Petzl Micro Traxion Pulley | Ep. 87

In episode 87, Zach talks about the use of Petzl Micro Traxion Pulleys for river related rescue.

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[MarkHirstRaftGuideTraining]

HI Zach,
I really like some of the points you made about team work earlier in the video. As requested here are my thoughts on using a Micro traxion in a boating environment. I am personally a fan of having rescue equipment that I can use for multiple purposes

1 The Teeth
Most boaters don't really research the rope properties of their throw rope when purchasing a throw bag. Most private boaters that I see carry a 8-10mm rope with a polypropylene sheath which is the property that makes a throw rope float. The Teeth on the micro traxion are designed to bite into climbing ropes made from materials such as polyamide which is a lot more resistant to wear & tear that polypropylene and therefore a lot more resistant to the force created by the teeth . In a nutshell I have witnessed a mechanical progress capture device strip a polyproleyne rope on the side of the river.

2 The Numbers
The Pulley on a Micro traxion is rated to 5kn (2.5kn) WLL on each side which is not much if you think about how the forces can quickly multiply when the kit is used as part of an MA system. The Rock exotica mini machined pulley that you used in the video is rated to 30kn (15kn) on each side so the Pulley that you replaced is actually much stronger than the the pulley in the Micro traxtion.

3 Use of a prusik as part of a progress capture system
You made a very valid point about the loss of progress from a traditional triple wrap prusik in your system. In order to reduce the loss you could simply make a 4 or even 5 wrap prusik which would shorten the distance between the prusik knot and your anchor or even play with using a French prusik knot to again reduce the loss of progress during a haul.
When I was younger I was alway taught that the prusik was the fuse of your system. If your prusik is tied correctly and is starting to slip or fail you are probably overloading your system somewhere. By having a mechanical progress capture device you are bypassing the fuse in your system which could have dire consequences.

4 Cost and other uses.
The Cost of a Micro traxtion at 130USD for a single use piece of equipment is high for a tool that you can only really use for one job. A Prusik can be utilized with a carabiner and a paddle to help raise a line above the water. The same set up can also be used to sink a line under the water if needed. The cost of a prusik vs Micro traxion is huge even if you use pre sewn prusiks which are lighter and take up less space in your pfd. 

To Summarise the Micro traction is a great piece of kit if you are working with a light load and using a climbing rope. For me personally when I am boating I will stick to using my Rock exotica mini machined pulley & sterling hollow block prusik on polypropylene ropes . If I am working as part of a rescue team or in a situation where big forces will be used it then becomes time to break out the serious kit such as rescuecenders & maestros and better constructed ropes.

Keep up the awesome work on your channel you have my support 100%
Mark

[kevingeary]

Training as a team before a big trip really makes a difference. Like you said everyone needs to be on the same page. Thanks for these videos

[davidl]

Zach, I would suggest you use a releasable hitch between the microtraxion and your anchor. That way if you get the haul line so tight that you can't release the progress capture device on the microtraxion you could release the hitch connecting it to the anchor. From the carabiner attached to the anchor webbing use a short piece of rope with a munter hitch that is locked of with a couple of half hitches. If the hail line is too tight to release the capture device you can take out the half hitches and use the munter to slowly let our some line. Then release the capture device.

[alaskaraftconnection-alask]

Enjoying your channel Zach!!! Sharing stuff like this is what I originally had in mind for my channel. Taking care of my folks well into their 80s became the priority. While keeping the rafting thing going at Alaska Raft Connection... I mostly had to focus more on rental outfitting, inflatable repair, instruction closer to home, row-frame fabrication, and retail vs. remote destination fly-out guiding. Very recently they have passed. By the end of this fall, I plan to do more on my facebook and youtube stuff. Kudos to you here for offering straightforward, honest, and experienced content.

[donnyosmond]

Used it upclimbing waterfalls in canyoneering. Those in group unable to make the climb up we pulled up using this. Put the pulley on the persons harness needing assistance with one end of rope to anchor at top and other end pulled from top. Worked very good for this situation.

[scottowens]

I absolutely loved my micro trax when I was big wall and alpine climbing, but I wouldn't personally take it into a rafting context. Petzl's technical page says it's limited to under 4kN of force, which seems inadequate for a raft rescue scenario with gear boats. I certainly see its value with light boats, but I hate exposing expensive hardware to the river for wear and tear reasons.

[kurtcostarica]

Hi Zach, and thanks for sharing, and kudos to you for emphasizing the K.I.S.S principle (Keep It Safe & Simple). A couple of comments:
First, I definitely agree with David L. that because of the efficiency of the progress capture, you absolutely must have a load release of some sort (the standard Radium Load Release Hitch described by David, or a sturdy length of 1/2" static line through a Rescue figure 8 with ears, locked off and ready to go; since you're talking about a mechanical advantage system, be sure to double-loop the rope through the Rescue 8, so you'll have more friction for the release. There are good belay devices you can use, but they just add cost, weight and complexity to the system).
I would be hesitant to use the Microtraxion for this application however, because it's intended for a single person load climbing, or for light hauling of gear. The Maximum Working Load is 2.5 kN, or 560ish pounds of force, and you would hope to generate a LOT more than that with even a simple 3:1 Z-rig. The teeth in the cam of the integrated rope clamp would damage or destroy the rope (great safety hazard) at the forces needed to unwrap a raft, or free a well-pinned kayak.
Just wanted to give you a heads up on the safety implications with a mechanical advantage application using the Microtraxion, which is a great piece of gear.

[jeffccr]

This is what i have as well, luckily ive never had to use it for a rescue situation other than practice and showing my son how it works to convince him to carry one as well.

[dgrfsthrgsergwrtghasefq]

I have used one in the field and it works great, although with a unexpected load shift it can become difficult to recapture enough slack to disengage the lock on the capture. That being said I only use this piece of equipment when no person is on the other end of the capture, if someone is in or on a boat out in the water this most likely stays packed away as a prusik is cheaper to cut than a rope if you have to cut something in a hurry.

[James-kesx]

I keep a few rope kits for general purpose and only use mechanical prusicks because I may have to use them in winter with icy ropes.
Ropeman 1, CT Roll n lock, and four other ones. I didn't realize petzl made one I'm going to check your link below.

[kirkmiller]

I wrapped my 12 ft raft around rock on the White Salmon this Summer, and the Micro Traxion pulley with progress capture on saved my butt, and I was able to set up a 3:1 system to pull the raft off of the rock. There is one negative to the device that I ran into.. I generated so much tension on my rope pulling all of this weight that turning off the progress capture (raising the teeth) was not possible, and if I hadn't succeeded in pulling the boat free, cutting the rope would have been my only choice (I think). However, it worked great for me and made the difference.

[jan-thorbjornkelm]

Hi again a very cool video but with a very big but !
You mentioned it yourself in the Video the Microtraxion is a really cool peace of hight tech equipment comes from the climbing World .
You can see it very well in your presentation the Microtraxion requires a bit of training before you can use it effective. 
So I am not sure if you can used in a stressful rescue situation if you see it first time . Even if some on told you how it will work.
My main point is that Petzl the Microtraxion and the T -bloc ( out of the comments ) is designed to fits on big fat climbing Ropes or Static ropes .
Petzl never thought and recommend to use these devices on Throw bags!!!
The process capture by the Microtraxion and the T -bloc is generated through long steel teeth! 
The problem is the teeth can easily cut the rope of Throw bag if its under tension!
As a result if you want use to Microtraxion or T -bloc as a high tech tool fair enough, but never ever use it on Throw Bags they are not designed for it
keep on going with your cool content.
Cheers Jan-Thorbjörn or @Teddypaddler

[MarkFitzptrk]

Would like to hear what Mark Hirst thinks about them!!!

[big_b]

Traxion's are great just tough on ropes

[SignedSign]

Combine it with a petzl tibloc along with 2 carabiners and a regular pulley and your set for a 3:1 system thats real fast to set up and advance

[alaskaraftconnection-alask]

I have one of the original versions of this wall-hauling pulley with active cams. Love hate sort of value. While it remains on my recovery kit (guessing since the mid to late '90s) it is rarely to maybe never the gear selection I'd use as primary. It serves a secondary role as niche or special circumstances pulley. At first and conceptually... I thought loss of progress (progress capture) was paramount. Turns out IT'S NOT!!! For a dynamic recovery 'in water' it is nonessential and can introduce problems (confusion, stress, incompatibility, seizing the system, not as practiced makes less perfect). Something like don't drop your gear bag as you wall haul up a cliff in the air is a whole different story; whereas you are doing everything from keeping a tensioned load bearing from going dynamic off traction. Biggest issue w/ this type of pulley is that there is nothing but main traction recovery line and/or the anchor webbing, line, etc. as sacrificial. Separate mechanical ascenders or prusik knots are better by being less confusing for the purpose of capture, vectoring, additional people, multi-purposes if/when needed. Plus if/when you may have to cut away the whole system of anchor to main line with max traction applied all is not lost. Sure you have lost progress, however you can start again with same anchor and same recovery points. You can re-rig and pull again.

[jimsiemens]

I know this is an old video, but a newer video by another channel talks about the limitations of these pulleys, namely the de-sheathing of ropes - definitely worth a look.

[hoffmanlawnfertilization]

Zach, I am going on a trip the first week of September and I should have 7 days free. last year I went down the colorado from grand junction to Moab which was 4 days 3 nights. I wanted to do something similar this year but I was hoping to have a different type of landscape. Idaho seems to be a great location. I don't have a permit or any plans locked in. Boat used 12 RMR W/FRAME . any thoughts

[seanhayes]

Ct roll in lock... boom problem solved

[fordguyfordguy]

but it does have mechanical advantage - it's 2 to 1.