Anyone use these yet? They're not even listed on the BD website, but they are selling them at mountaingear.com. Pretty cheap, thinking about these or the X-monsters for my new setup this winter.

It kinda looks like a lot of weight would rest on the pinkie and ring finger.

I picked up a pair of grivel x-monsters for playing around on mixed back in March (got them for like $25 each - special deal). They are heavier than advertised, but beefy. The flexible shaft seemed like a lot of fun for California mixed with a lot of torquing on vertical granite cracks - just did some bouldering with them though, nothing all that serious (still just a beginner at mixed anyway).

As far as ice performance I only managed to follow a couple pitches of WI3+ on them in April, but they seemed decent enough toys for the price. The picks were thicker than I expected, and I'm not sure how well they will work on cold brittle stuff, but on more plastic ice they seemed fine.

I think sportextreme.com is having a sale on them right now - might be last season's model - the grivel.com site seems to imply that the new ones may have replaceable picks (though a little work with a file would probably fix that on the old ones too).

I swung the reactor a few times and it is definitely something new: a leashless tool with the swing of an ice climbing tool like the Viper. The grip is sticky and felt good in my hands. It is also big enough to accept thick gloves. With the price point I imagine they'll be selling a lot of these.

I'm pretty sure Kurt was using a tester pair of these last winter, so he may have more to say..

I messed around with this a little last season. It seems like BD just wanted to get something out that is strictly leashless and oriented toward ice climbing. I would still go for a more all around tool like a viper, imo.

These and the Charlet Nomics may just be the ticket.
I don't care what anyone says, the old Quark Ergos and the BD leashless tools suck on ice and don't swing worth a darn.

I'm holding off on buying these until after they are recalled.

these are really sweet. I climbed on the prototypes a few days last season on ice and mixed routes and they seem to be the ticket. I like the grip better than the Nomics. The mini-hammer head is also about the size of a #7 stopper, great for camming in cracks. Supposedly they were supposed to retail for $200CAD, which is sweet.

Yeah, but they say "Ships within Canada only" now on all the ice tools. What's up with that?

$189 at AMH, and that's in the states, so screw MEC and their canadian hording asses.

http://www.alaskamountaineering.com/Product.cfm?id=1048

It's called "vendor agreement", where BD will only sell MEC the product if MEC promises not to sell it at cheap prices in the States and undercut the poor American retailers with their poor jacked-up-margins.

So if I know a friendly canuck:
a) how much to ship to US?
b) will these be assessed a duty when they cross over?
c) how much is the duty?
d) should I just stfu and pay the extra $54 in the US?

a) About $25?
b) Yes
c) Ask your border guards.
d) Yes

Just go up and climb... buying them on the way... bitch slap them on the rocks and bring em back... no problems..

a) $25 Canadian
b) No. Dru, or any other friendly canadian, will make sure they look 'used' before he sends them. He'll write "your forgotten ice tools" on the label.
c) It'll take him about six months to make them look right.
d) Don't you want to make sure that they're not going to recall them by having them tested out first?

Maybe I'll wait a while to see how the new design shakes out. I did think about the used angle. Maybe Dru will come to Smiff and bring a few cases of these from MEC for us. I guess the border guys would probably probe him first anyway, so that won't work.

The Black Diamond Reactor in addition to the entire Black Diamond ice tool line (Fusion, Viper, Cobra) will be available to demo at the PDX Ice Festival

got mashed potatoes
aint got no T-bone