A decent ascender,  Wednesday, 26 December 2007 The Petzl Ascension is neither the strongest nor the most comfortable handled ascender...but it is lightweight, adequately strong, easy to use and very available.

 Solid ascender,  Wednesday, 26 December 2007 This is one f the strongest handled ascenders ever produced and it has a VERY comfortable handle. Solidly consructed and simple to use.

 The single most useful climbing aid.,  Wednesday, 26 December 2007 I love my Pantins-yes plural-I only use one at a time but it is such an important part of my work climbing that I have one on the travel truck as well as the normal work truck. I added some stitching to stop the straps from creeping and I still occassionally kick out of it unintentionally but the Pantin is an extremely useful climbing aid...and much easier on the knees than footlocking the tail in DdRT. I also use it in SRT as part of a Tree Frog system.

 Vertex makes me like the Roc more,  Thursday, 20 December 2007 I like the looks of the Vertex but it doesn't work out for me-despite the wide range of adjustment it doesn't sit well on my pointy head.

 Petzl-a nice spare,  Thursday, 20 December 2007 The pluses of the Navaho are the ability to fit a wide variety of clmbers, extemely light weight, nicely designed side D's, great portablity and a tendency to keep a climber upright.. On the other hand many climbers find the Navaho lacking in comfort. One thing that may help(it does for me) is to wear the Navaho waist belt lower than I would other saddles. Because of the design this Petzl saddle will still keep a climber from inverting when worn low. I have worked from my Navaho but would not choose it for day to day work climbing. For me it is a great spare saddle for recreational use and as a loaner.