Petzl Adjust Review

[Tseralo]

A few people took an interested when I bought this and as there isn't much info out there about their use in caving I thought I would write something.

A Petzl Adjust for thoes not in the loop is an adjustable cows tail made by Petzl and sells for around ?40. I went with the dual connect with has a short cowstail and a long adjustable one. I've used it on around 30 trips now since I bought it last year including all the big SRT peak district trips, Titan, JH, Oxlow, Maskhill, Nettle, White river etc along with a few larger Yorkshire trips, Bar Pot, Diccan to Alum etc.

In Derbyshire, it's useless once its gets mud into it and the rope got a bit fluffy it became very hard to adjust but I also found very few places it was helpful to be able to adjust it. We have very few places you need to swing for rigging and traverse lines where it's useful to have a very short cowstail are also rare.

In Yorkshire, it was more useful mostly when rigging things like Diccan where you have to swing to the next bolts, you can swing, clip in your long then pull on it and it brings you right up to the bolts. The lack of mud really helps the mechanism work as it's not jammed up all the time.

It has one big downside that I found the rope is bent at quite an angle through the adjustment mechanism and that was eventually the downfall of mine having crawled through What passage at the top of block hall I found the sheath had ripped open. You also have to use a locking carabiner on the long or it will rotate as there is no barrel knot holding the carabiner in place.

Would I buy another one? If I was spending all my time rigging caves in Yorkshire and didnt have anything else to spend money on, probably. As I do 90% of my caving in Derbyshire I've been and spent ?30 on 30m of dynamic that will keep me in cowstails for a long time.

I've attached some images of the Adjust bellow as you can see the metal parts and stitching have held up well.

 

[alastairgott]

Glad your kit enjoyed Watt passage as much as you did! Now you first most favorite crawl.


Light off waiting on the other side... "what have you brought me here for.... OOh, Ahh, I see!"

 

[alastairgott]

And the Classic...

"Whats this crawl called?"
"what!"
"Can you tell me the name of this Passage?"
"what!"
"does this passage have a name?"
"Watt Passage" :tease:

 

[Tseralo]

Shall I tell everyone what happened on our trip to ROTV? and the subsequent lid measuring incident?

 

[GT]

Nice one!

Would be interesting to see what a dynamic drop test yields given there's no knots to absorb an impact

 

[Tseralo]

Nice one!

Would be interesting to see what a dynamic drop test yields given there's no knots to absorb an impact

If someone has a rig to test that on I?m happy to donate it as the short is still good.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cap n chris]

Nice feedback and thanks Tseralo. Like you I too have had a play with this, thinking it might be a useful tool for SRT for making rebelays easier to negotiate but my conclusions are similar, but differently so, from yours based almost entirely on the snag-factor that the entire set-up presents for general movement around cave(s). It's a proper tapestry-in-the-making if you're crawling around or working in close confines.

Furthermore, I think things would be better if there was a greater sheer reduction in the locking element so it was easier to release the rope for fine-tuning; the present arrangement makes it quite tricky to unload and adjust even at a non-free-hanging rebelay.

Definitely love the concept and potential freedom of movement but I fear as cavers we are trying to re-task something which has been specifically manufactured to solve a sports climbing scenario. It's close, but no cigar.

If other cavers have experience with this device and have methodologies which make it supremely better than our present default then I'd love to hear from them.

 

[badger]

I have one and love when I am rigging, and normally when moving through caves normally keep all the bits of srt kit in a small bag rather than dangling around my body.

 

[Rob]

4 years on, I imagine a few more people have used either the Adjust or the Evolv Adjust (two in one). Any more feedback from UK cavers?

Recently in Mulu I saw an Evolv used for bolt climbing with great success, which is the main interest for me....

 

[JoshW]

I use the evolv adjust (with vertigo crabs).

Love it except for one thing - needed to cut about 30cm off the end of each of the arms and then tie a stopper knot in the end. Without doing this the maximum length was way too long and ended up very dangly in either extended or shortened mode.

There’s a great way of storing at maximum length, tying a ‘long’ slip knot next to the girth hitch and then clip through the loop and into your harness gear loops.

Find it super useful for both personal SRT and for leading groups on ladder/lifeline stuff

 

[Cantclimbtom]

I like the Adjust but only use and would only want the single not double. Used as one of my long cows tails (I carry 2 long and 1 short).
Some problems in the original post have been improved such as the little rubber doo-dah to slide on the krab so you can use a standard snaplink and it doesn't rotate.
If it gets muddy it won't adjust as stated. I like the fact it's slightly too long for a long cows tail in it longest position (e.g. your hand jammer would be just out of reach if you dangled on it), which gives more length when needed but can be adjusted to a "correct" length if needed. The theory that if you fall on it that it's dynamic and will slip a but seems very reassuring too.

 

[MarkS]

4 years on, I imagine a few more people have used either the Adjust or the Evolv Adjust (two in one). Any more feedback from UK cavers?

Recently in Mulu I saw an Evolv used for bolt climbing with great success, which is the main interest for me....

I've taken to using a micro traction on my cowstail for bolt climbing. It's perfect for it in my opinion as friction is minimal and you're never in a position to fall on it.

I also have a Kong Slyde on my "short" cowstail, which I quite like - mainly because I prefer two long cowstails most of the time. It wouldn't be great for very regular adjustments though.

 

[Loki]

I’m pretty sure

I've taken to using a micro traction on my cowstail for bolt climbing. It's perfect for it in my opinion as friction is minimal and you're never in a position to fall on it.

I also have a Kong Slyde on my "short" cowstail, which I quite like - mainly because I prefer two long cowstails most of the time. It wouldn't be great for very regular adjustments though.

erm the breaking strength of the micro traction in locking pulley mode is only 4kN. From website specifications. VERY easily achieved with a very small fall onto a cowstail. Or your second falling off.

And the Adjust lanyards are not designed to slip when fallen on as far as I can see - they might do but it’s not mentioned as a feature on the website so I wouldn’t be relying on it. We do have one to evaluate so I might just try that out.

 

[cap n chris]

Grillons (or hybrid equivalent made from short length of 8 or 9mm plus an additional descender) would be my go-to at the moment, having now eaten humble pie re the new Stop and accepted that they are okeydokey all round.

 

[pwhole]

I use the double Adjust for rope-access work and find it great - but then most of that work is pretty clean, with no mud. I also find the rope adjuster can still be quite difficult to move with one thumb due to dirt buildup, and certainly isn't as smooth as the Petzl videos might imply - though washing it all regularly certainly helps. I doubt I'd use it underground however, and just use the classic short, long, and central super-short loop. I also use a Grillon for work, and have used it for clean bolting in caves/mines, but again, I suspect some serious mud would ruin everything.

 

[Steve Clark]

I’ve started carrying a 2m length of 8mm, barrel knotted onto a petzl HMS carabiner. I stow it doubled up with a knot so it’s about the size of a climbing quickdraw. Suggestion from the cncc rescue course. Can be used for building quick 3:1 hoists or getting the tension out of a rope etc.

I’ve found myself using it occasionally with a rig as a 3rd adjustable cowstail. It’s great for live adjustment to get into awkward spots for photography. Effectively work positioning. (Fall arrest on the dynamic cow tails if I’m off the pitch rope)

It’s also really handy for awkward rigging and de-rigging situations. Doubled through a bolt you can lower yourself away an extra metre to avoid high angle swings. And as the full strength deviation cord I forgot to bring.

 

[Mark Wright]

I've been using a Dual Connect Adjust since they first came out and love it. I've never had any abrasion or mud issues but then again I do try to avoid crawling and mud. I've just watched a video I made when I was testing a prototype of the new Petzl Stop down Eldon Hole a good few years back and I was using it on that trip. I use the adjustable end as both my long and short attachments and rarely use the short fixed length. They are great for fine adjustment when going down through a re-belay.

I've done a few bolting trips with it and it is a handy tool for that fine adjustment of the work position. The Petzl adjustable etriers are also worth playing with if you are into your bolting. I tend to use a short Quick Draw as my short attachment for vertical climbs but the easy adjustment is really handy on overhanging sections or when climbing over mixed ground.

I used it this summer doing some canyoning near Annecy and really liked it. Adjustment is really easy when the rope is clean and wet. I've since bought a Dual Canyon Guide for the next canyoning trip.

The beauty of its adjustability is that you can always keep it pretty snug so there shouldn't be any real issues with excessive impact forces as there shouldn't be any falls. They aren't designed for falling on.

I completely agree with cap'n'chris regarding Grillons. They are pretty much all we use at work. Perfect for work restraint, work positioning and abseiling the short distances we require (+/-7m), though they are rated for a maximum 20m descent. For vertical work we use them in conjunction with a Rollclip Z pulley carabiner at the anchor with the Grillon tail rope running through the Rollclip to give a 2:1 hauling advantage for climbing back up.

 

[Ed]

Kong Slyde seems to cope with mud a bit better

 

[JoshW]

Kong Slyde seems to cope with mud a bit better

But is a bastard to adjust even when not muddy

 

[andrewmcleod]

I use the evolv adjust (with vertigo crabs).

Love it except for one thing - needed to cut about 30cm off the end of each of the arms and then tie a stopper knot in the end. Without doing this the maximum length was way too long and ended up very dangly in either extended or shortened mode.

There’s a great way of storing at maximum length, tying a ‘long’ slip knot next to the girth hitch and then clip through the loop and into your harness gear loops.

Find it super useful for both personal SRT and for leading groups on ladder/lifeline stuff

Bear in mind the Evolv Adjust is intended only for use as an aid climbing tool and is not intended or rated to be used as a personal attachment; the cord in it is 8mm (I think) and doesn't meet the rating for rope/lanyards. That's why the maximum length is so long... I own one (and have never had a chance to use it) but wouldn't use it as my main cowstails (for the same reason I wouldn't use 8mm rope for my cowstails).

I got Tony to buy me a Petzl Connect Vario several years ago, which is like the Petzl Connect Adjust except that there is no sewn termination in the middle. Instead you tie your own knot to attach to your D-ring. That means you can choose the length of the fixed part.
However, since I've replaced the rope in it about 3 times now, it's completely irrelevant what version I bought since the only bit that you keep is the metal adjusting bit (and the rubber loops)

I am a massive fan of having a 'really really long' cowstail though for when the bolts are just a long way away. Once you have clipped in, pulling on the free end gives you a 2:1 minus friction self-haul, which basically means you can pull yourself up fairly easily if you've got anything to push on with your feet. Also I like a long short cowstail; my current one is probably about the same length as most people's long cowstail (I really should shorten it a bit) but if I _need_ a short cowstail I can just use the adjustable one.

The instructions are very clear that you shouldn't replace the rope in them. This is a shame as the adjuster part stops working once the rope gets fluffy. It would therefore be completely irresponsible of me to point out that for a fiver's worth of rope you could restore it to good working order. I would therefore definitely not advise that 9mm rope works just fine. Since nobody will do this, I don't need to caution that it's critical that you put the metal adjuster bit on the rope the right way round (having got it wrong the first time I tried this and wondered why it was always slipping), and that you need a bombproof stopper in the 'free' end.