UKC

IF YOU DO THIS:
1.Email 'I want to be a guinny pig' to Weevil-testing@novacrylics.co.uk with your postal address, and the length of screws you will be using.
2.Recieve in the post prototype screw holders and use them whilst climbing.
3.Call/email me afterwards with a brief idea of how they performed.

YOU GET THIS:
1.A number of prototype Ice screw keeping devices (weevils).
2.Another set of Ice screw keeping devices when theyre fully developed.

I know its not a lot of payment, but ive just forked out £1600 of my own money on a patent. Itd realy help me out if you can spare the time to write an email and give a bit of thought.

(this isnt part of a uni course or anything!)

Thanks for your time, its very much appreciated.

Mat

PS. They only fit BD (or MT) ice screws at the moment, I havnt calibrated the springs for any other size.

PPS: Please dont be a guinny pig unless youre genuinely going to use the weevils. Ive only been able to get 30 machined and cant afford to send out lost causes. Ive got no way to check whether youre being honest or not. Hopefully youll be able to buy them in the shops before winter anyway (c:

PPPS. If anyone else is interested in having a look, send me 'im reasonably interested, but cant be arsed to test them' to:
Weevil-manual@novacrylics.co.uk
and you should recieve pics of it (the instruction manual) in an email.

PPPPS. You know all those times when you go on a climb and say 'why dont they make this jacket with an extra...' and 'why dont they invent something that...', well I have. Ive actually got off my arse and done something, put my money where my mouth is. If it goes well Ill be a bit richer, and if it doesnt at least Ive tried! I recon theyre quite good, Ive used them, but the proof of the puddings in the eating, so i need public guinny pigs.

In reply to matnoo:

What are the springs for?

If you've invested so much money, I hope they're successful.

Can you give us a rough idea of how they work and how they will be superior to either the Grivel bandolier for screws or simply racking on a carabiner.

In reply to matnoo: Guinea pig.

In reply to Dave Hunter:

Gimme your email ad and ill send you a diagram!

Mat

In reply to PM:

I thought it was wrong, but i typed in guinny pig on google to check and it came up with loads of hits...

i think the whole world cant spell it either. (c:

Mat

In reply to matnoo:

hunter@rockrun.com

Come on, theres got to be someone who can test it... anyone going to the alps?

Mat

In reply to matnoo:

Mail TobyA, he may still have ice in Finland.

In reply to matnoo:

Hope this works out for you. I guess its a pity from an R&D point of view that this has been a brief winter. I can't help but have you tried poting on the Scottish climbing forums, or contacted Glenmore lodge or the ice factory?

In reply to Sutty and Tyler:

Good work lads! Ill get right on it!

(c:

Mat

In reply to matnoo:

Don't want to test them (sorry but ice isn't my thing!)but I wanted to say good luck with them. tis a big step incesting cash into something like this.

In reply to matnoo: I presume each weevil is very light?

best of luck, could you send me a copy of the diagram as well?

erik.brunskill@bt.com

In reply to matnoo:

Mat, first of all good luck.

I would offer to test them but I won't be on ice untill the summer.

What would be useful would be if they could accepts various makes of screw. If they only take BD, or if you have to buy one for BD and antother for Grivel, then I think the appeal will be limited.

In reply to matnoo:

Why not email Jamie B and see if the Ice Factor will let you test them on some deeper ice.

In reply to matnoo:

A few points/questions:

how heavy are the Weevils?
Will they damage the polish on the inside of the screws?
Would it not be better to have some other methotd of fixing than a lark's foot?
How many can you realistically rack on a sling?
How do they offer an advantage over the Grivel bandolier holsters or simple racking on carabiners?

In reply to matnoo:

Apologies for being thick (I don't ice climb so I only wanted to wish you luck really) but what are they?

In reply to Dave Hunter, Rock + Run:

They weigh bugger all, dont know how much, less than a karabiner though. I should check realy shouldnt I... Ill find out.

They wont damage the polish, the material is significantly softer than steel!

I should be able to make any fixing method (within reason) like a clip, clasp, threaded hole etc you can think of, as theyre batch CNC machined, i could make many different types at little extra cost.

Loads, the thing is though, they can be racked along the entire length of the sling, and dont bunch up round your arse in a big mess like krabs do.

They are cheaper than the holsters. They are also quicker than krabs, especially for extraction.

Im not saying they will dominate the market, but theyre quirky bit of kit that has very little to break or fail. They make the job easier and quicker, even with big gloves or numb hands, theyre light, and above all should be cheap enough for some of the suppliers to give away free with the screw (ill have to see about this though, depends on the retailers profit!). Theyll be manufactured in britain too (by me!)

I hope they do sell, not even so much for the money, but just for personal satisfaction. They do work though, ive tried a previous incarnation of them on ice and they made it easier. (it seemed to get rid of that blind panic of 'oh **** im gonna fall, and die a horrible death!' whilst fumbling around with my rack!)

Mat

In reply to Alison Bond:

give me your email address and ill send you a pic.

Mat

In reply to matnoo:

I think the key things are that they should be better than the other methods of racking- and it sounds like they mighr be.

from the pictures they looked a bit heavw-cumbersome- hence my questions.

In reply to d hunter:

aaaah, but would YOU buy one! Thats the question!

Mat

In reply to matnoo:

IF I was convinced that they:

racked well (not bulky, you could carry 10 of them, easy to use)
were light
offered a significant advantage over screws racked on carabiners

then for 3 quid each I might do.

But it's really quite tricky to tell from the pictures what they're like.

I'm not as sceptical as I was eight hours ago, so you're making progress

In reply to Dave Hunter:


Another 24 hours youll be begging for 'em...



mat

In reply to matnoo:

We'll see...

Good luck anyway. I hope you sell the 600 or so you need to recover your costs at least.

In reply to matnoo:
It's cold here but not sure if I'll get out again this season. However, if you want me to test it out for you, I'm still training with my axes indoors so could give it a decent blast. You can contact me via my profile and I'll be in the UK in 2 weeks time so you can send it to me there if you want.
For your interest I use almost exclusively BD screws and would definitely buy something that came on the market that made racking a lot more efficient than the BD screw holder I use at the mo.
Good on you for getting off your arse.

In reply to matnoo:

Another non-tester, but is interested to see.

Please send pics etc.

trom_bones@hotmail.com

In reply to matnoo:

Sorry another let down, very interested from a design P.O.V

george.fisher@revotechnik.com

In reply to matnoo:

Yet another non-tester.... sadly won't be getting out agin this season, but I'd be interested to see the pics.

laaljohn@hotmail.com

Cheers

In reply to All:

Thanks for the feedback guys. Will be needing testers for later models, so let me know if youre free to get some hands on experience.

Instruction sheets are also still up for grabs via email.

weevil-manual@novacrylics.co.uk

Ta

Mat

In reply to guinea pigs and people ive sent a manual to:

Bit of feedback for all you that havnt replied yet to either the manual or samples: The only negative Ive got so far is the worry that theyd release the ice screw on a tight chimney. Ive spent the last hour squashing and rubbing myself up and down the corner of my house, my shed, my cobbled driveway and a big tree down the park.

They dont come off!

Mat

In reply to matnoo: will be goimg out to cham in a month or so. so could test them if i invest in some BD screws which modle do they fit all of them? ps if i like them do i get to keep them /by them?

In reply to Thomas Martin: my email is tommartin84@hotmail.com

In reply to matnoo:

Hey! I use BD icescrews nearly everyday at the moment! I would love to test your device.

Send some down to Iceland and I and the rest of our guides will test this stuff for you.
My e-mail is ivar@mountainguide.is and you can send us the stuff to
Islenskir Fjallaleidsogumenn
(Icelandic Mountain Guides)
Vagnhofda 7b
110 Reykjavik
Iceland

All the best, Ívar

In reply to matnoo: I'm interested to look at the pics- only got Camp vertige ice screws (I'll be using them in the summer though).
Cheers

matthewjones2000@hotmail.com

In reply to matnoo:
Ive spent the last hour squashing and rubbing myself up and down the corner of my house, my shed, my cobbled driveway and a big tree down the park.

And you werent arrested?

In reply to francoise:

Emailed you


Mat

In reply to Matt Jones:

Arse, having problems with my email. Try to email you asap...

Mat

In reply to matnoo: ok cheers

In reply to matnoo: Have emailed you. A willing guinnea pig.

In reply to matnoo:
When are you next down the wall? I wouldn't mind a fondle, Ben said they looked interesting. If you want I can bring a Grivel screw if you want to test them on another brand. I'll probs be down next Tues/Thurs.

John

In reply to JohnL:

Grr. Always training during the week, probably wont be able to definately make it to the wall, but havnt tried them on grivel screws yet... so would be eager to have a look.

Bit rat arsed at the moment... VERY bad day at work, so cant think too straight! Email me when you know when youre next at the wall and ill see if I can get there.

Ta

Mat

In reply to matnoo:

Yeah, took me a good five minutes to figure out how to spell it, after which I really had to post it after all the effort.