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In fact the last pair of Quarks I did climb on had been chopped up pretty dramatically to take advantage of the best of everything I thought Petzl offered at the time.
Details here from the Spring of 2009:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/850659/How-to-trash-a-300-ice-tool
The end result? Awesome Alpine tool!
These two were eventually passed on via "Pay it Forward" along with thousands of dollars in new and used gear that was donated on CCcom. Fun project that!
http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/923346/1
Same tools spent the past season in Patagonia. By the looks of it they were put to good use.
http://jensholsten.blogspot.com/2011/01/jardines-japoneses-new-route-on-mermoz.html
http://colinhaley.blogspot.com/2011/01/jardines-japoneses.html
So I guess it comes as no surprise that I really like the newest Quark based on the original Nomic's head. I was never a big fan of the head shape or hammer and adze combo on the old Quark. So I put my money where my mouth was and made both a lwt weight hammer and a light weight adze for a Nomic 2 years ago. (Just the one adze, mine, sorry!)
Very cool that Petzl decided last winter that what I was doing, was what they also wanted to do. Great minds think alike and all ;-)
So now you can buy the production version of a design I thought was a great ice tool several years ago. Big improvement on the old Quark I think. But the one place I still think Petzl missed the boat on the new Quark is in the hammer and adze. So it is really fun that the hammer I designed for the Nomic fits the new Quark perfectly. The lwt weight Cold Thistle hammer makes a much better balanced and super sweet alpine ice tool.
This version of the Quark is one of my main alpine tools. Petzl delivers the best production picks on the market. What is not to like on this tool? Nothing!
Production runs sell out quickly. If you are off to Alaska this spring. It is time to get your order in now.
The Cold Thistle hammers can be purchased here:
Pictured are my personal set of new Quarks.
7 comments:
Dane,
I thought that since you were always making these trick parts for the Petzl tools you might be the man to hit up about making a hammer and adze for the new Fusions. I was thinking that someone could drill and tap the "hammer" on the new Fusions so that you could add the attachment of your choice. An off-set dow may also be needed to keep the attachment straight. It seems to me that they have the perfect platform for it.
What do you think?
Cheers,
Aaron
Hi Aaron,
Good idea but the only way to get the price down is make a lot of them. I'll have to sell hundreds of hammers before I even make back the original investment.
And the C-T hammer will fit four Petzl tools.
Dane,
For sure going to 'tap' you for a pair of Nomic hammers come summertime. I have one Petzl one, but it's not the same weight as the pick-weight, so the tools have different balance. Shows as much attention to detail from Petzl as mating a piece of AL with SS in a load-bearing context, if you know what I mean.
I actually wanted to ask you about the wrap you've got going on your Quarks. I need to wrap my Nomics (that rubber tape Petzl puts on is rubbish in freezing sleet!) and have been researching the best way. Comments?
Looks like cut bicycle tube?
Anyhow thats what i use, wraps and stretches nicely and gets stickier with use. Cheap too.
Be sure to wash off any talcum after cutting the tubes open.
Dane,
Thought you might be interested in this. Could be exciting to see how a homemade tool like this holds up.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Handmade-Custom-Ice-Axe-Replica-/190461379144?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c58620248
-Archer
How did you get the upper hand rest to stay on there without the trigger camming it in place? Is just a couple wraps of that tape underneath big enough that you can just remove the trigger and the grip will stay in place by itself?
I suspect it will bolt tight without the additional wrap of tape as well. Just pull the trigger and bolt it down.
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