paborden

Does anyone know if Petzl makes a front replacent for their Sarken crampon? I have another model that I'd like to trade out the front for the Sarken ($). Everyone I call about this, however, pleads ignorance. Petzl makes replacements for both the Dart and Darttwin, yet there's no mention of a Sarken replacement on their website or in their catalog. What's the deal?

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Now that I'm finally getting my ice rack together, I need a good way to rack my Grivel 360s (17cm). I realize this has already been discussed, at length. My question is a more specific one: I've heard that Grivel's espresso/panpipe they make for this purpose is awesome. However, I'm a cheap bastard and the CM Petzl version (called the iceflute) is about half the price. I have a mix of 360s and Laser Sonics and, while I know the iceflute will work for the CM screws, I was wondering -- will the iceflute work with the 360s? Does anyone have any first hand experience on this matter?

http://www.hmmountaineering.com/ currently has the WT Belay Jacket (L, XL) on sale for $182. They also have Grivel 360s for $39 -- though I got the last of the 17s...

Since these tools have just hit the market, I've been unable to find much feedback on these tools online -- short of, of course, testimonials by climbers...sponsored by Grivel. Has anyone used these tools who could give detailed feedback? At the moment, I'm not in a place where I can run out and just demo these -- so, discussions of balance, swing, comparisons to other tools etc, etc would be of much help

Has anyone tried -- or know if its possible -- to adapt the front piece of Sabretooth crampons to the rear of a M10 crampon? Short of doing some metalwork, the spreader bar on the M10 would have to fit into the requisite space on the Sabretooth frontpiece or vice versa. Does anyone know anything about this?

Quick heads up everyone: Patagonia is now taking orders on the Ready-Mix. They'll have it in stock 1/10 and it'll ship shortly thereafter...

Here's the latest news from BD on this: "The pinky shelf on the Cobra would have to be redesigned and beefed up in order to facilitate a Fang attachment (as is, it just wouldn't be strong enough.) There are no plans to change the tool, consequently the Fang will not be an option for the Cobra." Hmmm...there's still gotta be a way to do it, though.

I also hear the Courmayeur pants are nice -- they're on sale at Pro Mountain, at the moment.

I'm looking for a general, tackle-anything hardshell for those days when a soft shell ain't gonna cut it -- i.e. wet, late-season ice and when the mountains really decide to sh*t on me. I'm pretty much deciding between the Pradagonia Stretch Element and the Arc'teryx Alpha SL. I haven't been able to try on the ASL (the SE, on the other hand, fits amazingly well and feels sooo good) but it does weigh about 1/3 less than the SE (12oz vs. 18oz). Any suggestions? Also, on another note, has anyone used Patagonia's new down parka (as you can see, I'm salivating over all manner of gear at the moment)?