I am getting to the stage in my ice climbing where a third tool seems like a good thing to have, for emergencies as well as pounding in snargs, hooks, and pins. Can anyone recomend a third tool that is reliable, light, and suitable for waterice? Or does anyone have a Chounard North wall hammer they would like to sell?????

Thanks -Mike

-- Mike Tea (mtea@ptc.com), January 26, 1999

Answers

A third tool is indeed a good thing to have in an emergency, but in almost 15 years of ice climbing, I've never had the occasion (i.e. been forced) to use one. You can use the anvil of one of your primary tools to do all of the bashing that might be required, and that tool is already in your hand. It won't be like swinging a claw hammer, though. That's because the shaft is longer and a little harder to control, but you'll get used to it. The good thing about the extra tool is if you break a pick or drop a primary tool, you can still continue up.

I had a third tool a few years ago; a red-handled thing by Grivel about 40 cm long, but it fell out of the holster while on route. Seemed like a good tool, but I never really got to put it to the test, and I wasn't going to use it after it fell that far. The projection of the anvil from the shaft wasn't long enough to keep it in the holster on the back of my harness. A tether would have solved the problem, but I was trying to do away with all those idiot strings back then and climb cleaner.

As I said, I've yet to need a third tool, but crappy luck can hit you anytime. Were I to buy a spare hammer again, I'd most likely buy another Grivel. It's pretty light, but it has a single-piece head, so if you break the pick you're out of luck. But then again it's not your primary tool, so why worry about that stuff. You'll just have to buy another one, but they're way cheaper than buying another primary tool. It's about one-third the cost of a real tool, and you won't use it that much (I hope!). Hope this helps, and climb smart.

Sobo

-- Paul Soboleski (sobo@nwinfo.net), January 29, 1999.