Petzl Nomics

After long periods sat in front of the laptop researching review after review after review i decided to purchase the Petzl Nomics, My initial choice was to be either the Black Diamond Vipers or the Petzl Quarks but after seeing rated reviews from several British Mountain Guides about the true versatility and extent to which the Petzl Nomics can perform, i decided to pick up a pair for £300 reduced from £400. Many reviews stated them to be useless on anything but vertical ice but after seeing many other well regarded reviews aswell as videos of Ueli Steck climbing with them i couldn't resist!

I'm yet to use them on any ice or snow (mainly due to the atrocious conditions present in North Wales lately) but have had a go dry tooling and was very impressed, the handle is extremely comfortable and dramatically reduces the strain on the forearm muscles as well as being adjustable to suit different glove thicknesses (which has a surprisingly high effect on performance!). The pommel also worked well when placing the pick into wooden pillars as it jams itself up against the pillar allowing you to hold the axe high up along the shaft without any movement in the axe.

I look forward to testing these axes in Scotland this weekend, and giving a true review!