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Average Rating: 4 out of 5
No. of Reviews: 2
RRP: £125
Year: 1993 Description: Modular ice tool, separate axe and hammers with interhangeable picks. Straight shaft of composite metal/rubber construction. Beautiful, elegant design and construction.
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 | | Posted: 10/02/01 |
| 'A legend, now lost to the vagaries of fashion.' | | Strengths:
Simple, indestructible and reliable this was IMHO the finest all round mountain axe available on the planet. The weight is reasonable, the picks beautifully cut, the modular head simple, strong and totally reliable, the adze effective and the spike idiot proof. However the thing that sets this tool apart from the competition is the fantastic balance and damping. There is virtually no jarring transmitted to the handle, the BD design bonds the rubber of the shaft to the metal so it won't peel, flake or crack. | | Weaknesses:
BD price was expensive even then, but 8 years on that's only £15 per year with another decade left! . Shaft on the thick side so a bit tiring for smaller hands. | | Overall:
Sad to see the superb old black X15 go; first the ignominy of having the shaft redesigned to a non bonded rubber handgrip only, and then dropping from the range completely in favour of the hourglass figure of the Black Prophet or the carbon fibre black prophet - a snip at £260 each! As far as I can tell BD now sell no straight shafted axes at all, all curves and knuckle protection, which is fine on steep ice, but what about mixed ground or all round alpine use? Kiwi axe belays are much harder with curved shafts for starters, and then there's the issue of actually wanting to use the adze or the hammer. This axe was possibly the pinnacle of BD achievement for the all-round tool, and if you can find one (or the discontinued BP with a straight shaft) |
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| | | Performance | | 100% | | Reliability | | 100% | | Value | | 100% |
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