UKC

I've recently got into Scottish winter climbing and, being on a student budget, bought some second hand ice screws. Most of these are the older non-express style (e.g. DMM revolution) and I was wondering if there is a way to screw them in faster?

Sat on my sofa I experimented with clipping a small biner through the hanger and using my index finger to spin it round but have no idea if this would work on ice. Any advice much appreciated!

Alternatively, should I just work a few extra shifts and fork out on better screws? 

I have some like this. Once the screw has bitten in by a few turns place your palm flat out towards the ice on the end of the hanger and wave in little circles!

The sharpness of the teeth is more important than whether they have a little flip out handle or not. The little handle does save time, but its seconds. Blunt teeth will make any screw almost impossible to place.

Hey,

Generally the hardest part is the first turn and a half where you're getting the screw to 'bite'. This part requires really sharp teeth (buy a small metal file if you don't have one rather than use the expensive specific tool as it works better. If they're really blunt there are professional sharpening services). Once you have sharp teeth the big handle helps you get this initial turn sorted. It's also easier to do at around waist height rather than above your head.  You basically stab it in and rotate your wrist all the way around. 

After the screw has bitten it will stay in the ice without you holding it. Putting the palm of your hand on handle and spinning it like you're cleaning a plate will screw it in quickly you don't need the little handle for this. 

I personally really like the dmm screws and wish they still did them as I think they're the best screws I've ever used (I've used grivel, black diamond, petzl and some random titanium ones so think this is a fair statement.) 

There's also a fair bit more to learn about making sure it's in good ice etc... 

It's worth practicing on easy ground where if you drop a screw it's not going to cost a fortune and, if you can, get good instruction with an AMI instructor who is Winter Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor (WMCI) qualified. I would expect this to cost you between £200-300 a day but that could be split between you and another friend - i.e. only the cost of two dropped screws each...  

Petzl used to sell a Turbine ice screw crank, I got one with some screws off fleabay. It's a handle, on a leash, which rotates around an arm which you put through the eye of the screw to wind it in or out. A bit faffy but works well.

Amazing, thanks for the advice all! I'll see how I fare with the palm technique and keep the screws nice and sharp. 

Wax on!

I've heard of people using a piece of dowel. 

See #3 on: http://frozentime.se/climbing/iceclip.html

A short length of fencing wire is handy for making one of the Charlet/Petzl winders.  Use mine less now that most of the screws I use have handles.  Those without - palm of hand, but the monster abalakov screw is a lot easier with the diy handle

The dmm screws are excellent. my whole rack is DMM. they are so well made that they screw in nearly as fast as most turbo screws, and are much nicer to hold and neater to rack. including the time taken to grab it off of your harness and hold in the right hand position, they are just as quick tbh.

Great reference, but it does somewhat betray your age!

Back in the day, using those totally crap Salewa screws I found that nothing got a screw in faster than fear....

Just increase your runouts by 10m and they'll go in fast enough )

TC

Don't forget that getting them in slickly is only half the battle - make sure whoever your second is gets good at taking them out again without dropping them...

You can fit a handle to non-express screws using a few inches of thick wire eg. from a wire coat hanger, threaded through the karabiner hole and bent back on itself.  The part of the wire you grip to turn the screw can be finished by covering it in epoxy putty to produce a smooth surface/handle.  This type of handle works quite well on screws with the usual type of hanger as the handle can slide out of the way when not required  but would probably not be satisfactory, nor needed arguably, on the DMM screws.

Put the quickdraw on and use it as a handle? Seems weird trying to create some kind of redundant bit of kit just for the single purpose.

If you find its' not twisting easily, use an alpine draw?