Ice Axe Protection for S-Sarc, LBP, and Critical Mass Packs by Dan McHale

(Page under construction)

I have an idea some of my customers are ice climbers. I've done some myself and know how dangerous the tools can be if you don't deal with them properly. When I lived in Idaho years ago in the mid 70s I was traveling through Stanley with my friend Mike Weber on our way to climb the North Face of Mt Borah. I was in the passenger seat with a file, sharpening all of my gear. I was working on one of my Chouinard hammer picks and slipped with the file and cut my left index finger down to the bursa of the main joint. We found a clinic in Stanley and I soon as I got into the examining room and upwrapped my bandage, I fainted to the floor! Well, it got all stitched up, and we hiked in and did the climb - my heavy downhill ski gloves protected me just fine . Those were the days! It was awesome green slurpy ice that was as perfect as it could be. On that trip we climbed the farthest left of all the gullies - a fairly short one that comes out right at the summit. Upper left corner photo: That's me in the upper corner of this page leading the first pitch of Polar Circus about 1994. One of my crampons actually came loose at that spot and I managed to get it back on without lowering off. Scott Fischer is at the end of the pitch. He free-soloed up! I was helping him with an ice-climbing class at the time. Click photo.

I've been working on various ice tool pick protectors for years but have yet to sew one onto a pack permanently like some companies do. Back in the mid 90s I made the Axe Toob that not too many paid attention to. Perhaps it was ahead of it's time or something. I did not want to invest the resources to really develope the product. Now I have the X-Box.....oops, somebody has that name. I mean Axe Box. Here are photos of Axe Box in action. As can be seen, the tools can be reversed and rigged head-up. None of this requires anything that a McHale S-Sarc doesn't already have (daisy chains and velcro tool holders ) except the Axe Box itself. There's no reason a shovel pocket can't be mounted on top of all of it. Axe Box will work well over the bottom of a Kangaroo pocket and even give a non-dyneema/spectra kangaroo extra protection. These will also fit CM packs. I will be posting more new ice protection products in 2012. Click images.

Below: A S-Sarc featuring our new for 2012 Gray Full Spectra with a Cuben Fiber fabric, laminated to the inside face for extra toughness and waterproofness ------ showing off the Axe Box. The Box is easy to install with the 4 catch-loops and can be made from a variety of materials - it's expendable and does not have to last forever. It's function is too keep arms, hands, clothing and anything else from catching sharp pic tips.

Photo below: Underneath the shovel pocket in the photo above are separate pick covers that are more versatile than the Axe Box. The covers shown above are actually attached to the Daisy chain but can attach to the pick itself like conventional covers. These are more versatile and allow the axe to be carried anywhere on the pack safely, including a hipbelt holster, behind compression straps, inside the shovel pocket,.............