DMM Rebel Axe

The Rebel offers unmatched durability due to it's 1-piece head and shaft making it suitable for the most challenging ice climbs. This DMM ice axe is easy to use as it features an adjustable handle, heavily curved head and strong teeth for confident hold even on hard ice. The Rebel has a length of 50 centimetres and weighs less than 700 grams.

Site	Price	Postage	Total
	£149.99	FREE	£149.99
	£156.59	£4.50	£161.09

   User Reviews

General comments: After much speculation about the latest tools from DMM I finally got my hands on a pair for some icefall climbing in Rjukan, Norway in February 2006. Having switched from Petzl Charlet Quarks, the new DMM Rebels had a much to live up to. Initial impressions are of a quality tool and the one piece forged shaft looked the business. I had heard rumours of early models being recalled due to bad vibrations running down the shaft, however these have been fine. The weight appears to run the length of the tool compared to some models which are very head heavy. Having “burnt my leashes” in order to embrace new school leashless, I felt the grip rest at the bottom of the handle did not support my hand adequately and also allowed my knuckles to get bashed. Moving up, the grip itself is very slim and a lot of tape was wrapped around it in an attempt to get better feel. The sliding trigger at the top of the handle worked loose mid-week which was rather annoying, however it does allow plenty of support when switching hands. I was able to climb easy angled terrain holding both tools mid shaft which made for a comfortable and fast ascent. The dark red paint job which looked so smart when new resembled a battered old car after only few days of ice climbing (not mixed) as it chipped very easily. At the business end, the pick and adze were excellent and inspired confidence all the way to WI5. Good, but not yet perfect.

Pros: Great pick. Plenty of support when switching hands leashless. Centrally weighted, climbs well. Nice colour.

Cons: Not enough support from grip rest. Slim grip may require additional tape. Paint chips off easily.

General comments: I bought these ice axes about half a year ago now, and so far theyve held up pretty well, The work man ship on the actual axes is the best ive seen. Which is why i chose to buy them in the first place, because they seemed pretty solid and i liked the idea of a one peice solid forged head and shaft. The axes are weighted perfectly and are realitivly light so they wont kill your arns trying to lift them up on long climbs. The grip is pretty good, i personally prefare it to other grips on other ice axes, but i dont think it is designed for people with small hands, because i have realtivly large hands and i still keep the axe's grip at its smallest, because if it was any bigger the lower support on the grip would be useless, but for me its pretty good because its easy to keep hold of and its very supportive. Im not too kean on the new paint though, i wish DMM had just stuck to the silver anodised finish, because the new red paint just chips which i think isnt really that good for an axe that costs £150. But it still does the job even if it doesnt look as good as when it was new. It is also ashame that DMM still havent brought out a T rated pick for the axe and that they still have only the B pick, which seems strong enough, but i dont really trust it on mixed routes because i have a fear of breaking the pick. The Adze on this axe works very well and i seem to have been given a different one that has been shown in the picture on this website, because it is shorter and sticks out less, but still it works very well and feels very solid.

Pros: This axe is very strong and realible, it looks very cool and the grip works extremly well if your hands are big enough for it.

Cons: There arent many bad points apart from that the paint chips very easily and also that the grip may be too big for people with small hands.

General comments: I used these tools for a few days of alpine gullies and traditional waterfall ice. Overall, I have very positive things to say about the tool. I think it is more versatile than the Petzl Nomic (the other leashless tool I have used) and the adjustable grip is very nice. I got good sticks with the picks and the tool felt solid hooking over bulges and on the rare occasions when I used the adze to clear bad ice. The leashes are fumbly but I would use this as a leashess tool, anyway. I give it the nod over the Nomic because of the modular adze and hammer (although I didn't remove them from the tool for any actual climbing.)

Pros: Nice picks, good swing weight

Cons: Primiitive leash, 2 sizes of Allen wrench required for various adjustments

General comments: I was initially attracted to the Rebel because of the configuration of the grip. While it does everything a true leashless grip should do (support the hand, protect the knuckles, help steer the pick through the swing), it's also relatively straight, so it plunges effectively, and sports a meaningful spike, making it actually useful in cane position on firm neve. I was concerned at first that the very narrow grip might get lost in my oversized hands, but after a few leashless laps on my pegboard, I found the grips to work fine, without having to pad them out or widen them. The geometry and balance provide a swing as comfortable as any other tool I've tried (I was previously climbing with a pair of Petzl's Aztars, modified for leashless use, and had demoed Quarks, Nomics, BD's Cobras and Vipers, and Grivel,s Top Machine). I love the versatility of a tool that actually functions well for everything from cane position on neve slopes to WI6 pillars and M-sick drytooling (which I mostly try to avoid). The biggest downside to owning a pair is that my buddys keep borrowing them and whacking rock through thin ice, so I'm nearly through the first set of picks in about a half season.

Pros: grip configuration is a winner - this tool is truly effective on everything from snow-slogs to M-sick mixed

Cons: don't buy it for the paint job - it doesn't last picks are wearing more quickly than I'd like, but this might be a result of friends being less precise with them than I prefer to be...

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