UKC

Morning All

Last year I lost my Grivel Candela somewhere. So I'm after a new Abalakov threader. Any recommendations?

Thanks

Tom

In reply to Tom F Harding:

Coathanger.

In reply to Tom F Harding:

Make one out of a piece of wire e.g. coathanger or bicycle spoke.

In reply to planetmarshall:

Coat hanger it is then.

In reply to Tom F Harding:

I made one out of a bike spoke and before I bent the end into a hook I threaded a biro cap onto it so that it covers the sharp hook when not in use.

In reply to gethin_allen:

Chapeau Gethin, good idea!
ANdy

In reply to Tom F Harding:

Coathanger for me for years until I bought the e-climb version last season. Really good bit of kit like all their stuff.
20% off this weekend.

In reply to Tom F Harding:

Wide ice screw, skinny ropes and a bit of practice. No extra gear needed, just make sure the second hole forms a t junction (rather than an x) and try to keep the angle open.

Under certain conditions ropes can freeze in the hole...(ie very very cold but with water still flowing), but there is almost always enough rope movement to prevent this from happening.

In reply to Tom F Harding:

I also use a coat hanger, but am going to be "side-grading" to one of these: http://www.mec.ca/product/4003-682/glacier-plastics-abalakov-hooker/ . Can't think of a really good reason why except I want a new toy. One I can heartily not recommend is the Simond version - what a piece of shit. the tooth folded over on contact with the rope, rendering it completely useless. I've never seen something fail so miserably at it's intended purpose. It was a good thing I had my trusty coat hanger. It is worth practicing redjerry's suggestion - that's gotten me out of trouble a few times but like anything it helps to have done it, or at least seen it done a few times before you attempt it. Mike Barter has a good youtube video on it.

In reply to Graham:

Another nifty trick is to use a skinny sling rather than a hooker - push your tat into the loop of the sling, twist sling, pull out. With practice, its well easy.

In reply to gethin_allen:

If you know someone in a biology lab, a blue 1000 µl pipette tip is even better than a biro cap.

I recommend hammering the bent tip of the spoke / coat hanger flat, and then bend the hook slightly sideways. Helps with catching the tat if you just slide underneath.

CB

In reply to Tom F Harding:

I've the Petzl V-hook for many years and never had a problem with it. The rubber cover always splits a little bit with use but this is only cosmetic. With really hard ice I sometimes need my Abalakov threader to clean the screw of ice after removal. Tapping and blowing it won't be enough. Sometimes needs a bit of force so not sure I would want to rely on a coat hanger.

In reply to Mr. Lee:

Would the Petzl V-hook bend if you ended up falling on it or would it impale you?

In reply to Tom F Harding:

I can't really see how it would impale you. It's too long to have any leverage into a thigh or torso and the tip isn't sharp so can't get hooked on clothes.

In reply to Tom F Harding:

Petzl Multihook - although mine is a Charlet Moser one. The plastic cover is not up to the job - mine now has a fold of hose pipe held together with a pop rivet instead. The spanner has been useful on a number of occasions to do up bolt nuts on continental ice - no idea why they should come loose, but the designer clearly thought it was worth putting a spanner on it, and I think he was right.

Good for clearing out blocked screws

Mine's painted red on one side, yellow on the other - helps with aiming the second screw a bit

In reply to cb294:


I could see that working, I wasn't in the lab when I was making my threader so a Biro cap had to suffice.
After bending the spoke to a hook and bending a clipping loop on the other I filed the tip of the hook to a point to aid with catching the rope/tat.

In reply to Tom F Harding:

If you get an old 5l plastic paint tin, similar tub or burst plastic bucket with a heavy wire handle you can make 2 good ones with that. Cut the handle in half with a junior hack saw. They are especially usefully if they have a flattened end at right angles to the wire (like the end of a bicycle spoke, where it fixed to bucket/tub). These can then be filed flat and you end up with a small barb on the end of your hook. Straighten out the wire and turn a loop in the other end. Obviously you get 2 from your bit wire. Much stiffer than a wire coat hanger and it costs you nothing.

RN

In reply to Tom F Harding:

If you get an old 5l plastic paint tin, similar tub or burst plastic bucket with a heavy wire handle you can make 2 good ones with that. Cut the handle in half with a junior hack saw. They are especially usefully if they have a flattened end at right angles to the wire (like the end of a bicycle spoke, where it fixed to bucket/tub). These can then be filed flat and you end up with a small barb on the end of your hook. Straighten out the wire and turn a loop in the other end. Obviously you get 2 from your bit wire. Much stiffer than a wire coat hanger and it costs you nothing.

RN

In reply to Tom F Harding:

Hokkie from E-Climb. It's tiny, cheap, it has a knife blade and work really well. I have a Grivel, a Petzl and coat hanger too, but find them all really annoying now, they don't rack up well

In reply to Ramon Marin:


maybe cheap if you are sponsored by them!

but 30 euro for something that you can do with a bent bike spoke doesn't strike me as cheap. Although I do like the idea of having a scissor mechanism built into it.

In reply to gethin_allen:

Fair enough, but £20 for something that will last you a lifetime and won't snag your expensive goretext trousers sounds reasonable to me. But hey, bent bike spoke for you

In reply to Ramon Marin:

You're assuming I have expensive goretex trousers, try cheap berghaus deluge trousers but even this is immaterial because as I mentioned above if you fit a biro cap over the spoke before you bend the hook it covers any sharp bits.

In reply to Tom F Harding:

I have one of the Glacier Plastics ones, totally rate it, dead easy to use, and such a simple design. It can handle all the abuse that you throw at it.

I have seen plenty of broken BD and Grivel ones.