UKC

Wanting to get a rack of ice screws for alpine and scottish ice routes.
Have been reccomeneded BD Express ice screw by a few people, any suggestions?
How many and what lengths?
Best ways to rack them? are ice screw holders worthwhile?

Cheers

In reply to WB101: BD express are great. Probably the best value for money. There (arguably) better screw from the likes of Grivel but they will bankrupt you.
Get 1 or 2 22cm for belays and abalakovs (spelling?). Majority of your rack should probably be 16cm, with the odd stubby (13cm or 10cm).

In reply to WB101:

BD, Grivel, Petzl screws are all good. Shorter screws are underestimated - fast to place in more situations and hold just as well as long screws in good ice.

Racking screws - as with any gear - is a matter of preference. Most common/ cheapest solution is a plastic crab "clipper" that fits vertically on your harness waistbelt (some have slots for this), this allows you to clip/unclip screws one-handed, but you need to place them on your harness carefully - too near the front and the tips of the screws dig in your thighs on high steps, too near the back, and you can't see what's on them. Another downside is that because they are plastic, they can flex and drop your screws... hmm

Better is a double crab clipper (see http://www.backcountry.com/outdoorgear/Simond-Ice-Screw-Rack/SMD0022M.html)... Works in the same way as a clipper, but more stable on a harness without slots, and doesn't flex open cos it's metal.

More fancy solution is a panpipes type afair - a series of plastic tubes, each holding an individual screw, that you have on a strap slung over your shoulder like a bandolier. Never used these myself, but I can see the advantages if you can justify the cost - protects you and the screws, more visible and accessible with either hand. However I don't like hang too much stuff strung around my body - there's enough tangle already.

The solution I am planning is to frig some clippers vertically on to the front of the shoulder straps of a rucksack and have the screws hanging inwards so they don't catch my arms.

In reply to WB101:

The BD turbo express (with the windy handle) are a good, reliable screw. However, some of the funkier ones from Grivel are excellent. The Helix is the easiest to get started of any screw I have used, and the 360 is pretty good in featured ice as you can place it properly without having to hack away loads of knobbles. The only problem with the grivels is that they are more awkward to rack.

Petzl screws are ok, and work well, but are harder than the above 3 types to place on lead.

In reply to WB101:

yeah, pretty much what they said - except i find petzl screws the devils work. a far far third place.

i like mostly expresses with a couple of grivels for difficult placements. i do find grivels nicer to start, but offset by the hassle racking and price.

i agree heartily with shorter screws - so long as they have the same amount of thread as the longer ones im happy (theyre all psychological anyway). grab a few long ones and the obligatory 22cm, but the shorter side of middle saves a lot of weight.

i went with flutes for a few seasons and while they had several pros, stopped using them in favour of a better clipper method. flutes are easy and safe, but heavy and a pain to set up. the bandolier system i found woeful (but maybe just had it wrong).
clipped straight to the harness i found they sat too high, and the logistics of setting them up was too much for on the hill, so negated wearing my harness for the walk in.
if theres a better system im up for it....

now i rack bigger screws on one clipper, smaller on another, then on the other side a dedicated 22cm with threader and 2 or 3 longer belay screws. on long routes i add another clipper full.
each clipper (petzl, never BD) holds 4 or 5.
make sure you rack them so they hang teeth out - saves your expensive softshell pants and potential to have children.

In reply to WB101: BD express are brilliant, I have a couple of those for quick placements and the rest of my screws are BD turbo's. Highly recomend the BD screws though

In reply to WB101: Grivel helixes with the odd stubby 360. Easy to get going, not as easy as BD though but go in better once they have taken. They also shatter ice less than BD equivalents but the main gripe I have with the BD ones are that when you're cold or when they are covered in ice the winder is near useless as it is so small. That is why all my screws apart from a stubby leaver screw are grivel. They do rack worse than BD but it really only a problem if you are mixing screw types