I enjoy ice climbing, and will be going quite a few times a year. But, I'm not very hardcore and mostly do local, easy stuff. Also, I'm doing Mt. Washington in January and Rainier (Emmons Glacier) in June, and I'm sure I'll be doing lots more NE winter stuff in the Adirondacks and Catskills.
So, given my modest ambitions, is it possible to buy crampons and ice tools that will serve me well everywhere? I see Petzl and others make ax-length ice tools made for moderate technical pitches as well as glacier travel, and dual-purpose crampons as well. But, the traditional logic is that I'll be much better served by some rigid crampons and technical ice tools for steep stuff, and 10-pts and longish ax for glaciers. Does this still hold true, or does some of the new muti-use gear work well enough to be used on a variety of pitches by an uncommitted weekend warrior such as myself?
Here's an example - the ax I have me eye on. A couple of those in an adze/hammer combination would not only keep my gear collection trim, they would be great to have "just in case" on trips where an ax would usually suffice - either in an emergency like a crevasse fall, or if I just sumble on some cool technical route to try my hand at.
http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/classic ... xes/sumtec