Grivel X Monster Reviews?

[SuperMega]

Has anyone used (or know anyone that's used) the Grivel X Monster tools? If so, whatdya think?

 

I'm going shopping soon and love the price but wonder if I'd be sacrificing quality...

 

Thanks!

Meghan

[Farrgo]

This is from an old mixed/leashless climbing mag that seems to have been mostly pulled off the internet. The formatting is completely jacked, but the monster is certainly um, well, covered.

 

“Monster is not an ice axe…”

 

So states the information sheet included with each and every Monster. Indeed, if

I had to draw a line between when ice tools stopped being ice tools and became

whatever it is they are now becoming I would chalk a line between Monster and

all that has gone before. Now, it has been several years since tools expressly

 

designed for leashless climbing appeared, what then makes Monster unique?

 

Any number of features, really…

 

To begin with when my set of Monsters arrived they came shrunk-wrapped to a

 

piece of cardboard (recycled cardboard, those earth-friendly Italians think of

everything) replete with several instruction sheets, a Grivel sticker and two plastic

“hand protectors” that could be affixed to the Monster to fabricate customized

grips for the hand on the Monster’s shaft (ladies, please! No sniggering!). Once I

liberated Monster from the cardboard I was struck by one overwhelming fact.

 

The Monster is flat

 

That is

correct. The add-on

Monster plastic handles

does not that accompany

employ a Monster are

tubular shown here in

 

shaft, as various

do all configurations.

other

tools. In

fact,

 

Monster

 

does not

NEED a

tubular Each Monster comes

shaft! with two, but you can

What get more from Grivel

does North America.

Monster

 

have

instead? Monster has a flat, spring-steel shaft, done up in any number of tres chic color

schemes. The pair I received (yes, Monsters of my very own) where a tasteful wood pattern

on one side and manic “coffee bean” on the other. (Monster, good!) Why? You might ask?

Well I’ll tell you…

 

“He’s going to tell! He’s going to tell!”

 

 

Surely it occurred to the lads in Coumayeur that working with a material like tubular

aluminum has limitations, you can only bend or crimp the stuff so much within the

constraints of a tool whose overall length is but 50cm (ladies, I am not going to warn you

again!). Spring steel being flat can be laser-cut in any bizarre configuration you wish, a fact

the Italian lads devoutly took to heart. I can just see these guys out on the deck during

lunch, penciling out ideas amid the prosciutto, moldy mountain cheese and tumblers of red

wine, Mont Blanc and the Arête de Peuterey brooding in the background (Aaaahh, yes! This

 

curve here looks just like my wife’s ass!). Such are

the things great ideas are whelped from, suckled

from the proverbial she-wolf of necessity.

 

But I digress (nothing new there), by working in

spring steel a series of “features” could be instilled

into the handle of Monster This changes the

emphasis of the tool from swinging to grasping,

(That’s it! All you gals out! Out!) no longer an ice

tool, now is it a portable hold.

 

So what about the rest of the tool? The grip as it

were is essentially the same tri-laminate design as

the Racing, the spring steel handle is overlaid on

each side with a flat rubber dampening layer and

then a molded plastic cheek piece, there are dents

for the fingers and an end hook to rest the pinky on.

There is a serrated ring in the end of the tool

intended for a keeper clip to add to the confusion,

but this also assists the tool to sit tight in ice holes.

 

The pick is where things really get weird…

 

Monster in effect is a headless tool, the blade bolts

directly to the spring steel shaft via a formed fitting, three bolts hold the blade in place.

“The bolts which fix the blade are made to be immovable, they are not for unscrewing.” So

admonishes the Monster fact sheet. Indeed the bolt ends are expanded to impede removal

of the locknuts, pick wear on Monster is a one-way ride. The bolts are for assembly, they do

not appear to permit a change-out of worn blades (although I can’t see why this could not be

achieved). Granted, the blade is a robust hot-forged affair elegantly laden with all manner of

teeth along the upper and lower edges. At first glance the dentition of Monster is a bit off-

putting, what are all the teeth for?

 

Herein lies the rub, Monster is intended for “competition climbing, bouldering, extreme

dry-tooling (and) total dry,” no one ever said Monster was an ice tool Grivel manufactures

other leashless ice tools, Monster is not intended to go toe to toe with these other designs. If

you wish to climb Weeping Pillar or Beyond Good and Evil leashless Monster might not be

the best choice.

 

 

So what is Monster all about, anyway? Now don’t think I haven’t heard all those rumblings

when I mentioned “bouldering” above, is Monster for defacing the beloved boulders and

crags, to be wielded in defense against hoards of irate pony-tailed, ganja-toking, Phishlistening,

Boulderites incensed that “their” hangouts are to be invaded by wide-eyed, livefish-

crunching, cave-dwelling Gollums Hell-bent on “tooling” Right-Hand Eliminator?

 

No, not really, no…

 

Among the various other admonitions is “…not use the Monster to climb on establish (sic)

rock climbing routes.” So there! Clearly then Monster is intended for dry-tool specific crags

 

where Monster could shine, but all of this is hand-waving when

one considers a salient feature of the economics of Monster,

the cost per tool.

 

This year Monster retails for around $125. That’s right, a pair

of Monsters would set you back less than the price of one

Racing, Ergo Quark, or Fusion. Monster is not merely an

industrial art concept run amok, the attractive price should

appeal to those interested in delving into the world of leashless

climbing who balk at dropping in excess of half a grand to tool

up. After all, many rock routes are predominantly rock, what

ice there is often holed from previous climbers. Why not

design a tool with features suited to this challenge? After all,

many climbers already own ice tools, given this fact an

inexpensive dry-tool specific tool seems to make enormous

sense.

 

So, how does Monster climb?

 

Pretty darn well, actually, and for a tool costing $125, these

things are outstanding. To begin with I have used Monster on

plastic as well as on genuine article mixed routes. In the gym

Monster is a blast, because the teeth on the hot-forged blade

are rounded rather than sharp Monster does not gouge holds

the way blades on conventional tools do. Because the spring

steel handle flexes somewhat during use the tool has a lively

feel, without feeling flimsy, plus the groovy graphics offset the

seriousness of the thing. In short your local gym owner might

be a lot more inclined to let you tool around with Monster than

with those other scary tools.

 

Still, is this not a mixed climbing newsletter? So it is! Scoping

the yoga-lingerie set at the local plastic spa while you yard on yer’ Monsters might be okay

for weeknights but what about the real deal? A tool that can’t send is about as much use as

tits on a boar so I set off, Monsters-all, up some mixed routes to see what Monster could

really do.

 

Simply

Monster

licious.

Taking

Monster for a

stroll.

(choss) stuff too lousy for regular toe and finger work. Dry tool comps are another venue

 

My initial impressions were that the handle was somewhat uncomfortable to hang onto, the

rubber dampener layers protrude somewhat, probably to keep the hand off the (cold) metal,

these protruding layers are sharp and bite into the hand. Switching grips was the next

obstacle, the tool “jumped” ominously in an ice hole when I matched on the big in-cut grip

in the spring steel shaft, the bare metal was both sharp and slippery. On the plus side the

immense clearance of Monster permitted Godzilla-sized bites of stone, the tool is

exceedingly stable once it latches on. Yes, it flexes, noticeably so. Yet it did not “sproing”

off of anything and manages smallish holds with panache. In fact, when applying modest

torque in a small hold to make a big reach the handle flexed just enough to conserve

purchase in the hold, my friend’s conventional tool ground ominously in the fragile pocket,

then popped out. The real surprise came in the ice, Monster not only swung easily, it sticks

tenaciously with as little as the first tooth imbedded in hard ice. There seems to be

sufficient striking mass in the head to penetrate easily (Hey! Who let the girls back in!?!

Knock it off!)

 

After my initial run with the “naked” Monster (Here we go again…) I decided to follow the

suggestion made by Mark Twight of Grivel North America and clothe my Monsters in

rubber splicing tape. For those of you dispossessed of a rubber fetish, this remarkable

material is available at the hardware store for $2-3 a roll, just like it says this is self-

adhering rubber tape, there is a blue backing applied to the tape which must be removed,

the tape is then wound on under tension to fashion whatever grip you have in mind. The

first thing I did was to improve the deep secondary grip in the shaft, so in went one of those

yellow plastic handles. The best way to attach these things I found was to drop them in a

pot of hot water for a couple minutes, they were then soft enough to pop right onto the

spring steel shaft. Once maneuvered into place it was time for the rubber (Ooohh! I love it

when you talk dirty!) er…, tape. Working in a warm space, remove the backing and keeping

tension on the tape wind at least a double layer over the plastic handle covering the handle

top to bottom. You can weld the stuff to it-self by scoring it with a dull metal edge like the

back of a scissor blade. Once I saw how trick this was I promptly wrapped the handle top to

bottom in this stuff. This sorted out the sharpness of the naked grip and is easier to hold on

to as the plastic cheeks tend to get hard and slick in the cold.

 

The addition of the yellow plastic handle not only made for a more substantial hold up

there, the rather sensuous curve of the inserted plastic handle changed the geometry of this

secondary grip bringing it more in line with the main grip. This alleviated the instability of

the tool when matching, not entirely but to a very great extent, pretty dope actually. Herein

lies a central theme of Monster, “…All power to imagination!” Monster is intended as a

template upon which you can personalize your climbing experience. You can add or

subtract handles as you wish to suit your mood.

 

There’s more. Grivel makes a Trigger that can be installed on the Monster handle, this is the

accessory I am most interested in looking at as I tend to not to fit the dents of the lower part

of the grip very well. There is also a Slider that can be mounted to the handle to create a

saber-type grip, just bolt these items on and layer on the rubber tape. Another cheap way to

add a “trigger” was to simply use hockey tape, twist the tape until it formed cords then

superimpose several of these onto the handle wherever you want the trigger then cover with

more rubber tape (My hair!).

 

So what about all those teeth? (Billions and Billions of them). Again, the hot-forged

technology permits an elegant, featured blade, the teeth on the upper part of the blade are

forward-facing to engage the rock in a Stein-pull configuration. In the very peak of the blade

there is a deep notch, ostensibly to stack the other tool in or for (gasp!) a spur. Other teeth

closer to the cutting tip offer purchase in rock crevasses but the emphasis is on rock, this is

not an ice tool, remember?

 

I for one want to see other manufacturers develop similar dry-tool specific tools, dry-

tooling needs good tools if it is to continue to develop as a climbing discipline here in the

USA. I give Monster the prestigious “Frozen Award” for unbridled innovation, and devotion

to dry tooling above and beyond the call of duty! Anything that climbs this well at such an

affordable price is utterly swell by me, at 99 Euros each there is really no reason not to own

a pair of these tools.

 

 

Lastly

I would like to express special thanks to Betta Gobbi of Grivel Mont Blanc for so generously

providing Monster for this review. I also wish to thank Mark Twight of Grivel North

America for relaying these tools to me, and for his tips on the care and feeding of Monster

including the rubber splicing tape suggestion.

 

The otherwise orphaned A

AA FROZEN WORLD newsletter seems to have found a home at

NEIce you may download older issue from the Archives there. A big thank-you(!) must go

out to Doug Millen for posting A

AA FROZEN WORLD on his site.

[TrogdortheBurninator]

FYI, that review is for the original monster (pure dry tool) not the more versatile x-monster. In general I like my x monsters. They swing well and have a comfy grip. The springy shaft is a bit odd torquing on mixed terrain, but that could be a personal preference issue. I have used them for a fair amount of ice, mixed, and alpine and am generally pleased. The picks could be a bit more delicate, but that would give up some durability. I am still often drawn to some of the newer leashless tools (nomic or new fusions), but I'm not sure if it would really make a big difference in my climbing. The x-monster actually has some benefits over some other tools given that it has a semi-usable hammer, spike, and good umbilical clip-in. The x monster also plunges remarkably well in soft snow (not sure how tubular mixed tools would compare).

[Joe_Poulton]

I love my x-monsters used them for 3 seasons in Colorado and using them in the Cascades now...that is on the stuff where self-arrest is not an option. I'd get them...I actually need to get a second pair.

[SuperMega]

Thanks for the advice! Definitely getting them now. Do you know of anyone that's selling a pair?

 

Thanks!

Meghan