 As someone who nearly lost an eye just before Christmas to someone else walking past with a badly packed axe, I'd say this was a very good idea.
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 It is kind of a bonus that it stops the rear of your pack from being a lethal weapon...
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To solve the potential loss issue, I make sure it also goes into the carry handle. Really difficult to lose the axe then :o)
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 On a related subject... when you're actually using the axe... do you just hold it in your hands or do you have it attached to your wrist with a tape? I ask because over the past couple of years, whenever I've been with anyone using axes, I'm the only one with my axe secured to my wrist. There are two reasons for this... one is because in the event of a slip, I want my axe to stay with me... and second... if I was to see the axe zinging away down an icy slope, or plunging into a crevasse, I'd be heartbroken to have to fork out for a new one!
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 I tend to go 'leashless', largely because of the faff involved in constantly changing hands if you're making your way up hill. I must admit I also avoid leashes for the opposite reason to Paddy - if I've slipped and lost control of my axe, then the last thing I want is the bloody thing following me down the slope looking for an opportunity to finish me off once the rocks have done their bit. In part that might be a bit of a phobia resulting from one of my mates taking a pretty spectacular fall off a winter climb - thanks to my expert seconding  he was unscathed, apart from somehow contriving to sink the pick of one of his ice tools into the meat of his thigh. Fortunately, he was wearing Aspira salopettes, so both he and his clothing were able to be sewed up.
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| Edited: 07/02/12 14:26 |
 
Wouldn't it be better to pull the axe in and arrest before you get mashed on the rocks? I use a leash, though Neil's right, it is a bit of a faff changing hands if you're zig-zagging.
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I'd have thought you would have to be pretty quick to reel in your axe and get it back into position before you picked up so much speed that you had little or no chance of arresting yourself. I guess you pay your money and take your choice about which possibility you'd rather risk - parting company with your axe in a recoverable situation, or being finished off by your own kit at the end of a slide
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 You shouldn't really be in danger of your axe either getting lost or it 'finishing you off'.
Ideally, in a situation where a slide is a possibility, you'll have the axe in a position where you can anticipate and react instantly without parting company with it.
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| Edited: 07/02/12 15:08 |
Mine is on a long enough strap that I can change hands with it easily enough.
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 If I'm going to be switching hands a lot, I stick a short sling over my head and shoulder like a bandolier, then use a krab to clip the axe leash to that - I can switch hands at will, but if I did drop the axe it isn't going to go far at all.
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I attach my axe to the shoulder strap of my pack with a bit of bungie cord threaded inside some tubular climbing tape. That way I can change hands without any problem and won't lose the axe if I drop it. Because of the cord inside the tape the leash doesn't trail down and get tangled up in anything. Got the idea from seeing some ice climbers climbing "leashless" using a similar arrangement.
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Wasn't there some argument at one time about the dangers of an axe attached to you but bouncing around as you slip downhill with it? Not sure how valid that argument really is. i do know I'd hate slippiing off a crag after following it over the edge having dropped it at the top of a snow slope!! Having said that I have never got round to putting a leash on mine. IIRC you can get longer leashes which work best by the leash being tied to your body or waist belt allowing you to switch hands easily.
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