Carbon shovel shafts...good or bad idea ?

[wstdeep]

There are a few shovels with carbon shafts showing up. Anyone played with and beat on these yet ? On one hand I am a little concerned about durability...on the other I ride a carbon bike downhill at high speeds with out thinking twice about it. Carbon has proven to be pretty durable stuff but prying and chopping are a bit different loads.

Thoughts-experiences ?

[Crampedon]

Splinters suck, especially carbon ones. Aluminum fine so far, and keeps cost down.

It's a shovel, after all is said and done.



i

[splat]

Carbon splinters suck hudge balls.

[mall walker]

There keep being good, lightweight aluminum ones... the Mammut Alugator Light is impressively lightweight/burly and all aluminum. I guess the really light Arvas have carbon fiber shafts? Idk. Very happy with my Mammut...

[sfotex]

Does anyone have an extendable carbon shaft yet? That's the biggest selling point for me for the brooks, voiles, etc. alu ones.

[JTrue]

Does anyone have an extendable carbon shaft yet? That's the biggest selling point for me for the brooks, voiles, etc. alu ones.

From 2006, yes.

https://backpackinglight.com/komperd...shovel_review/

[summit]

Carbon has proven to be pretty durable stuff but prying and chopping are a bit different loads.

Well, we shouldn't be prying with our shovels, right?

I guess my thought is carbon doesn't like dings and the shaft rides around in the avi tool compartment with a shovel blade and who knows what else, packs get tossed around, dropped, have shit piles on them, and these are things I don't do to my carbon frame bike.

But we put carbon avalanche probes through the same and I wreck on my carbon frame bike off of drops, pick it up and keep going.

Now, the thing I do notice is that burly carbon bikes often save a mere 15% in weight over the Al version of the same model while usually costing a crap ton more. Carbon probes have not cost much more (but have not saved much weight).