Petzl ZigZag letter

Treespotter said:
That's what I thought too. Until my friend showed me his zigzag last week with two cracked links in the second set of shackles from below.

Wolter
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It would be good if the srt boys can catalogue the cracks, this will add detail that could be obvious to the srt stress or if there are variants, it's manufacturing of the steel, stainless being vunerable to cracking.
 
bonner1040 said:
What reason would you ever have not to believe them?

Is it the best product? No.
Could it have been done better? Yes
Has Petzl ever lied to the public? No.
Would they recall it if it wasn't safe? Absolutely.
Do they have any reason to lie to us? No.
Are they trying to kill arborists? No.
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I was joking about the jumping off the bridge or setting yourself on fire or whatever it was.

Also, I have it on good authority that there nefarious plot to kill all arborists is actually nearing fruition.
 
Treespotter said:
Going up the rope and sitting back after that 100% of the load is on the Zigzag! The Zigzag 'catches' or grabs the rope way faster than the ropewrench does.
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OK, this is something I didn't know, as I've never tried the ZZ in any SRT configuration. The fact that the ZZ only has a very small amount of sitback is one of the things I like about them, I should have guessed that it would be a problem with the RW. Glad to get this info before I tried it out! Thanks, Treespotter.
 
Howie65 said:
The only requirement they make is that as soon as you open the device additional friction is required.
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I do remember reading that the ZZ is ok SRT to hold you in position on the rope if you don't attempt to descend on it. I can see where releasing it, the RW would then provide the necessary additional friction.

I think that if Petzl would just go big and double the thickness of the link plates and enlarge the whole thing slightly, the extra cost/materials would be justified by greater end user confidence in the product. I realize they'd have to retool for this, but the product (IMO) is worth continued investment.

Oddly enough, it has always been the swivel connection that rather creeps me out... it just doesn't seem beefy enough to me, but I haven't heard of it being a problem. I also think that the whole thing would be better off made from stainless steel, because personally, the additional weight wouldn't bother me a bit. There's something about a good quality stainless steel product that inspires a sense of confidence that aluminum just doesn't give me. Even knowing that the aluminum is strong enough for the job, it bugs me sometimes knowing that something that lightweight is the only thing between me and a loud "splat" noise. But it doesn't bother me to fly in an airplane. Go figure.
 
Correct me if I'm missing something, but I would think that a fall in the 10 to 15 foot range would be the domain of fall arrest equipment, not fall protection or work positioning equipment. Since the test was on equipment already damaged, you would almost have to break the device and then continue to use it, anyway, and then fall.

An odd scenario, to say the least.
 
Yeah. A fall of 12 feet is already going to hurt you in a pretty major way, even if you were using fall arrest equipment with a dorsal attachment.
 
Ha. I hear ya. Climb on what ya trust, bro. I play with some of the new stuff.....work on it sometimes too. There's nothing wrong with hitch cord/pulley, but there's nothing wrong with a Blake's with a split tail either. These things are just more labor intensive and arguably slower.
 
JTree said:
Ya know what's wrong with hitch cord and a pully? Nothing, that's what. But the new toys are nice. No doubt about it.
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Nothing? So the same grab and release no matter when in rain, dry, hot or cold conditions that's not just the Zigzag.
That's strange, because in my memory I was on a regularly base fiddling with my hitchcord to find just the sweet spot.
It's not that when you are used to the "wrongs" of a hitch cord that they're not there anymore. It's when you're on a zigzag that you think back and think, hey the rope was completely dry this morning and now it's pouring and there's zero need in adjusting anything.

Wolter
 
Lol, we can sit here and name DISADVANTAGES of different systems for hours but at the end of the day, they are still as safe and effective the operator's skill set allows. Nothing wrong with that.
 
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