Hey Ropers,
So, today we launched our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VP-2VB8FYw with a gear review on one of Petzl’s new work positioning gear devices, the Progress Adjust and Progress Adjust 1, which became available to us in February of this year. We worked with our good friends at Carleton Rescue to video and put this piece into action, starring the new Brad Pitt of Rope Access, Mason Fulton, and we had a blast!!! We will say, however, that the Progress Adjust 1 is what we focus on primarily, as the Progress Adjust wasn’t that interesting to video or use for that matter—there is a lot of discussion among Rope Access techs about its usefulness as a part of kit in general. The importance of this video, however, is that it showcases the Progress Adjust 1 in action and being used CORRECTLY. There are one or two other videos available online, but they incorrectly place the Tanga, which is an incredibly great little gear innovation and extremely important to place correctly for safe cross loading.
This gear piece is fairly easy to review as quite honestly it isn’t overly complex and it is a very single function gear device. Simply, for Rope Access techs, it is a work positioning device.
As an innovation (which Petzl is always achieving in some way or another when launching a new gear piece) the Progress Adjust 1 and Progress Adjust visually looks very different than the positioning system that many techs have used in the past and still use presently. Our Director and longtime Rope Access tech here at Pacific Ropes provided this photo for comparative purposes:
The Progress Adjust 1 and the Progress Adjust:
You can see the immediate differences. The positives of the new Progress Adjust 1 especially, as is typical with new Petzl gear, is the slickness of using and carrying this device: no knotting necessary due to its having sewn loops, it is easy and clear to inspect, it is incredibly light weight to carry, and the way this device allows for a very smooth movement to and from or in and out of a work position with absolute ease and precision is an awesome improvement on prior set-ups. Our video really does capture this. The length has a range from 65cm to 95 cm and uses dynamic rope for energy dissipation. The greatest feature is that both Progress Adjusts have sewn terminations making them incredibly safe and user friendly. Both are recommended to use with the Petzl Vertigo carabiner.
The CAD cost of the two devices which can both be purchased through Carleton Rescue are:
Progress Adjust 1: $78.50
Progress Adjust: $90.50
The Gri Gri option for work positioning which you will hear many Rope Access techs bring up as the common practice set-up is arguably much less expensive and many techs have all the gear already in their kit to manage this set-up. However, if you are a tech who is consistently working in specific stationary work spaces, for a long period of time, the safety and smoothness of this device is unmatched in our opinion. So, we recommend this for someone who needs to do precise technical work in one spot for a prolonged period of time, who needs the efficiency of set-up, inspection and movement, and the confidence in safety in not having to check any knots throughout a long working period.
The name of the small rubber piece that is accompanied with this gear device is called the Tanga http://www.petzl.com/en/Professional/Connectors/TANGA?l=INT#.VgHoB5cYHzs. It comes with both the new Progress Adjusts and is sold separately if lost or you require more than one. It’s a nifty little connector positioning ring, which allows you to hold the connector in the correct position for long periods of time and is specifically designed to minimize cross loading of the carbineer - major bonus! Our video shows the exact position this ring needs to be in to be used with absolute safety and correctness.
The popular talk about the Progress Adjusts was discussed this week in a LinkedIn thread, where an L3 IRATA supervisor said: “Yes [the Progress Adjust] is a bit pointless as a twin lanyard as its terminated at a single point.The only application I would find it useful for would be passing a re-belay, which in a training centre would be used a lot. In real life industry work, however, is it pretty useless...great design though! I think in the future I will stick with a Grillon.”
Again, as with all of our gear reviews, it is recommended that you ALWAYS speak with a gear specialists when purchasing a new piece of kit to understand its correct use and place in your kit, and if necessary, visit a training facility to have an instructor show you the precise way in which to use this device on site with absolute correctness to ensure the safety of you and your team.
For the Petzl technical specs on these devices please connect to this link: http://www.petzl.com/en/Professional/Lanyards-and-energy-absorbers/PROGRESS-ADJUST?l=INT#.VjPFS7erSUk
From all of us at Pacific Ropes and our partners at Carleton Rescue (Especially Mason Fulton, Carleton Rescue, New Brad Pitt of Rope Access who helped create this review),
Stay safe and we’ll see you on the ropes!
Thanks for reading! Please comment and share!