B-rated ice tool shafts?
Posted:
Mon Oct 18, 2010 3:47 pmby seano
There seem to be a few light ice tools on the market now with B-rated rather than T-rated shafts, such as the Grivel Quantum Tech and the Petzl Aztarex. What's the intended use? When would and wouldn't you trust them?
Re: B-rated ice tool shafts?
Posted:
Mon Oct 18, 2010 4:44 pmby rhyang
Even T-rated ice tools mostly have B-rated picks. The strength is really only an issue if you are doing lots of mixed climbing, and mostly for things like torquing. I and a few others here have quantum techs and really like them for waterfall ice.
btw The reason you see B-rated picks on T-rated tools is that often the latter kind don't climb ice as well, because they are thicker. The T-rated picks are usually for more drytooling / mixed climbing where you are more concerned with not breaking a pick vs. ice performance.