Ice axe shaft insulation

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Ice axe shaft insulation

Postby Moondog55 » Wed 16 May, 2018 1:33 pm

I just bought a new ice-axe for winter. I wanted to go a little lighter so I got a BD Raven Pro to save some grams
However the shaft is very cold and it will need insulation. I could go with a few layer wraps of PVC duct tape but it is such a pretty little tool I'd like to keep it looking good for a while.
Any thoughts or previous experience, the PVC shrink-wrap shaft of my old North-Wall hammer is fairly warm but that was factory applied and the shrink wrap used for electrical work is very thin
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Re: Ice axe shaft insulation

Postby oldpiscator » Wed 16 May, 2018 3:30 pm

There is a textured shrink wrap available in various diameters which is used to cover cork grips on fly rods. This is reasonably thick and wears well. I would be happy to show you an example if you want to drop out to Lara. Can be bought from MO Tackle in Coffs Harbour but only in black last time I looked whereas Mudhole tackle in the US have it in various colours.
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Re: Ice axe shaft insulation

Postby Orion » Wed 16 May, 2018 3:56 pm

Wear gloves, maybe? Wrapping the shaft could make it harder to plunge into the snow.

That said, one option is self-adhering clear silicone tape. That should let the silver shaft shine through to some extent.
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Re: Ice axe shaft insulation

Postby Moondog55 » Wed 16 May, 2018 4:00 pm

Interesting
I like the bright yellow
how much texture is there?
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Re: Ice axe shaft insulation

Postby oldpiscator » Wed 16 May, 2018 4:17 pm

Ted send me your mobile no. and I will send you a photo. Not a huge amount of texture but wet hands and casting a fly rod never slips so should be OK.
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Re: Ice axe shaft insulation

Postby Moondog55 » Wed 16 May, 2018 4:24 pm

0432506821
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Re: Ice axe shaft insulation

Postby Moondog55 » Thu 17 May, 2018 7:29 am

Here is the answer i just received from BD
Hi Ted,

This is a question I haven’t seen in many years! Back in the day we used to use a non-slip tape with an adhesive backing something like this. It’s the same stuff used for bathtub/shower floors with a peel-off backing. It worked great on ice tools and created a non-slip and grippy surface. I even knew one climbing shop who was buying the stuff, cutting it up in strips and re-packaging for re-sale, calling it a Grip-It Kit for ice tools. Perhaps this is a solution for you? It’s readily available and inexpensive. Thanks for writing and best wishes.

I actually have a roll of this in the shed
https://www.amazon.com/Pusdon-Safety-Wa ... HB6D6XW6JE
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Re: Ice axe shaft insulation

Postby bigwallclimber » Thu 17 May, 2018 9:19 am

Hi There Ted,

prior to responding with possible solutions could you tell me what environment you are using the ice axe in, i.e Ice Climbing ? Mountaineering ?

Cheers
Dave
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Re: Ice axe shaft insulation

Postby Moondog55 » Thu 17 May, 2018 10:31 am

As a security blanket mainly, I got the 75cm shaft for use as a walking axe, so glacier travel in Alaska is my intended use if I manage to get my trip organised.
Duct tape works for the snow shovels but as pointed out above it is a clunky solution. It's an OK axe but it lacks the beautiful balance of the original Chouinard piolet but my Zeros were simply worth too much as museum pieces to keep
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Re: Ice axe shaft insulation

Postby bigwallclimber » Thu 17 May, 2018 11:18 am

Moondog55 wrote:As a security blanket mainly, I got the 75cm shaft for use as a walking axe, so glacier travel in Alaska is my intended use if I manage to get my trip organised.
Duct tape works for the snow shovels but as pointed out above it is a clunky solution. It's an OK axe but it lacks the beautiful balance of the original Chouinard piolet but my Zeros were simply worth too much as museum pieces to keep


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Re: Ice axe shaft insulation

Postby Moondog55 » Thu 17 May, 2018 11:37 am

Leaning heavily towards yellow shrink wrap at the moment
https://www.motackle.com.au/fuji-heat-shrink-wrap.html
Just trying to decide on the best size to fit a squound shaft 30 * 20mm
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Re: Ice axe shaft insulation

Postby Moondog55 » Thu 17 May, 2018 12:08 pm

Not paying the postage from that shop
Cost and postage from the USA is cheaper so getting 50mm from the USA via eBay
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Re: Ice axe shaft insulation

Postby Moondog55 » Thu 31 May, 2018 10:22 am

And of course they use shaft diameter don't they not tube width as in normal shrink wrap from Jaycar so what I have just received is far too big. Anybody need some big yellow shrink wrap?
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