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Petzl Access Books
Petzl does a really fantastic job of getting basic technical and safety information out there, and for free to boot. If you're going stir-crazy in quarantine it's a great time to build your knowledge base or just review the basics. If you're looking for content to share with your adventure-minded kids that you are now…
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Petzl e+LITE Headlamp
The Petzl e+LITE headlamp has always been a fave of ours due to its compact design. The e+LITE is perfect for car glove compartments, bug-out bags, travel and basically ultralight anything when all you may need is some occasional low-level light output. The new version, introduced last year, keeps the same small format with included…
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Petzl Expert Advice for Ski Mountaineering
Petzl makes an uncommon effort to provide free, high-quality educational advice on all aspects of climbing. If you haven't subscribed to their e-newsletter, get it done. Their latest edition focuses on ski mountaineering in particular. Since ski mountaineering pulls together such a wide array of climbing gear and techniques, it's a great primer on a…
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Petzl Pixa 1 Pro Headlamp
Anyone who climbs knows the Petzl brand, but even a lot of climbers don't know the whole breadth and depth of Petzl's product lines. Divided into sport and professional categories, there is a lot of overlap in the types of products – helmets, ropes, harnesses, lights, etc. – but the actual products themselves are carefully…
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Petzl Grigri 2 belay device
Ooh, shiny! Petzl's Grigri is ubiquitous (look it up, rock apes, it's a real word) at gyms and crags everywhere and for good reason: it locks auto-reliably. Note that there was a recall on Grigri 2's with serial numbers where the first five digits are between 10326 and 11136. Go to http://petzl.force.com/GRIGRI2RecallWebForm but don't let it stop you…
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Petzl Freino belay carabiner
OK, alpha-gear-geeks, your carabiner has arrived. Designed to be used with the Petzl Grigri (but just as effective with any belay device), the Freino belay carabiner is a 3 ounce autolocking unit that has a secondary gate and basket – yes, you may call it a spur to establish techno-superiority – that provides additional braking.…
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Petzl Mini Traxion pulley
Petzl specializes in making small, shiny objects that provoke lust in the viewer. The object of my affection here is a 5.8oz. multipurpose pulley/rope clamp/ascender that comes in Mini and Pro versions. The clamp is similar to Petzl's Tibloc but capable of larger ropes (8-13mm), which if true might make it a nice ascender for…
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Petzl Aztarex ice tools
The Petzl Aztarex is like politics: it's all about compromise. Petzl's designers chose their tradeoffs wisely in this case, producing an inexpensive, lightweight tool that can perform everywhere from alpine snow to vertical ice. At only 17oz a pair of these will save you a full pound over a pair of Cobras. For alpine use,…
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Petzl Tibloc Ascender
This is the kind of thing I buy on impulse. It's small, shiny and relatively inexpensive. I don't really care what it does. Well, OK, in this case I bought it for a very specific use: to use instead of a prussik on the headwall fixed line on Denali's West Buttress. It didn't work well…
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Petzl Reversino belay/rappel device
Not exactly the discovery of a new fundamental particle but far more relevant to having fun, the Petzl Reversino is a tub-style belay/rappel device with a self-locking feature that makes it convenient to belay from the anchor. The 2oz Reversino works with ropes 7.5 to 8.2mm, perfect for double ropes and smaller single ropes commonly…
