Cassin xdream1/4/2024 I’ve come to really like the large trigger finger rest. The rubber spacer pads snap into the bottom of the handle I’ve gotten used to climbing without them. If that ever happens, you can be sure I’ll post about it! There is a relatively easy - but probably expensive - solution, and that is to have handles in different sizes. While there is some adjustability thanks to the X-Rest pad, it changes the handle’s interior volume by 5mm or so, not much. The fixed-size design is incredibly strong, but is too big for small hands, and too tight for large hands (I’m generally a medium-large glove, depending on application and desired fit). ![]() There is only major design flaw one that I’ve found - the handle doesn’t fit overly small or large hands. This changed to “these are amazing” as soon as they swung them into some ice! The handle is pretty amazing, and I really appreciate how much you can personalize it. A number of climbers have commented on not liking the handle’s shape much when they held the tool in a shop. There has been no movement, wobbling or even creaks from the handle otherwise. However, in the year-or-so that I’ve been using the tools, I’ve had to tighten this bolt up once - and I suspect that it came loose when I took it with me for a tumble down some ice. The adjustability of the handle presents a potential weak-point, as the whole thing is held together using a single nut and bolt. The handle has ended up in the Ice setting, for everything from mild ice to horizontal roofs: the Dry setting is too extreme for my liking and also decreases the tool’s reach (needing all the help I can get, I like the extra length!). My tools have ended up with the larger finger-rest (X-Finger Large in Cassin-speak), I took out the rubber spacer-pad (X-Rest) and wrapped the handles and shaft in a mix of bicycle tube (how-to video coming soon) and Magic Wrap tape. I touched on the handle design in my initial report so won’t go into the details too much. More normal-looking ice, alpine & mixed set-up on the right, with minimal taping and no extra grips. My competition and training set-up on the left, with the rest positioned for extra reach from fig-4’s and taped shaft for something soft to sink my teeth into. The verdict? Let me put it this way: every single person that has demoed my tools either wanted to buy my pair, or went out and bought a set. Both tools have seen hundreds of hours of use, and have been loaned out countless times to anyone interested in trying them out. Since receiving my review pair, I’ve actually purchased a second set and use both on a near-daily basis: one is set up with the the X-Trigger (aka third grip rest) and the Race (competition) pick for training and competition use, the other has the stock Mixte pick for ice and mixed climbing. But, then again, names aren’t all that important if the performance is there and here the X-Dream most certainly delivers. And at least it’s consistent with other Cassin products, X-Light, X-Gyro, X-etc. ![]() X, really? Dream? A bit grandiose, isn’t it? Not that other tools’ names make much sense, either. One possible downside to regularly shifting grip positions is wear and tear on the connection point which could lead to some movement developing - although we can only speculate as our tester did not experience this in use.I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of the name. The "dry" position could be useful for those spending most of their time hanging around on overhanging terrain, otherwise, we think the "ice" position does everything you ask of the tool comfortably. In this position the tools feel secure and exhibits minimal pick shift when matching the upper grip rest - which is equally as comfortable as the commodious main grip rest. Our tester has predominantly used the standard "ice" position for everything from vertical ice to near horizontal roofs whilst dry tooling. Whilst most handles are fixed in place, the X-Dreams' handles can be removed, replaced and rotated the standard "ice" position, to a more aggressive "dry" position (12 degrees more aggressive to be precise). Perhaps the most interesting and certainly the most unique feature of the X-Dreams are the handles.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |