budget hammer for pickets

[stuckintexas]

Hey this is my first post! I have done some climbing on rainier / adams/ baker with a friend of mine who always carries his technical ice hammer . Well i am planning on climbing with a different friend now, so no more hammer access. What would suggest for hammering pickets on a budget? I was thinking of just using my shovel or axe to hammer it in, or carrying a hardwear store hammer. I have almost no money left at all to buy gear, so what do you suggest?

[aarond]

Your glacier axe will do well enough on shallow terrain where you can stand up and beat on the picket from above. But of course on shallow terrain, you usually don't need pickets anyway.

 

There are often closeouts on hammers at rei-outlet, sierratradingpost, gearexpress, etc. Usually you can pick something up for <$100. But even better, watch the yard sale forum or ebay and keep an eye out for a used one.

 

Or make an offer on this guy's third tool: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/482619/an/0/page/0#482619O

 

Hope that helps.

[Ireneo_Funes]

Use your regular ice axe. Don't be using your shovel to hammer pickets in - though it'd be funny to see.

[thelawgoddess]

use whatever works. i've never carried one, and i think the only time my partner had one was when we were on a big wall. axes usually work fine; especially if you have a more technical axe with a hammer. if you really want a hammer and can't find a climbing-specific hammer you can afford, the hardware store should definitely have some cheaper viable options.

[Jason_Martin]

You may use your normal axe if you pound the picket properly. If you pound the picket in with the adze or with the side of the head, over time you will damage the axe. This is especially true for axes with a "B" engraved somewhere on the head or on the shaft. The "B" stands for "basic" and means that the axe is not as strong as one that has a "T" for "technical" engraved on the side.

 

To properly place a picket so that it doesn't damage your axe, grab the center of the shaft and turn the axe so that the spike is pointing toward the sky. Then pound the picket in using the top of the head of your axe...

 

Jason

 

Jason

[rhyang]

To properly place a picket so that it doesn't damage your axe, grab the center of the shaft and turn the axe so that the spike is pointing toward the sky. Then pound the picket in using the top of the head of your axe...

 

I was taught this method also - they called the surface between the pick and adze the axe's "spine" I believe.

[sobo]

What Jason said. It has worked just dandy for me for the past, oh say, 20 years...

[Double_E]

You may use your normal axe if you pound the picket properly. If you pound the picket in with the adze or with the side of the head, over time you will damage the axe. This is especially true for axes with a "B" engraved somewhere on the head or on the shaft. The "B" stands for "basic" and means that the axe is not as strong as one that has a "T" for "technical" engraved on the side.

 

couldn't find a B or a T on mine... it's a SMC Shuksan axe... definitely fairly "T", compared to many glacier axes out there, right?

 

To properly place a picket so that it doesn't damage your axe, grab the center of the shaft and turn the axe so that the spike is pointing toward the sky. Then pound the picket in using the top of the head of your axe...

 

so.. how 'bout the side (wider side) of the shaft .... near, but not quite at, the spike? is that more or less OK for the axe? that's how I've done it in the past, the few times I've actually pounded pickets,... tho i think i'll try the above advice next time.

 

 

 

by the way... TLG: clean out yer PM inbox.. it won't accept any more.

[Dru]

use your forehead. that's why you're wearing a helmet!