Moderator: Tim White
ek wrote:knudeNoggin's mention of discrimination against left-handed people in this bowline thread has motivated me to ask: Are there any left-handed chest ascenders (for frogging) currently manufactured? Have there been any in the past?
I heard a rumor once that Petzl for a short time manufactured a left-handed Croll, and then stopped due to inadequate demand. But I don't know if that's true. And I'd be more interested in a product that is currently being manufactured, anyway.
By left-handed, I mean that the safety catch would be on the left side (with the teeth coming in from the left U-channel on the right side), designed to be operated with the left hand rather than the right. This is from the perspective of the person wearing it, of course.
SUOC has a whole bunch of right-handed chest ascenders (Petzl Crolls). We have zero left-handed ones. If they exist, I may recommend to our next caving chair (whoever that turns out to be) that s/he buy a couple next year.
While I'm at it, I may as well ask--are there any left-handed non-handled ascenders comparable to the Petzl Basic? (The Croll is not ideal for this use, as is it angled weirdly and, more importantly, it has no top holes for use in climbing angled ropes, single-ascender self-belay, and hauling.)
adleedy wrote:nor would I use a left handed croll in conjunction with a left handed ascension.
hank moon wrote:adleedy wrote:nor would I use a left handed croll in conjunction with a left handed ascension.
how come?
adleedy wrote:I don't particularly care for the way a right handed ascension and croll "could" interact when jammed together.
hank moon wrote:adleedy wrote:I don't particularly care for the way a right handed ascension and croll "could" interact when jammed together.
Still not following you here...can you be more specific about how a right handed ascension and croll could interact when jammed together, and more importantly, how they might come to be jammed together? What has been your experience?
xcathodex wrote:This is part of On Rope 1's printed catalog (see bottom of page)
Stridergdm wrote:NZCaver has an article on this. Apparently some believe it's possible to jam the croll up tight enough against a right handed ascender as to make it basically impossible to move either one and you're now stuck on the rope. If I recall correctly, his conclusion was basically it was possible but you had to really work at it.
Personally, I continue to advise new vertical cavers to start with whichever handled ascender suits their dexterity. And if that doesn't feel right, they can try the other one. I believe if you're using a Frog system and you're comfortable with it - leave it alone! I have spoken with several right-handers who use left-handed ascenders because it feels more natural. That's fine! Just don't dismiss the right-handed ascender for the wrong reasons. Each year, the Petzl catalog continues to show the Frog system using a right-handed Ascension with a Croll. And over the past two decades, my Frog system has undergone many changes - but it still has a right-handed ascender.
ek wrote:A couple of right-handed cavers have told me that they use left-handed handled ascender as their upper ascender in their frog systems, and always keep the cam open when on rope, so that in the event that they need to stop quickly they can just snap it on the rope. This strikes me as not the best way to stop while rappelling...but one of them did tell me that he was in a situation where that saved his life.
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