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I have recently been using three different kind of screws; Black Diamond Express 
, E-climb klau and Grivel Speedy (side by side comparison available at tribevine.com). It’s been revelation for me how different they are. I mean they’re all good, but not in every situation. While Express is easiest to get started, especially on hard ice, klau and Speedy are a lot easier to drive; klau perhaps even easier than Speedy. To make the decision even more difficult, each of the screws has its own unique features that others are missing. It’s kind of starting to seem that I need several sets of screws. 
Well, here’s a roundup of my findings each of them.
Picture above: All the three different screws.
Black Diamond Express – On a stance, due to its two carabiner holes Express is obvious choice. I’m grabbing it also on cold hard ice in a difficult situation where I need a fast placement, especially if the placement location is suboptimal, i.e. I need to reach out further than I’d like (or thought due hollow spot).
- Easiest to get started, harder the ice, bigger the difference
- Has two carabiner holes (handy at stance)
- Though the knob in the new model is larger, is still kind of small
- High quality finishing
- Racks well with other “standard” shaped screws
- Set of these with appropriate amount of quickdraws weights about 200g more than the lightest alternative (provided that you use light quick draws, i.e. 70g each)
Picture above: Black Diamond Express screw.
E-climb klau – It’s fastest placing screw on soft ice; it’s obvious; I’ll grab it in difficult situation when the weather is warm and ice is soft.
- Easiest to drive once started
- By far the lightest screw on a rack
- Has replaceable tip
- Furthest reaching folding handle
- Carabiner hole can accommodate two carabiners
- Tip seems to rust easier than competition
- Racks well with other “standard” shaped screws
Picture above: E-climb klau screw.
Update 14.4.2011: Now after I’ve climbed a bit more with E-climb klaus, it seems that I need to upgrade my observations a bit. Klaus have performed fairly well and on wider variety of ice I initially thought. While still, on hard ice my favorite pick is either BD Express or Grivel Speedy, I rack my klaus with me frequently.
Grivel Speedy – Great combination of features, excels in all conditions, I’ll use it when everything is flowing well and I want to save the extra move (and thus time) that it takes to find and clip a quick draw.
- While not the lightest as such, you’ll save the weight of a one carabiner
- Very easy to drive, bites reasonably well in all conditions
- Tip protector that doubles up as handle
- Has integrated quickdraw, that saves you from searching and clipping a quick draw from your rack (it’s surprising how big the difference is)
- Large diameter carabiner hole, can take several carabiners
- Very high quality finishing
- Not perhaps as straight forward to rack as “standard”-shaped screws (though I haven’t had any problems with racking).
Picture above: Grivel Speedy screw.
So based on these experiences it seems that I’m going to build a core of my rack around Grivel’s Speedys, though before final decision, I need more experience of them on very hard ice. In addition there will be couple of short, one medium and one long Black Diamond Expresses; unless of course I’ll find Speedys better on hard ice as well. The long and medium Expresses are for building stances and abalakovs. Then there will be a few E-climb klaus, just for those warm days in case I need something longer than the longest standard integrated quickdraw of Speedy (over 30cm).
Then the web-stores that sell these things:
- Black Diamond Express – REI, Backcountry, Needle Sports, Barrabes, Telemark-Pyrenees, Varuste.net, Camu, Moosejaw, US Outdoor Store, Eastern Mountain Sports, GearX
- E-climb klau – E-climb
- Grivel Speedy - Backcountry, Needle Sports, Telemark-Pyrenees, Moosejaw
Few closeup shots of the screws:
6 Responses to “ Different kind of screws ”
Can`t wait for the verdict.
I`m looking into buying icescrews this fall and since backcountry.com don`t have the small Grivel Helix. I`m going for small Grivel Speedy instead. Your post has convince me
PS: what length do you use on the sling?
Well, if there’s no Helixes available Speedy is a good alternative, you can always remove the “permanent” sling part and voila, you’ve got a Helix… the sling in mine is the medium one, but don’t remember the exact length. It all depends where do you use them.
Hopefully you find them good. I really liked mine, and the quality of Grivel screws is generally very good.
I’m gonna use them in Rjukan, Norway. So I might have to extend the quickdraw feom time to time. but the 20cm medium sling seems like a good choice.
Removing the sling is a clever idea!
You just need to remember that if you remove the quickdraw you’re not really allowed to reconnect it… well, I guess you can do it, but Grivel says, such thing should only be done by authorized Grivel technician.
The grivel screws have the worst setup I have ever seen for a piece of climbing protection. Driving into the ice takes 3x as long as with a BD Express because the silly sling gets in the way all the time. They are heavy, and do not rack very well. I climb a lot in the Rockies of Canada with ice of all different temperatures. Nothing beats BD screws for their simplicity and ease of placement. I worry when I see people with Grivel screws
On the surface I know it seems like a pre-slung draw will save time but in my experience it does not. Majority of the time people have trouble clipping screws because their gloves are too thick. Wear thin gloves and you will be warmer plus have the dexterity to place protection quickly.
other people just need to spend more time practicing how to place a screw and clip a draw to it. I set up a wooden practice board in my room and every winter I practice before I start my climbing season. It pays off greatly on the ice
It’s good to have different opinions.
I’ve personally been favoring BD Expresses and they’re still the majority on my rack. However I liked the Speedy. I know, I’m somewhat odd ball here, most of my friends share your opinion about the integrated sling there… I don’t really have a problem with clipping quickdraws either, that’s the way I do it most of the time (through out the years I’ve climbed ice), still attached quickdraw seemed to add some fluency there. Sure, it does get a bit in the way and I also totally agree that they could be lighter.
Btw. looking for light gear, one should take a look at USHBAs titanium screws at: http://www.tribevine.com/product/9781/Ushba%20Mountain%20Works/Ultimate … that’s a one I’d like to try.