Rating
Forget About It!
The Why
When I first discovered the Petzl Dual Adjust personal anchor system (PAS) I thought I was in PAS heaven. What could be more perfect than a redundant, adjustable, dynamic PAS made out of real, rated rope? It seemed to fix almost every concern people have raised about PASs. I loved it - until I bought one and used it.
If you think other PASs take up space on your harness, well this thing is like squeezing a fire truck into a single car garage. And I’m not picky about having things hanging on my harness, I’m a walking yard sale. But the Petzl Dual Adjust is too much. With that said, I would have dealt with the space-hogging if it worked well on the wall. But, it didn’t.
Even though it’s supposed to be adjustable, only one strand is adjustable, thus it’s not really adjustable. You are at the mercy of the length of that single unadjustable strand and it’s suckingly short – especially if you attempt to mount the PAS to your harness by passing it through the tie-in loops. To extend the PAS you’d have to attach it to a locking carabiner through your belay loop, which is not recommended and non-ideal for numerous reasons.
Even with the PAS extended, it’s shortness and non-adjustability forces you into contorted positions relative to the anchor. You are just too damn close. Plus, every anchor situation is different and the non-adjustability is unforgiving. Every PAS I’ve ever had is adjustable and that is an absolute must.
I was hoping I had found my new favorite PAS that I could brag about to all of the PAS nay-sayers, but nope, I will stick with my favorite (and it had been for years), the Camp Daisy Twist, and continue with the standard defenses like “do not go above your anchor in a PAS”, etc.
I will never use my Petzl Dual Adjust again.
Forget About It!
The Why
When I first discovered the Petzl Dual Adjust personal anchor system (PAS) I thought I was in PAS heaven. What could be more perfect than a redundant, adjustable, dynamic PAS made out of real, rated rope? It seemed to fix almost every concern people have raised about PASs. I loved it - until I bought one and used it.
If you think other PASs take up space on your harness, well this thing is like squeezing a fire truck into a single car garage. And I’m not picky about having things hanging on my harness, I’m a walking yard sale. But the Petzl Dual Adjust is too much. With that said, I would have dealt with the space-hogging if it worked well on the wall. But, it didn’t.
Even though it’s supposed to be adjustable, only one strand is adjustable, thus it’s not really adjustable. You are at the mercy of the length of that single unadjustable strand and it’s suckingly short – especially if you attempt to mount the PAS to your harness by passing it through the tie-in loops. To extend the PAS you’d have to attach it to a locking carabiner through your belay loop, which is not recommended and non-ideal for numerous reasons.
Even with the PAS extended, it’s shortness and non-adjustability forces you into contorted positions relative to the anchor. You are just too damn close. Plus, every anchor situation is different and the non-adjustability is unforgiving. Every PAS I’ve ever had is adjustable and that is an absolute must.
I was hoping I had found my new favorite PAS that I could brag about to all of the PAS nay-sayers, but nope, I will stick with my favorite (and it had been for years), the Camp Daisy Twist, and continue with the standard defenses like “do not go above your anchor in a PAS”, etc.
I will never use my Petzl Dual Adjust again.