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| Dry Tooling UK Monster Axes |
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So the Introduction: Since the Grivel website announced the Monster last summer there has been an unpreceded amount of interest. I have never seen so much internet discussion about a piece of new gear before. Since then the Monsters have been unleashed into the shops, there have been specific competitions held and Monster bouldering has been incorporated into more traditional bouldering events. Grivel have also published a 'newspaper' dedicated to the Monster The Monster is a tool designed specifically for dry tooling activities. It is unique in this. It is not designed as an ice axe.There is no adze, hammer or spike at the base of the shaft. It is designed to be leashless. The shaft is made of flat steel not tubular alloys and eye catching graphics have been applied. The pick is thick and covered in aggressive teeth bottom and top.It is also about half the price of more conventional tools. As I said, its unique. At the time of release the Monster did not have CE certification. This caused concern amongst those finding it difficult to adjust to the idea of a dry tooling specific product. Since then the Monster has gained certification. ( For those interested in the details of certification and what it really means, check out Mark Twight's article on the Grivel North America website) First Impressions: One things that doesn't come over on most of the pictures on the internet/magazines is how thin the 'shaft' is. Whilst I knew that it was made of flat steel and not a tubular shaft I didn't really appreciate how different that was until I saw one in the flesh. One American reviewer described them as looking like a seahorse that had been steamrollered and that's about right. You can detect a very slight flex in the shafts when you try and bend them but they are stiffer than they look. The graphics are as tasteful as they appear on the Grivel website - how did they come up with them ? The shaft is shaped to provide several alternative hand positions along its length. The Grivel website even helpfully has some illustrations that indicate how they might be used.The pick is beefy ! Its over 5mm thick and feels substantial. The upper edge is covered with teeth for Steinpulling. The first tooth like an exaggerated version of that on Grivel's excellent Mixte pick so should be able to be used on the smallest edges. The pick is attached by three bolts whose end have been rounded over so it looks like they are not replaceable. It would be difficult to envisage breaking a pick but with a few seasons filing they may need replacing ? Perhaps they are to be considered disposable given the price ? There are rumours in some American forums of Grivel developing replaceable picks and maybe even an ice specific pick. The lower grip is shaped like that from the Grivel Racing tools. It offers two main hand positions - a lower 'hang' position and a higher 'swing' position. Perhaps the swing position is not as useful on a DT axe but the grip does give just enough space to squeeze two hands onto it. In use:The first hangs on the tools revealed how uncomfortable the flat shaft is to grip. The main grip felt OK, perhaps a little hard and the proportions of the main grip didn't suit my hand shape but I've probably got odd hands ! So the first job before serious testing is to sort those grips. I wrapped the main grip with squash racket tape which gave some padding and increased its width. Grivel supply some plastic thingies to fit to the upper shaft but these don't add a lot to the comfort. I made some plastic and foam grips to cover one of the upper shaft grips and applied tape to the rest. The main grip's 'hang' position places the wrist in a comfortable position and when covered in tape is as good as any I've tried. When weighting the tools you can detect a slight spring in the shaft as though the shape was trying to uncurl. Once you get used to this its quite nice. Full suspension dry tooling ! Others of a slimmer build than me may not even notice this effect. When moving between the main and some of the upper grips there is a very noticeable shift in pick angle. This is very unsettling and may be enough to displace the pick from a small placement. On more secure placements this is not so much of a problem. Other manufacturers have made great efforts to reduce this effect (BD and Trango make this a selling point) and it seemed a bit odd that Grivel have missed this. However I then discovered how to use the vertical section above the main grip. This position results in only a minor pick shift - small enough to inspire confidence whilst swapping hands on the smallest of edges. Grivel also suggest that the fitting of their Trigger to the lower part of this grip to improve comfort and ease of use. The pick is excellent. Not a lot more to say ! Its performance on small edges and sloping holds is impressive. The tools torques well also. The pick is heavily featured on its sides and this seemed to help it to stick in cracks. The shaft flexes a little as expected but it never made me feel insecure. The Monster is not designed for use on ice. The pick is very thick leading to fears of shattering the delicate stuff. As a comparison the Grivel Cascade pick (their ice pick) is 25% thinner at the tip. The aggressive steinpulling teeth would seem to suggest that the pick would be difficult to remove from ice and the flat shaft does not have the same damping properties as a tubular shaft. But… inspired by user reports from the US,I have used them on a WI4 and a short WI5 and they do climb ice remarkably well. They swing reasonably well from the main handle even when using the 'hang' position. Not as sweet as a Quark or Tech Wing etc but good enough. Cleaning the tool from the ice was no problem providing you hadn't planted the tool too deep. I hadn't filed the picks - they were straight from the box and not very sharp but there was a no excessive shattering of the ice. A bit of tweaking with a file would improve things further. The tools did feel a bit heavy by the end of the pitch and I was starting to tire from swinging them - those with a more refined technique may not suffer this ! The other finding was that the racket tape on the grip became a bit slippery when wet. If you are going to use them on ice it may be worth experimenting with different tapes. Once the grips are covered in tape, the Monsters are an excellent DT tool let down very slightly down by the potential problem of pick shift when using some upper grips. In practice, unless you are pushing the grades this isn't a major drawback. The main grip is good and the grip above it offers minimal pick shift. The Monsters hook and torque well being very impressive on the smallest edges. The tools also climb ice well expanding their use to mixed and pure ice climbs. The Monsters are a bold step and Grivel should be applauded for it. They seem to have already sparked increased interest in dry tooling activities and their low cost should encourage the curious. Grivel are collecting users experiences via their website. Perhaps we can look forward to further evolutions ? No Rock climbs were harmed during the production of this report Report submitted By Andy Rutherford |
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