The Metolius Roll Up Stick Clip

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Our concepts

The first stick clip I ever used (an astonishing 19 years previously this earlier April) was an exact stick. My good good friend confirmed me how one can loosely tape a carabiner to the tip of a protracted, curved oak division and the way one can use a small twig to hold the carabiner’s gate open. Then I stick-clipped the first draw of my first 5.11, Three Easy Gadgetsin Rumney, NH.

Since then, I’ve used (and discarded) quite a few sticks and painter’s poles. Flying to the Crimson River Gorge for my first climbing journey, I packed a humble rubber clamp in my bag and purchased a painter’s pole at a ironmongery store in Stanton. Per week later, I left the pole—nevertheless not the clamp—at Miguel’s Pizza with a “free!” sign on it. Flying to Rifle the following summer season season, I did the an identical issue, this time packing my shiny new Squid (one among many OG stick clip attachments and nonetheless thought-about one among my favorites) and, per week later, donating my mannequin new Walmart painter’s pole for group use on the Arsenal.

Numerous years previously, I lastly invested in a climbing-specific telescoping pole, which was small enough to fly with if I packed a extremely big bag. Nonetheless though the pole was solely solely nine-feet-long at full extension, it was very flimsy when extended, and when strapped to the side of my backpack, it nonetheless caught up extreme enough to grab annoyingly at branches all through approaches.

A few weeks previously, I donated this last pole to a very good good friend, having modified it with Metolius’s excellent new Roll Up Stick Clip. It’s merely most likely probably the most moveable stick clip within the market. It’s moreover one of many important spectacular climbing enhancements since Pure teamed up with Thriller Ranch to position backpacking assist straps onto crash pads. (The biggest innovation of the ultimate ten years, though, nonetheless goes to Ben Moon for inventing the app-driven, LED-lit teaching board.)

The best way it really works

The Roll Up Stick Clip is fabricated from some type of stiff composite supplies whose selective flexibility offers it merely two safe positions: It could be rolled into a very good cylinder for storage, and it could snap proper right into a stiff pole when unrolled. It strikes a chord in my memory—and primarily everyone—of those snap bracelets we used as kids.

The Roll Up Stick Clip comes with the same old and ever-popular Metolius Superclip, however it certainly has commonplace painter’s pole threads, so it’s applicable with completely different stick clip heads. It is also applicable with diverse sorts of brushes (the pole may probably be useful for boulderers, though the pole isn’t stiff enough to resist intense scrubbing) and with a standard GoPro mount.

Important kudos are on account of Metolius’s R&D crew for getting the mixture of stiffness and flexibility correct. The pole is astonishingly easy to assemble and break down (a couple of of our testers complained that inserting it away required slightly little bit of elbow grease, nevertheless I’m not very sturdy, and I’ve under no circumstances found it even remotely as tiring as coiling a rope). But it surely’s moreover astonishingly sturdy. Definitely, it’s far stronger at full extension than the telescoping pole that I’ve been using for the last few years. And the composite supplies seems very sturdy, which may help justify the extreme value.

Lengthwise, the pole unfolds to 9 toes 8 inches prolonged, which is larger than prolonged enough for a lot of crags. First attracts in places identical to the Crimson River Gorge and Smith Rock may usually be laborious to reach. And folks of you preferring pre-clipping the second quickdraw may at situations need you’d hauled that cumbersome 15-foot painter’s pole to the cliff. Nonetheless I’ve used the Roll Up Stick Clip at seven fully completely different crags in New Mexico, and I’ve however to return throughout a state of affairs the place I wanted to pre-clip a draw (whether or not or not first or second) nevertheless couldn’t attain it.

When rolled up, the stick clip and head weigh decrease than two kilos and retailer merely in a small nylon bag. For me, this has been slightly little bit of a sport changer. I commonly used to miss my outdated stick clip at residence as a result of it didn’t keep inside my pack; now, the Roll Up Stick Clip under no circumstances leaves my pack moreover on the crag, dwelling between climbing days correct subsequent to my quickdraws, Grigri, and kneepad. I’ve under no circumstances as quickly as forgotten to hold it climbing.

The Roll Up Stick Clip’s Cons

The superclip

Every I and my fellow tester, Anthony Walsh, uncover that the prongs on our accompanying Superclips have been far too stiff—noticibly stiffer than the Superclips we’ve beforehand used. This makes it unnecessarily troublesome to nestle commonplace sport climbing carabiners between the attracts (smaller attracts have been less complicated than larger ones), and we every commonly pinched our fingers or palms between the draw and prongs. Further lamentably, this stiffness moreover makes it virtually unattainable to retrieve a quickdraw from the wall using the same old methodology. I had pretty hoped that the prongs would loosen up with use, nevertheless after 10-12 days I’ve seen little change. The Superclip moreover lacks any type of hook that makes it less complicated to tug the rope down whereas leaving the first draw clipped. Lastly, my Superclip is already displaying worrisome indicators of injury.

Luckily, it’s the roll-up pole, not the head, that’s the good innovation proper right here, and the pole is acceptable with completely different heads. Now that I’m achieved with this overview, I really feel I’ll throw my Squid on it for outdated situations sake—though it seems ridiculous to consider altering a component on such an expensive piece of drugs.

The pole’s torsional flexibility does not allow for certain draw-retrieval methods

The Roll Up Stick Clip’s design permits the Metolius Superclip attachment to function exactly as designed if you’ll have a Superclip that isn’t ridiculously stiff. Nonetheless when retrieving quickdraws from the wall with my earlier stick clips, I’ve often most popular to utilize a trick that does not require having a rope clipped to the quickdraw. Primarily, using my methodology, you slip the Superclip prongs throughout the carabiner’s gate, twist the stick clip until the gate opens, after which proceed twisting until the carabiner’s now-open mouth comes out of the hanger.

This isn’t doable with a Roll Up Stick Clip because of, though it’s hundreds stiff on its vertical and horizontal planes, the pole turns proper right into a moist noodle beneath any type of torsional stress. This is not an unlimited deal if you’ve purchased a free enough Superclip; you’ll merely should do points the usual means and clip a rope proper right into a quickdraw sooner than eradicating that quickdraw from the wall (the strategy outlined in minute three of this video).

Nonetheless with my super-stiff Superclip on my Roll Up Stick Clip pole, I’m in the intervening time unable to retrieve quickdraws the least bit, which is annoying.

Worth

Finally, all gear reviewers have to ask themselves one straightforward question: Would you buy this product?

Inside the case of the Roll Up Stick Clip—which costs a whopping $225—I’m actually not sure.

On the one hand, the Roll Up Stick Clip is a legitimately revolutionary and intensely sensible piece of drugs that has made my climbing safer and earned a eternal place in my bundle. Alternatively, $225 is a few big money, significantly considering which you can get a splendidly efficient telescoping stick clip for decrease than half that.

Primarily probably the most I can say is that this: If I had not been despatched a Roll Up Stick Clip for the wants of a overview, I positively would not have bought one; nevertheless now that the Roll Up Stick Clip is part of my quiver, I’m not sure I can return. Really, if some grungy dirtbag have been to steal mine, I’m pretty optimistic I’d agonize for just some weeks after which buy a substitute.

I really feel that’s pretty extreme reward.

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