UKC

Hi. Has anybody had the chance to compare

Dry Ice: http://www.dryicetools.com/uk-orders/
Schmoolz: http://schmoolz.com/buy/

indoor wall ice tools? One works out slightly cheaper than the other, but are there any significant differences between the two products? eg potentially better grip (for hands or on the holds).

Cheers

In reply to BruceM:

Hi Bruce

I can't be the voice of impartiality on this as I designed and make DRY ICE Tools.

I can give you info ono some of the physical differences.

DRY ICE Tools are made from a thicker material than Schmoolz. This gives them a higher volume on the hand and a closer grip to an ice tool with gloves would give. I also made the forefinger grip more posetive to stop the hand slipping down and squashing your little finger. The grip on the holds themselves I don't think is hugely different as the strap material is the same as far as I know. Friction on the holds is really down to the direction of pull and core strength.

I do have demo tools I can send out if you like to try some out. PM me and I can arrange that for you.

Hope that's useful.

George

In reply to BruceM:




Yes, they are both of equally dubious value. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has had a positive experience with these tools - it's just that without the ability to exercise the most crucial part of dry tooling and mixed climbing - the actual pick placement - they seem like a pretty expensive gimmick to me.

In reply to BruceM:

I haven't used Dry Ice tools, but I found the "pinkie rest" on the Schmoolz very uncomfortable (crushing little finger) and I prefer Fig4s which deliberately have a less ergonomic grip - less painful and you get more pumped!

Obviously the best training is... doing the thing for which you're training. But I in the absence of the real thing, find these sort of tools useful for getting pumped and core strength/ body positioning... and it's fun.

In reply to iksander:


Seconded - the Fig4s also have a bigger loop of rubber which means they'll fit over some quite large holds.

Some cunningly applied Sugru has improved the rests on the Schmoolz I've got. And some finger tape to soak up palm-sweat.

In reply to BruceM:

Thanks everyone. Really useful info.

George: Thanks very much for your reply too. For somebody who, as you say, can't be completely impartial, that's a pretty objective review and really useful info. I wish all manufacturers would talk like that -- the marketing types won't let them!

So it sounds like there are a few subtle differences, but all will do the job. Basically it comes down to "fit" and style.

You see there is another use of these tools that I'm thinking of. I don't climb at walls -- therefore I don't climb all winter -- because walls inherently have shallow crimpy/odd-shaped holds to try to make things harder, rather than the 3D infinite-possibility-hold climbing you can get outdoors. About 15 years ago I knackered my wrists through both climbing and computers and have to be careful how I use my hands. Outdoors climbing can be more varied and "open handed", but walls inevitably have at least one hold per route that is a wrist/tendon "breaker". In winter, ice tools don't "hurt" so I can have a bit of fun there. But I'm a low-grade scaredy climber so get limited practise there. So basically I get no regular climbing action throughout winter, and every April/May have to start out from scratch on real rock. These kinds on tools could do something towards filling that gap.

Which is an exciting possibility!

Another possibility is that these kinds of tools may only work successfully on juggy holds that are OK for my tendons/wrists anyway, so they may not add as much value as I'd hope. But I suspect they might be more useful than that.

I think my first step is to venture back to a wall and have a look and a think about how it all might work.

Cheers
Bruce