UKC

Looking at upgrading tools for this winter and trying to decide between; nomic, fusion, apex or switch.
From what I gather,
Nomic = ice.
Fusion = mixed.
Apex = jack of trades
And not read much about Switch, but looks really good.

Looking for a tool mainly for Scottish mixed grade V and up. But also something for continental ice. And possibly for alpine routes (does that count out the 3 very aggressive ones) I have no alpine experience other than difficile etc.

Id quite like to stick to British with the Switch, but not been able to play with it. Really like the feel of the nomic out of yhe others, but tge fact its mainly an ice tool puts me off, with no adze for Scottish...

Thoughts and advice please.

In reply to CharlieMack: I'm in pretty much the same boat and favour a British supplier so the DMM Switch seems to tick most of my boxes. I had an email from DMM this morning saying it would be available in shops around mid Novemeber with RRP £400 per pair.

In reply to CharlieMack: Any of them. FWIW you can get an adze for nomics but not fusions. But do you really need one? How big are your hands? I have a hunch that the Switch handle might be too small for some people.

In reply to iksander: It does look that way on the picture from DMM website although you would hope DMM had considered hand size when determining the market value.

In reply to CharlieMack:

Ive got medium hands, so hopefully should fit with gloves on. The more I see the more I like the switch.

In reply to iksander: You need an adze for alpine for those times when it is better to cut a few steps rather than stopping and starting to put crampons on and take them off.

In reply to CharlieMack:

I've used Nomics for Alpine and mixed without problem. I think Adzes are over-rated anyway. Seriously how often do people cut steps in this age? If my name was Jimmy Marshall maybe it would be an important issue. I've always managed to clear belay platforms using just crampons and axe picks. Plus an adze always has the small potential to take your front teeth out if it pops off a marginal hold in your face so I would rather it wasn't there (even if this is a bit of a schoolboy injury).

I've no experience with Apexes/Switches but I had a good try-out with Nomics and Fusions before finally settling on the former. Mainly because the Nomics seemed better at mixed than Fusions were for ice. Nomics are deadly on ice. Although people do make fun of how much they creek when fully loaded!

In reply to CharlieMack: Have just scaled the picture on the website(not precise by any means), looks like the distance between rests is about 10cm.

In reply to smuffy: DMM confirmed 10.5cm. Looks as though it would fit my medium sized hands.

In reply to smuffy:

I think Trango made the same mistake with their Raptor tool.

In reply to smuffy: Hmmm, my hands are 10cm across the knuckles without gloves on