I’ve now had the Petzl Neox for about two weeks and have been capable of type some opinions and check it in functions I’m most serious about. The newest day I spent on the cliff with it was targeted on seeing the way it carried out as a progress seize in an improvised hauling system and in a rope ascension system. Each these makes use of are essential to me for helping a seconding climber or rescuing an injured lead climber, and locations the place I’d historically be utilizing a Petzl GriGri. Right here is a few uncooked footage of this spherical of testing and a few of my ideas.
I assumed the Petzl Neox would work nice for progress seize on this programs as a result of spinning inner cog wheel and it positively felt environment friendly in each the hauling state of affairs and the rope climbing state of affairs. I can be doing one other spherical of comparisons with a extra practical full physique weight load on the system however the reality the wheel nonetheless spun in my rope ascension check leads me to suppose it’s going to nonetheless spin with a full load in a hauling system. This took me a short time to wrap my head round as a result of you possibly can seen when the system sees a full load whereas single strand rappelling the cam rotates, the wheel stops spinning, and also you management your descent with the friction of the rope shifting by the created bend. Why wouldn’t the wheel rotate and lock like that whereas utilizing it as a progress seize?
The reply comes all the way down to physics and without having something near a level in physics I can see how the system isn’t getting the complete load in these eventualities. The complete load is on the “tractor”, or friction hitch, or the Petzl Tibloc. Whenever you go to drag slack by the Petzl Neox at that a part of the cycle there may be virtually no weight on the system so the cam doesn’t interact and the wheel spins freely lowering effort in hauling and ascending. Whenever you calm down through the hauling course of all of the load goes again to the Petzl Neox and the cam engages. Similar with ascending, if you switch your weight out of your foot loop again to your harness the mandatory threshold is exceeded and the cam engages. Whenever you put your weight into your foot loop to progress the burden comes off the system and it’s simpler to drag the slack by the system then the Petzl GriGri.
Abstract
It’s nonetheless early in our broader publicity to this new belay system however the movies have been pouring out from influencers, extremely licensed guides, and rock star YouTuber’s. My opinion will probably evolve over the course of the summer season as I put extra days on the system, and expose extra newbie climbers to it. For now I’ll re-iterate that I actually like how straightforward it’s to drag slack whereas belaying from above, and the extra I give it some thought I do suppose this system could also be in someways safer for a more recent belayer because the directions mainly encourage you to not robust the system whereas paying out slack. This system could assist forestall the holding open of the cam at dangerous moments which was probably a part of the motivation of the anti-panic function that got here with the Petzl GriGri+.
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See you within the mountains!
I hope this data is useful in your to make an knowledgeable determination. Whereas Petzl provided me with a Neox to assessment this isn’t a sponsored put up. Affiliate hyperlinks above assist me proceed to spend time creating these movies and posts and I thanks in your assist!
