Development and damping characterisation of an ice climbing tool with rubber-interleaved carbon-aramid shaft

Every strike with an ice tool transmits impulsive shock and vibration to the climber’s hand-arm system while ascending – leading to discomfort. The developed prototype ice tool features a fibre-reinforced polymer shaft with an interleaved viscoelastic layer in a carbon-aramid hybrid laminate, aiming to enhance climbing efficiency through increased damping. By vacuum split moulding the shaft, a 43% weight reduction over aluminium at 50% fibre volume fraction is achieved. The prototype’s damping ratio was then compared with three conventional ice tools. An accelerometer on the back of the hand measured the hand-arm vibration response during and after impact, while a force plate standardised the peak contact force. Lighter ice tools must be accelerated more to achieve the same impact energy. Results indicate that this requirement leads to higher vibration exposure of the hand-arm system. Incorporating rubber foil improved vibration damping and potentially impact attenuation, though performance differences were limited due to the system’s overall high stiffness.