Sunday, January 8, 2012

Gear Review: Petzl Spirit Quickdraw



Climbing on the ThaiTanium Wal, Ko Yowabun, Thailand. Photo Dylan Taylor.

The petzl spirit quickdraws are a great addition to the sport climber’s rack. The thicker dogbones prevent twisting, making clipping easy, and giving me extra confidence when the possibility of falling is increased. This extra burly webbing is also appreciated when the draws are left up for projects so that the webbing is not degraded by the sun and rain.

Racking up. Photo Jonathon Spitzer.

The notchless, keylock gates on both caribiners ease the difficulty of hanging, clipping, and even cleaning overhanging routes. For those reachy bolts, it is easy to snap the upper caribiner into the bolt due to the caribiners bigger size and sturdiness of the webbing. When clipping, my hand naturally fits around the lower, bent-gate caribiner and I don’t find myself fumbling to get the rope clipped. The large size of the bent-gate caribiner (20 mm opening) also allows fast clips from small stances. The bent-gate caribiner is also locked into place with a rubber grommet that absolutely prevents it from spinning in desperate clipping situations.

Gotta love it when the draws are hung. Climbing in Thailand. Photo Dylan Taylor.

Since these draws are on the heavier side (109 g for 17 cm and 104 g for 11 cm), I don’t recommend them for alpine climbing or when light weight is essential. But even with 10 of these draws on my harness, I have never felt weighed down. I prefer the 17 cm quickdraw as these can be more versatile, prevent rope drag on wandering climbs, and aid in those height-dependent clipping situations. I have used these draws on sport crags all around the world and they have held up well showcasing their durability. I highly recommend adding one, two or a dozen to your rack! For more information click here.


Jonathon climbing in Italy.

No comments:

Post a Comment