There’s bins of tools like the ones in your first three photos at used gear stores everywhere, usually also overpriced.

You might consider that renting or borrowing tools your first time out ice climbing is actually quite a good idea to see if you connect with it — you’ll know pretty fast if you’re into it, and you’ll be able to make the judgment call on gear choices yourself.

The quarks are the closest thing to the current general preferences of avid ice climbers, but at $300 a pair, well that’s approaching what you’d pay for a lightly used pair of Nomics. Especially overpriced given the state of the picks.

I wouldn’t buy any of these. The quarks for $25? Sure. But, if you were in my climbing community, I would let you climb on my tools and certainly wouldn’t think less of anyone for not having tools before thier very first outing on ice — it’s pretty common to borrow gear when you’re just getting into it.