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Black Diamond Reactor Ice Axe

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Reviews	Views	Date of last review
3	6306	Wed Mar 19, 2008

Recommended By	Average Price	Average Rating
100% of reviewers	None indicated	8.3

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Description:

Reactor

A leashless tool designed for ice, the new Reactor delivers precise placements on any angle of ice as well as solid drytool performance with its high clearance shaft and natural swing. Built with dual-density TPU, the generous, offset dual-pommel grip accommodates larger hands or thick gloves and makes hand matches easy. A weight-saving micro hammer, combined with an aluminum shaft, makes this our lightest technical ice tool. CEN-T certified. Laser Pick included.

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KenP
Member

Registered: Sat Nov 18, 2006
Posts: 7

Review Date: Sat Nov 18, 2006

Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 7

Pros:	Like a leashless Viper
Cons:	Like a leashless Viper

A decent leashless tool for steeper ice and light mixed. Have the Viper problem of too little clearance for really bulgy ice/mixed lines. Found it wanted to reverse out of placements way more than my trusty Quarks. The handle is good and comfy and the weight is good, but not near the mixed tool the fusion is. More of a cheap leashless ice toy.

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If you ain't cryin', you ain't tryin'

MtnManMatt
member

Registered: Wed Feb 16, 2005
Posts: 58

Review Date: Mon Dec 18, 2006

Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 10

Pros:	double grip, price, still has a hammer, spike w/ 'biner hole, no attachments, bomber bd quality/interface
Cons:	none

First, I've been looking for a dedicated leashless tool with all the (+) aspects i listed above. I've used/own(ed) the following tools: Axars, Rages, Vipers, Taa-K-oons (just on the chain-link), and cobras.

Second, these tools do exactly what they were designed to do - climb ice, well. My belief is that ice tools have already gone the way of skis> to quivers. I can see the serious/rounded ice climber having 3 sets: alpine/leashed, ice, and rock.

Anyway, the only apprehension I had before I bought these was that they would not have enough clearance (esp. w/ upper grip) for steep featured ice, but they have proved me wrong and perform quite well. The grip and geometry seems to be pretty close if not the same as the Cobras, except of course for the whole leashless thing. The swing is better than the Vipers with less shaft flex and a little more weight up top. I think this comes from the rubber/plastic(?) grip which must have a minimal metal skeleton and reduces weight down low. The upper grip provides enough support for matching (without huge gloves) and actually swings well. I've put grip tape up the entire shaft for this as well as spike+pick mantling and low angle ice. Pounding pins is suprisingly ergonomic. Holding the upper support in the middle of your hand works really well.

BOTTOM LINE:
More aggressive tools will climb featured/very overhung ice better, straighter tools might climb "alpine" ice better, and dedicated mixed tools will obviously climb overhung mixed routes better, but these do exactly what they are designed to do, climb vertical (+/-) ice/rock, and better than any other tool i've used.

PS - I've had about a weeks worth of days on these tools and they're perfect for what i do here in MT, lots of vertical rock/ice...

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SAVE HYALITE! - www.hyalite.org

Crag
strange

Registered: Mon Nov 1, 2004
Posts: 1830

Review Date: Wed Mar 19, 2008

Recommend? yes | Price paid: Not Indicated | Rating: 8

Pros:	Laser pick is well suited for all sorts of conditions. Curvature of the shaft is pleasently OK, although it is not as extreme as others on the market. Ergo grip feels secure but took a little getting used to.
Cons:	Weight, standard hammer is inefficient.

I did not have to change my swing to adapt to this tool but I did have to change my technique for pounding pins (see: cons), low angle ice and for clearing bulges. Once I discovered the choking-up on the grip most other concerns went away. The pick is awesome, displaces so little ice. Piolet’ hand rail is very intuitive with this tool as I’m sure it is with any bent shaft tool. Moving onto and over steps was never so easy as compared to my ancient BD BP tools.

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Cheers,

Crag

"Uisce Beatha"

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