UKC

I've got a pair of DMM Fly's and was thinking about modding the grips. A grivel trigger finger looks like a fairly safe bet to attach. However, I wanted to fit a Grivel Horn or similar to the base of the shaft. Before anyone says it, I've searched this site and the net generally and I've not come up with anything conclusive although there are some threads on here.

So, does anyone have any experience of attaching Grivel Horns or Peztl Quark Grip Rests to Flys? If so, how successful was it?

In reply to MttSnr:
why not flog the flys and buy some quarks/vipers/rebels. It's not just the grip rest but the angle of the pick and the bend in the shaft.

In reply to MttSnr:

Have a look here http://www.needlesports.com/Catalogue/Winter-Climbing-Equipment/Ice-Axes/Ic...
Should help you

In reply to MttSnr: Modded mine with tie raps and a engineering nut, wrapped with a bit of gaffa tape. works ok and you can still plunge with worrying about busting the grip off.

In reply to MttSnr:

Modded mine with quark griprests. You'll need a strong drill bit to make a small hole at in the bottom spike but it works just fine.

In reply to mlmatt:

I was thinking of trying Slider's. Anyone done that?

In reply to trek:
Yep, works just fine

In reply to graycj: Or.....buy some real axes first off? Makes sense.......

In reply to CharlesE:
Another useful post from CharlesE.

Back to the point of the OP,
It can be done, so long as you are reasonably handy and have a good drill, ideally a nice slow pillar drill, use milling lube/coolant if you have it to prevent you from burning the end of the bit.

In reply to MttSnr:

You can fit sliders for grip rests as a completely reversible mod (which also leaves the original spike holes free to take spinner/spring leashes) without drilling or cutting anything on the axe...
http://www.petestack.com/blog/climbing/clippers-and-grip-rests-for-dmm-flys...

All very successful although I'm now climbing with Vipers and keeping my Flys as spares!

In reply to MttSnr:


Fitted Petzl Quark griprests to my Flys (or should I say a friend of mine with a drill did) and I'm very pleased with the result. Whoever it was above who said it's the bend in the shaft that's a problem should remember that it wasn't that long ago that it was straight shafts or nothing, the Fly is fine for most stuff unless you are operating at very high grades, I've seen photos of people climbing Scottish VIII with Flys and leashes so I shouldn't think the angle of the shaft matters too much.

Iain

In reply to MttSnr:

I put some Grivel Triggers on an old pair of Mountain Tech axes and use them leashless with a Grivel spring lanyard.

The mod is absolutely spot on. It's worth about a full grade in use and brings the old axes close enough in performance to modern Quarks/Vipers etc. that there's now minimal appreciable difference at least on classic Scottish V ice routes.

I'm a big fan of the Triggers and rate them as offering more off a performance increase than Horns. In common with Horns, Triggers give enough of an improvement in grip when hanging to go leashless fine. However they go further than Horns in that Triggers also markedly improve the general stability of your grip leading to a smoother, more controlled swing and better presentation of the pick to the ice.

YMMV but I'd recommend taking a very close look at Triggers.

In reply to petestack:

I fitted grivel sliders with no problems whatsoever (thanks for the blog post Pete). You need a longer bolt as the supplied one is too short. I used M5, 30mm counter sunk machine bolts, b&q do them. You might get away with 25mm long one but I decided I didn't mind having a bit of bolt (3-4mm) sticking out - you could file/saw it off I guess.

I kept getting the leashes stuck/tangled/upside down last year so will attempting leashless this year with a grivel springer leash to stop me dropping the axes.

In reply to MttSnr: Where can I get a longer bolt that will fit the Grivel slider?

Cheers,

C

In reply to CharlesE:

Check the post above your own (dunno if that's for stainless or just mild steel) or try any yacht chandler, Screwfix etc. for stainless.

In reply to petestack:

I fitted the grivel sliders to my DMM flys last night, with the original screws supplied in the packet.. a clamp/pair of pliars helps to hold the ends closed helps.

In reply to Boydfest:

Tried with clamps etc. but you obviously managed to subdue that springy tapered shape better than me!

In reply to Boydfest:

And can you still 'slide' the sliders when fitted to Flys?

In reply to trek:

Not unless you cut the grips off because they fit firmly over the grips, but I'm guessing that's what most of us wanted.

In reply to MttSnr: would people recommend clipping into the spikes of the tools directly or attaching some tat tied in a loop and clipping off to this?

In reply to Northern Climber:

Direct.

In reply to petestack: cheers, thats what i did last season and just wondered if there was any advantages to the tat method other than more faff