New device from ISC

[pcpTR33]

I don't have one, but still want one to try for lots of reasons.

That said, this thread has been a rollercoaster of good and bad reports. To me, the ONLY reason to buy this, and I am hopeful it pulls it off, is that it could work great as an SRT system, without an additional wrench above it.

A ZigZag/Chicane combo is 100% foolproof in my experience. No matter the rope, no matter the weather, even with a bit of sap, it honestly just works without having to think about it or fuss with it. It doesn't even have any adjustments to mess with. The negatives are the bias (fair or unfair) against Petzl, the fact it's a pretty bulky system, it has more drag on ascent than I'd like and I'd call it a mid-level performance tool at best. But, it just works, all the time.

If the Reflex isn't smooth and foolproof on it's own, what does it have over the ZigZag/Chicane setup? Maybe you can customize it and use a shorter tether, maybe you can use an adjustable friction Wrench to fine tune it, but now it's not really smaller, not simpler and not cheaper. But maybe it can be a little smoother?

I'm just thinking out loud here, if I'm wrong let me know.

So far it seems like most of these slippage or issues are when the device is in an SRS configuration so I wouldn’t be surprised if the “optional” wrench becomes the required wrench. Either way, it’s a shame between these negative reports for this device and the initial launch of the blackbird or even the buck throttle all exciting devices that looked promising on launch but somewhere along the line in product testing something was overlooked or maybe in manufacturing? Not a dig at anyone involved in any of the devices and it’s not something unique to this industry either it seems more and more the first batch of anything (equipment, parts, vehicles, etc) the first buyers are the first true product testers.

 

[27RMT0N]

Right, to me SRT performance is all that matters, otherwise we might as well stick with DRT and a rope prusik. That was the situation 15 years ago, I'm ready to move on.

Obviously it's a real engineering challenge with endless variables, I don't mean to diminish that, and we will probably never achieve perfection. I think the industry is trending in the right direction, and I'm happy to see any and all improvements.

 

[Bart_]

The chicanery/zigzag's secret to smooth performance is probably the aggressive RW configuration they use. The less load a device has to deal with the smoother it operates. Normally an aggressive RW setting on a roperunner family device also incurs the penalty of requiring more hand force on the bird/RW to descend but on the chicanery combo the hand force is actually reduced by this at the top of the zig links. My take on it.