An invention

Edited my initial post now to include another development

Hear what you say Snapzzz, but in my experience even when the straps are loose I still struggle to get my hands through the straps. You know how quick it is to undo the clip on your helmet, I imagine that unclipping a pole is just as quick? It is just the same as faffing about when you have your hands through straps?

Ian - this is one of my more serious posts and you have just wibblised it ;)

Iceman wrote:Edited my initial post now to include another development

Hear what you say Snapzzz, but in my experience even when the straps are loose I still struggle to get my hands through the straps. You know how quick it is to undo the clip on your helmet, I imagine that unclipping a pole is just as quick? It is just the same as faffing about when you have your hands through straps?

Ian - this is one of my more serious posts and you have just wibblised it ;)

You got it wrong Icy that was my most serious post :thumbup:

Snapzzz wrote:I may be the only one here with this thought but......in all honesty i don't really like the idea of tumbling with a metal spiky pole attached to me.
Like my skis, if i fall (especially violently) i would want all my kit detached from me.

Skiing deep powder is obviously less risky and i wouldn't want to loose my poles so i would prob be a little happier there.

But thats my point. They would not be near you. When you fall over and are in danger of losing your poles you are usually sliding. It is this motion that makes the poles come loose and stay at the top of the hill. If you have the 'Iceman Clip' they will simply drag behind you. The current design strap does not have the same effect as a binding.

Andy - The Northern lad is "up" from you, not "down" :)

Iceman,
All the good ski instructors I have had took great care to make sure we were all holding our ski poles correctly (grasping the straps) so that if we needed to we could let them go. So, I rather think, as you suggest, there would be a safety issue with your ingenious idea.

I do know that I broke my shoulder on the dry ski slope because the ski pole got stuck in the mat and I fell over with my hand still holding the stick and the other end stuck in the mat.

I think I would rather pay for another ski pole if I lost it in deep snow or wherever than risk breaking my shoulder again. It took about 6 months to heal and the exercises I had to do were total agony.

Just imagine if you were ski-ing fast downhill at 50 mph and your ski pole got stuck in a rock or something and you were still attached to it :shock:

I think Ian's idea of wool is quite good - kind of like the powder ribbons. You could have a strong normal strap so that you could 'lean' on your pole when turning or in moguls and the wool would just be for emergencies.

But don't give up - keep thinking - I'm sure eventually you will be on to a winner :D

Just remember to share your millions with the rest of us :lol:

Ally

Hmm, Ally Good points there - especially getting your pole stuck in something (no comments please,wibble free zone)

How about, if it was developed so it had a quick release on it so if it gets stuck at speed or on a chair left it would simply release? But dragging along the floor it would not.

It is important to remember that the current design for ski poles is not so they have a quick release mechanism. The awful accident that you had Ally would not be made worse by the Iceman Clip.

I know one of the first pieces of info an instructor gives beginners is how to hold a pole so you dont break your thumbs!

Building in somekind of release mechanism would actually take it past the needs of the current pole.

I appreciate all of your points here (apart from the northern monkey ones....)

Snapzzz - with these straps you dont need to unclip all of the time. opening your hip flask as an example you can simply let go of your poles and use your hands while they hang down?

Hi Iceman.

Not sure if I'm reading your post correctly. Do you want easy connection to your poles (like ski bindings to skis) or poles that you can drop and have them trail behind on a tether?

If just the clip then leki make several flavours such as these:-



If you don't have the intergrated glove then there are straps that you wear over a normal glove and then clip into and out of the pole.

I too hate the faff of forcing hand between a pair of uncoperative flat straps so will be trying some lekis in 16 ish sleeps time...

The posh model has an integral hip flask too.

Cheers,

Owen.

Hmmm, what Leki do is EXACTLY what I had in mind :twisted:

2 questions

1. Do you have to have a special pole of can the Iceman Strap be fixed to traditional pole handles?

2. Do the poles have straps that clip in or is it straight onto the glove?

Glad someone else is with me on this :thumbup:

I see their 14S poles with trigger clip are over £100

Mine will be significantly cheaper :shock:

Iceman,
I think an emergency release mechanism would be a very good idea :D :D :D

I had the same problem as you trying to get my gloves into the straps, and then I had a brilliant idea - I bought some smaller gloves :lol:

And if your gloves are already a tight fit, then I suppose you could buy some longer straps.

Just while you're waiting to get your invention finalized I mean, of course :wink:

Ally