New BD Vipers

[ridgeline]

I'm looking for general opinions on the new black diamond Vipers if you've climbed with them.

I have my eyes on the new Cobras as well but the price difference is significant enough to give pause.

 

This will be my all purpose tool (waterfall, alpine). Very little mixed climbing use.

 

if you've climbed with these i'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

thanks

[fern]

they are mostly super but the picks are somewhat jingus (hard to clean and easy to bend) - at least the picks are cheap though

[Alpinfox]

 

I concur with Fern, the picks are very very hard to clean in factory condition.

 

I was trying out a loaner pair, but if I owned them I would file down the sides of the teeth and maybe make them a little shorter as well. I liked the grip feel of the vipers quite a bit, maybe = or > than my quarks, but the picks on the quarks are much better IMO.

[John Frieh]

Just sharpen the top of the pick and they clean much easier.

 

Awesome tool all around... as good if not better than the quark.

[powderhound]

I have been swinging these tools all year and love them, I haven't bent the pics yet and I have 25+ days on them, I think you just need to be careful. Plus they don't bend they break. They seem to be an awesome all around tool that climbs mixed and ice terrain very well. If I had the money I would have bought the cobras because they swing a bit better but not much. These tools can take some serious abuse.

[briannabanana]

I borrowed a pair of quarks and proto cobras for the winter from the Seattle reps. I've climbed 15+ day on each pair in the last 2 months. I've tweaked both sets of picks. The quarks are way easier to clean, which I'm going to attribute to a significantly more beveled cutting edge. We've had some chilly days here in Ouray, so I just narrowed the cutting edge and point to cut down on dinnerplate-age. It worked great. The BD picks are a piece of work. Bust out the tunes and a brew, pull up the crazy creek chair, and bevel the shit out of just about everything. I left the aggressiveness of the teeth intact. You barely need to flick your wrist to get 'em to stick, and I'm cool with that. I took a bunch off the sides of the teeth, though, which is the more tedious part, in addition to narrowing both the front of the point and the cutting edge. The work paid off, but it was a pain in the adze.

[ridgeline]

briannabanana

which picks are on your BDs? I assume the standard Lasers?

I ended up buying the Vipers with the Laser pick and am finding it to be difficult to clean. They also seemed to displace a lot of ice, but maybe those were the conditions that day.

 

Anyone have experiences with the Titan picks? I think they have a larger cross section so in theory would displace more ice (right?) but i've heard many think it is the superior pick (i am on pure ice).

 

I'm new to aggressive pick tuning...any pictures or tips?

[Alex]

if you are not filing down the new picks after purchase, you're going to experience difficulty in cleaning - its true for both bd cobras and vipers. once you file them down a bit, especially the beveled teeth on the bottom, things will be fine.

[G-spotter]

Or you could just buy some Quarks and not have a filing or a bent/broken pick problem.