Petzl Upgrade picks

[PeterZ]

 

Any opions pro/con would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Peter

[sweatinoutliquor]

For quarks? What's the context here? What do you use em for, why are you looking for some?

[PeterZ]

 

To be used with Axar's as opposed to the 4X4's. I understand they are much better for steep waterfall climbing.

 

Peter

[Chad_A]

I had them on my Axars; shortly thereafter, I got my Quarks, so I didn't get a chance to do much ice with them. I do remember that they climbed somewhat better than the standard picks that come with them. They're a pretty thin pick, so you might want to avoid bevelling the teeth/removing metal too much, due to strength issues. (I did quite a bit of research, and this is what I was told; take it or leave it.)

 

I will offer this, though; the picks will shift on you, since the clamping mechanism of the bolts isn't enough to keep the thinner Upgrade pick from moving around a tad. If you get the bolt-on headweight that the Quasar had, and snug that on, it will fix the pick shift issue. You could probably just go to Home Depot and find a bolt to go through the head weight hole to help snug it down tighter. I asked around for the head weights particularly, because I wanted a heavier-headed ice tool.

 

The fact that the pick shifts is not dangerous; the bolts are just a little smaller than the holes in the pick that they go through, so the pick is allowed to move around a little. Just feels a little unsettling, that's all.