BD Ice clipper problems

Well I've read/written quite a bit about these, and I think it's only fair/right that I explain the circumstances under which I have become part of the "Ice clippers broke on me" club.

Today I was climbing at the Roaches, while rigging the belay I heard the depressed clink clink of gear falling. I looked down to see my trusty reverso3 had fallen down to a lower ledge of the climb I had been on (only about 2 metres). Confused I looked down at my Ice clipper (where I always rack my belay plate) only to see the gate had fallen completely off onto the floor. I looked around and eventually found the gate. I am confused as to how this happened, the route had been a techical slab climb, no trutching or scraping involved, so how did it come off?! Luckily in this case I didnt lose anything important, and nothing was damaged. Would I trust these with a full rack of £40+ ice screws....Probably not.

I fixed the ice clipper no problem, and then belayed with an italian hitch, however if I had been climbing something longer and dropped something more important this would have been an issue!


.......Disapointed and confused.....

Black Diamond Ice Clipper problems??

Following my review of Black Diamond Blizzard accessories, it has been drawn to my attention that with moderate use the ice clipper experiences a terminal issue whereby the clip malfunctions and stays open outside the clip. (See pic). A number of users have complained about these on UKC, indicating a common problem resulting in the loss of ice screws.

Comments taken direct from UKC:

"The screws were nowhere around and the wire gate on my little plastic Black Diamond ice clipper krab was on the wrong side of the gate. One to watch out for."

"I threw my ice clippers away because of this happening, though I did it before I lost any screws. The petzl caritool is better."

"lost a screw for the very same reason! The worst BD product ever!"

So for those of us who use Ice clippers, just be aware of this issue! I myself still love the ice clippers, but will keep a close eye on them from now on! However I should point out I have been using these for 2 years and had no issues.... Mr Reynolds has similar opinions of the ice clippers, so until one of us has this issue, I'll continue to place my faith in these!

Black diamond Blizzard accessories

RRP £5.99 (Clipper) & £8.00 (holster)
I have a black diamond blizzard harness, and I've always loved it for it's comfort, good fit and quality build. Black diamond also do 2 accessories for this harness to aid the budding winter climber. I now have both of these;









Black Diamond Blizzard Holster:
This small webbing holster attaches to the blizzard (or any other harness) and allows the user to holster one or both of their ice tools whilst placing gear etc. I would say its a nifty little accessory, but can be a little bit fiddly holstering 2 tools, however to holster one tool at a time is very easy! Overall, nice addition to my harness and easy to use.











Black diamond ice clipper:
This is the best few quid ive ever spent! It is such a great bit of kit. It allows you not only to rack your ice screws easily, but also when trad climbing its very easy to stow gear when seconding, or clip you belay device to avoid fannying around at the top of route finding it. The ice clipper will fit to any harness, however the BD blizzard has custom slots to slide these in, making them even more secure! My friend Matt Reynolds also loves these:

"BD ice clippers. These little plastic 'biners are simply like the most innovative idea ever (not just BD ones, I mean the whole concept). For those that don't know then they are little plastic 'biners that are held sort of poking out from your harness so you can rack screws (or anything you want) on them. I brought 2 initially as I was trying to expand my summer harness with more gear loops (I just brought a DMM Renegade in the end, another quality piece of kit)."

Taken from http://www.lifeattheendofarope.blogspot.com/ (worth a read for some of Matts Crazy Stories!)

Overall Black Diamonds 2 cheap accessories make a good harness even better, and for the few quid involved its very worth investing! I now have a holster for my axes AND an ice clipper on the left and right of my harness for ice screws and anything else!