Following on from this post: https://www.ukhillwalking.com/forums/winter_climbing/switch_to_nomics-653161#x... I eventually went with a pair of Nomics and have now had chance to put them through their paces I throught I'd do a quick review. So far they've been used for:
-Indoor climbing on Ice at the Ice factor and on plastic/wood at both the Ice factor and Rope race (upto ~D8).
-Drytooing at White Goods (D5 - D8)
-Winter climbing on Kinder (WII)
-Water Ice climbing at Rjukan (WI 2-5).
I've been using standard petzl ice picks for ice (without weights) , Kuznia Szpeju N-Aggressive for Rock and N-Competition for plastic/wood.
Unsurprisingly they're way better than my 'Franken-flys' and I'm very happy with my choice...
Good:
- No sign of 'head wobble' yet, and I'm 100kg+ and like a good stein-pull and the heads are rock solid.
-Better than expected as a Walking Axe (by no means good, but certainly useable). Fine for daggering, a bit of stability and self arrest/a brake whilst glisading).
-Hands are far less bruised post-Rjukan (last year with the Flys resulted in lots of ice-punching when on steep/bulging stuff),
-Only had to shake out once or twice in 3 days... the ergonomics on the nomics make steep stuff a breeze, and the lighter weight was definitely felt.
-Picks really inspire confidence, and the selection of aftermarket picks and hammers is really good (from Petzl themselves, Poland: https://kuzniaszpeju.pl/en/shop/?filter_czekan=nomic-en and Russia: https://krukonogi.com/). I'm really happy with both my petzl and polish picks.
Bad:
-Despite trying my best not to overdrive, they still got stuck a couple of times in ice. Having watched a couple of review vids, I suspect this may have been because I wasn't being brave enough (trying to remove whilst still below the tool)... I didn't have any issues when removing if I was above my tool.
-When used as a walking axe, plunging often feels better using the head rater than the shaft, which adds complexity to switching to self arrest should it be needed (haven't had to put this to the test).
-Not great with leashes: Whilst you can fit small crabs through the holes in the rests, or as I have put some thin (~4mm) cord through some holes under the pommels, the nomics aren't the most leash friendly of tools. Not too much of an issue for me (as I rarely use leashes these days, but may be an issue for some: If just using crabs, they can gen in the way of your hands. If using loops of thin cord, you're most definitely in body weight only territory.
Unknown:
I haven't used my polish hammer: https://kuzniaszpeju.pl/en/sklep/hammer/compatible-with-nomic-standard/ in anger yet, but having a play at home, the angle of the shaft doesn't seem to be too much of an issue.
