it made more sense to stick these two in the same thread about Edelrid's technical winter gear! Edelrid have come a long way in the quality of their equipment and some of the designs are quite impressive, not to mention their gear is quite readily available and with a range of spare parts/ accessories. But I am interested to hear others views before splashing cash.

Beast Crampons: https://www.edelrid.de/en/sports/crampons/beast.html

So my stingers broke a couple of seasons ago and whilst in my mind they are still the best mono-point I have used (Petzl Darts a close second then i guess Grivel Rambos or G22's). I'm not a fan of climbing on my heavy Cyborgs (currently dual-point) which require quite a bit of feng shui to make mono.

Has anyone had a hands on with the Edelrid Beast or used them in anger, if so what did you think? The ability to easily change front points is a huge plus for me especially as BD frontpoints are becoming increasingly difficult to get hold of! However, the secondary and tertiary points seem a little flimsy. Interested to know how the metal wears.

Rage Axes: https://www.edelrid.de/en/sports/ice-axes/rage.html

I Have been climbing on Fusion 2's for ages and I absolutely love them, but am getting tired of the weight. The swing is perfect but am looking at lighter options. So far Nomics just don't do it for me and the Fuels don't really get rave reviews either (I've handled fuels and whilst they are nice I just don't know how they climb). Also considering Grivel axes, with quite some interest in the Carbon Tech Machine!

Has anyone a hands on with the Edelrid Rages and the Grivel Carbon Tech machine too for that matter? How do they compare to other axes of this calibre?

Soon winter!

In reply to GarethSL:

Did you see my review of the Beast Lites? https://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=6227 Some French guy contacted me by youtube asking if he could link my video in his review, so there is another review of them out there.

I think its James Thacker who is sponsored by Edelrid and had some preliminary write up of the standard Beast on his website. I suspect they are rather good as the Lites are good, they just need slightly longer points that the Beasts do have.

In reply to GarethSL:

I've got a pair of the Grivel tech machine carbon - they climb really well, better than my nomics and better than my fusion 2's. They CLIMB really well, but... I stripped half the bolts on the hammers within an hour of getting them out of the box (yes, using the right sized wrench). I got them with the ice+ picks with hammers attached - they feel much more balanced without the hammer - the hammers seem to be a bit of an afterthought. Picks need a bit of detuning to be really good but they are the best out of the box picks I've seen. Haven't climbed on the Rage (had some Black Diamond Rage's a while back...). So, I like my grivel's, hardly ever use the nomics any more and they climb ice better than any tool I've ever had. On rock, they're about as good as my fusion 2's.

In reply to Graham:

I have used a few tools - mostly OOOLD. But recently got some DMM Apex's. I climbed with those for a few season and they are OK, but I absolutely detest the steep had angle. It makes them super secure on steep ice, but as soon as you have to pull over a bulge and your arm is blocked by your elbow, you just can't get a stick an they become a total pain in the arse. So you have to leave them placed sjut below the lip and climb and up onto them. By contrast I borrowed some Grivel North Machines fo 5 days last season. Much lighter but oh my god do they climb well. By far the best tools I've tried...

In reply to TobyA:

Hi Toby!

I had seen the James Thacker ones but no I had not seen you review, the only UKC one I came across was for the Rage axes in a group test so thanks for the link! Any update on how the aluminium has worn? Also are they identical in design to the steel Beasts or are the secondary points noticeably shorter on the lights?

In reply to GarethSL:


I haven't used them a lot since I left Finland in 2014, I did one route in the Lakes in them and was very impressed that despite walking maybe a couple of kms in them over snow covered rocks that it seemed to have made no difference to the aluminium at all. I've used the ski touring as well because they are so late. I summitted a couple of peaks in Lyngen in them back at Easter time. Soon after I wrote the review I noticed the plastic on one of the heel bails had cracked. When Edelrid heard about this they sent me a pair of replacements which was good of them. Photos here http://lightfromthenorth.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/edelrid-beast-lite-crampon-...

I've never seen the steel version in the flesh, but they definitely look like all the other points besides the front points are longer.