http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//12/petzl-issues-recall-for-new-nomic-and.html
"I have always been of the belief that the pommels needed to be as strong as the leashes they replaced since climbers will be betting the farm on them, like they did the leashes."It should be obvious I am a big fan of the Petzl line of tools. I'm been using Quarks and Nomics from almost day one of production.
One of the few weak points on a Nomic is the lower Delrin pommel and the upper grip support. The upper grip support has been known to break off on occasion and generally a warranty issue at Petzl where they have in the past simply replaced the tool.If you have read the "Old Nomic, New Nomic" comparison you have seen how the pommel male/female interface differs on the old and new model. I had written about and speculated thatthe sloppyfit on the pommel/shaft interface would likely bean issue. But I had thought the tools would make it through more than a few days of climbing.
The pictures here are from Daniel Harro'snew set of Nomics with less than a dozen water icepitches total on them. As in less than a total of 12 full pitches of climbing and the pommel is stripped on one tool and about to go on the second.
My new Ergos are seeing similar wear issues with the interface and already dinged and showing prematurewear. Petzl says they will warranty them but replacement isn't going to stop it from happening again. It is obvious we will need a better fix asap. The metal inner face between shaft and pommelis 3mm on the pommel with one tooth and 6mm on the aluminum shaft end so it is not full strength and the harder stainless is cutting through the softer aluminum shaft with relative ease. Before anyone criesfoul and that it must be climber abuse, my original Nomic pommels are going on FOUR full winter and alpine seasons, hundreds of pitches by nowand nevera bobble as we start on the 5th season.
If you have the newest tools Nomic or Ergo and have climbed on them...check your gear now.. as you likely already have somewear happening. Only two of us in our small climbingcommunity that are on the newest tools, and we do.
Less teeth, and rounded teeth are making the new pommel much, much weaker in comparison to the older style tools with full width interface and a square cut interface. Add to that the serrated "spike" digging into the ice, loosing the ability to slide around a bit under that kind of force applied with each swing of the toolandfailure seemsassuredon the newest Nomic and Ergo pommels.
The only answer I have at the momentis set the pommel in one position and use some very good steel based epoxy to keep it from moving and hopefully give yourhandles some added life. But I don't know if that will void the warranty at Petzl yet. (12/07/2001update.. Petzl says it will void the warranty..so don't do it)
No easy long term fix, but worth thinking about as well, is pull the new pommels off completely and bolt on the older pommels. (they bolt right on but only in a "BIG" size) The grip will be bigger but at least that way you will strip a plastic part and not your aluminum shaft and need a new tool. That way if Petzl does come up with a quick answer your shaft won't be totally useless when they do.
Update directly from Petzl this morning 12/07/
This is info I gatheredfrom a conversation withRick Vance @ Petzl. For those that wonder Rick is a climber just like the rest of us. You can take him at his word.
These are the first failures Petzl has seen. They are on to the problemnow and working to identify the exact issues that caused the failure and most importantly along term fix. Broken tools will be covered under warranty. So no worries there. Don't start modifying tools or adding epoxy. Give Petzl a chance to solve the problem first. Petzl will give a public update once they know what caused the problem and their proposed solution.
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