BD Cobras vs Petzl Nomics

Among ice climbers, the debate over which ice tools are the best is an overdone classic, like the debate between mono- and dual-points, Hamlet, or hard-boiled eggs. With my capacity for shameless soapbox philosophizing clearly exceeding my capacity for self-restraint, I now see fit to throw my unwanted opinions into the fray. So, here goes. But before I start, I want to limit the discussion to (legitimate) technical ice tools. So don't pester me about mountaineering tools, those sketchy looking Euro-aid hooks, stuff you might find at Home Depot, or any other nonsense (yes, that includes anything dirty--this is a family-rated blog, thank you very much). Those silly tools which are super thin and look like they were stamped out of a cookie cutter--ugh.

When I first started climbing, I started with the (silver) BD Vipers. Those things are nice. People used to say they were the best tool, period, and I can see why. They swing nicely, they don't weigh too much, and they have a nice hammer to cam into cracks if you're into mixed climbing (I don't want to hear about it if you aren't. That's your own darn fault.) I tried the updated orange version recently, and it seems very similar. Then there's the BD Reactor, which seems to feel much like a leashless version of the Viper. And recently I splurged unnecessarily and got myself a pair of BD Cobras. Now these things are nice. They have a nice swing too, are very light, and it seems like the weight distribution is pretty good. But unfortunately, I'm not one of these Cobra fanatics who will say that they're the perfect tool. First of all, I should allow for full disclosure: I climb pretty much anything hard in Petzl Nomics (more in the next section). Second, I think they swing nicely, but are kinda wobbly. I've heard people say they put on the bigger hammer (not the micro one it comes with) to give it a more solid swing. If I used them more often, I would totally do that too. Third, I don't quite like the upper grip that much. Without any tape up there, it's quite slick, and I've also heard that on skaty mixed holds, using the upper grip can make you pop off. Ouch. Finally, they use the annoying BD Laser Pick. Now of course, those are meant for swinging into ice, and not brutal New England crack-torquing. And I haven't had one break. But I've heard they definitely do break, and that could be a bit of a problem if it happened when, say, you're a little run out on lead. There's always the Titan pick of course, although I have no information on those at all. So I think they're a good tool, but I much prefer the Petzl Nomics.

The Petzl Nomics. So agressive. So black. So expensive. Ah, well, I still love these things. I think I might like the BD tools more if I knew how to swing them properly. It's interesting, because as the front tooth gets more and more worn on the Petzl Astro picks, the character of the swing changes subtly. I think it's a bit more of a "triceps hack" with the Petzl tools and more of a "baseball flick" with the BD tools, which, together with my complete ignorance of leashed tools (don't even bring those things up again), may explain why I didn't learn how to flick my wrist very well until relatively recently. It's that, or I'm just very dumb. Actually, it's probably that. Well, in any case, I think the Astro picks are incredibly strong. I've done some Very Mean things to them. I remember inserting one about a third of the way up on the pick, and mantling up on the handle hard, and nothing happening this season. I've never heard of them breaking. They do get rather dull in the hard New England rock, but that's what files are for. I like the upper grip a lot. I used to use it only for mixed climbing, with the idea that they might be somehow less stable on ice, but with my newfound love of hooking and various leashless tricks, they've come in super handy. I've found that wrapping road bike tape with electrical tape at the top and bottom makes a nice replacement for the griptape that comes with the tools. Petzl will sell you some highly overpriced garbage tape, but I (obviously) recommend against this. I like the extra thickness on the upper grip, because when you're pumped, even a slightly different pump is a welcome relief.

Now, I had heard that Petzl was going to come out with a hammer version of the Nomic. That's probably my number one complaint about them. Ever tried to hammer in a piton with the back end of the Nomic? I recommend against it. The metal up there is rather soft, and if you do it too much, you could sort of mash together the metal of the pick and the tool, making it impossible to change out the pick. That'd be bad. They also don't climb low-angle ice very well and have no spike. They are definitely not an alpine tool. In fact, it's easier to hold the tool upside down, using the teeth on the upper part of the tool as the "spike". It's a little insecure, though. And, the other thing I noticed is that they seem to get "stuck" in the ice more easily than the BD tools. It's probably a consequence of the more agressive pick angle (except compared to the BD Fusions, which are terrible on ice anyways). I'm getting better at knowing which placements are good and which aren't, so I overdrive my picks less and less, so this doesn't bother me as much as I used to. Of course, if you overdrive your picks too much, what ends up happening is that you get a tool stuck, so you overdrive the higher tool, so you can feel confident about pulling out the bottom tool. But wait, your higher one is stuck now, so you'd better drive in the next placement too...so that's why a judicious amount of hooking and a light touch are nice. But you gotta be careful and keep the angle right on the less secure placements, or you'll be wondering about a) the structural integrity of your tools after dropping them from a great height; b) the structural integrity of your skeleton after dropping it from a great height; and possibly c) why those life insurance salesman rejected you after you explained what sort of things you get up to on the weekend.

And the rumor about the hammered-Nomic: not true. Here's what I heard from them:

As far as the rumors of a hammer version of the Nomic,
there's no truth to this.  We are coming out with two
new tools for classic mountaineering: the Summit &
the Sum'tec.  The summit will have a textured rubber
coating the entire length of the shaft and the Sum'Tec
will have an adjustable trigrest hand rest that can be
moved to any position along the shaft.  Both are
beautiful new tools and we are very excited to have
these launching soon.

Let us know if you have any further questions.

Sincerely,
Petzl America

Finally, what does one do with spent picks? I'm open to suggestions. Kevin Mahoney said he got drunk one night and decided he would try to make throwing knives out of them, with limited success. Well, it's better than what mine are doing--nothing.