Petzl Tibloc Emergency Ascender

ben brockway
Reviewed: 03 December 2001

40G TO PACK AND FORGET...

weight, simplicity, and quite aggressive teeth (A Harry Enfield fat scouser will recognise the description...)

Not so easy to use long term or in conjunction with big gloves etc. Can cause a fair amount of rope mashing.

For the weight and price this is a good deal and could get you out of a very tricky situation. Ideal for emergency back up, prevents those shoelace prussiks we all love to talk about in the pub so much.
And it will even open bottles of beer!

Chris McSweeny
Reviewed: 29 June 2001

THE adventure racers' ascender

Light. Very light in fact (40g - a proper handled job is over 200g). It works. Much cheaper than a handled ascender.

Not quite as easy to use as a handled ascender. May cause your krabs to wear.

For what it is, it actually works extremely well - with a bit of practice it's pretty much as fast to use as a full on mechanical ascender. Meanwhile it's a lot less weight in your pack when not in use. If you don't care about weight and are doing a lot of ascending, a Tibloc may not be for you. If you only need an ascender for occasional use, or you're carrying it in your pack a long way (or adventure racing) and care about weight it's ideal. It's also much cheaper than a handled ascender for occasional use (£12.50 in most places).