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Petzl Naja in Depth: Retrievable Redirect

Petzl Naja in Depth: Retrievable Redirect

Friction savers have become a vital piece of tree climbing hardware within the tree care industry, minimizing wear on both ropes and the tree during our tree climbing duties. Two types of friction savers; the traditional ring-to-ring, and pulley-based friction savers are phenomenal, however both offer distinct advantages and trade-offs. Modern friction savers, such as the Petzl Naja, gives the user the ability to create a retrievable redirect and/or use it for an SRT canopy anchor, with the option to soft retrieve via throw line.



Ring-to-ring friction savers consist of a length of rope or the traditional webbing style with rings at both ends; spliced or sewn. These will be the simplest to use and probably the most cost-effective solution for tree climbers, assuming everyone cares for their rope/investment. Using ring-to-rings will also reduce the amount of friction the climbing hitch sees because of the friction seen at the rings.



For pulley-based friction savers it's quite the opposite, while they do provide a smoother and more efficient climb, the increase at the friction hitch will be greater. This is due to the higher efficiency of the pulley. Pulley based systems will tend to be on the higher price mark and may require more maintenance (depends on manufacturer).



Personally, Moving Rope Systems still seems to be the dominant climbing style even on larger trees; most just ascend on a stationary system and then convert to a moving rope whether it be on hitch or mechanical, and continue to work the tree. Which leads me to today's topic; redirecting while on MRS. But how should you go about it?



MRS Redirect

One could just drop through a branch union and go, but the increased friction could increase the difficulty of your climb and infuriate you; don’t recommend doing that at all! Instead, I will apply an A.R.T. SnakeTail, DMM Pinto Rig and DMM Ultra O, along with a DMM Perfecto in order to create my redirect and keep friction low. This can be made to be retrievable, but it will pull out your primary anchor point.



If keeping it simple is your game, try redirecting only the leg of rope containing the splice through the branch union and proceed to work the tree like that. This doesn’t always work, but “sixty percent of the time, it works every time” … fist bump if you understood that reference! No seriously, this redirect won’t be as efficient when compared with additional gear, but it will help with positioning in tricky scenarios. This shouldn’t be a permanent redirect but rather used as a positioning aid – in my eyes. Trying to traverse won’t be as easy as others make it out to look; it’s pretty much an M-Rig.



Petzl Naja Redirect

This is what we are here to talk about! The common problem with redirecting w/ additional tree climbing hardware; upon retrieving, it will pull out the primary anchor even when we don’t mean to. A few TCI Expos ago, I spoke with a friend from Petzl about my issue with pulling the main anchor and he demonstrated how to use the Petzl Naja as a retrievable redirect WITHOUT pulling the main anchor! We did film a video surrounding this technique, which you can view HERE. It is a very technical technique to apply, so it is highly advised to practice while on the ground, prior to applying it aloft. The gear required to create this redirect is as follows:



  1. Friction saver at the primary anchor – for maximum efficiency.
  2. Petzl Naja
  3. Petzl Roll Clip Z – having pulleys redirect anchor decreases the amount of friction it could potentially see.
  4. Additional XSRE (screw gate preferred).



It is too much to describe in detail, I advise watching the video followed by coming back to the blog or not, do you. In short, a continuous loop is created once the retrievable redirect (Naja in this case) is pulled. This is then followed by pulling down on the bitter end in order to retrieve the splice.



Pros and Cons

The obvious pro, the ability to redirect without the pulling of the main anchor. Sure, most would just pull their system and take another tie-in but every once in a while, we aren’t willing to sacrifice the primary anchor because you know, it took a hot minute to set, and/or it is the best possible tie-in to work the tree in its entirety. A redirect can also be beneficial when the climber is trying to spread forces between anchors.



The obvious con – additional gear. Here is something to keep in mind, even though pulleys become applied at the redirect, pulling yourself back up will become a “weird sensation”. I say weird sensation because you don’t expect the amount of sit back (due to rope stretch and flexing of the anchors), so one must tend themselves a few inches past where you would actually position at. The big one, because you create an endless loop with your rope, you may accidentally have just stranded yourself in the tree due to the following: you’re working with a short rope or you’re in a massive tree that ate up all of your rope. Either way, becoming stranded is not good, so you must plan and apply this redirect correctly.



From my experiences, I have successfully applied this Naja technique multiple times (knock on wood) and I am glad that this technique was shared with me. This isn’t a technique that comes out to play every climb, I mostly apply the A.R.T. SnakeTail redirect due to route planning; leaving the spot that would require a redirect for last and pulling everything out at once. Let us know how you like to redirect while on moving rope, climb safe!

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