UKC

now that the dust has settled abit i see the vast majority of reviews are very positive.

although the negative reviews possibly have a way of taking care of themselves.

I don't have one and if someone got me one for Christmas I'd be happy about it.

Just googled out of intrigue; wow! Surely a game changer (if you don't kill yourself using it)? Saves carrying a tag line.

Tricky with gloves on though maybe?

TBH I bought one when they came on the market as an interesting toy. Someone could even try it out setting up a top rope for eg access to a sea cliff since  the stopper knot used for first down makes it bombproof. They could then investigate the ease or otherwise of release by pulls until the knot was reached....virtually no time taken away from the climbing day. I imagine most would use a backup sling on first use !

I did the same. Read "releasable rappel" and "single strand" and hit the back button as fear took me in its icy grip.

As a Christmas present it would feel a bit like being given a base-jumping wingsuit. But cheaper I guess.

Surely it's no issue abbing on a single strand of rope. If you're using this I'd guess you'd be climbing on a single or triple rated rope and you wouldn't be dynamically loading it like you would if you were falling.

It depends. Are you a beneficiary in their will?

On a non-retrievable ab thats obviously fine. The terrifying aspect of the Escaper is whole thing about releasing the rope by just tugging it.

(Getting off the topic of present-suitability though)

I have one and have used it a few times now. I can honestly say that there is little to no chance of it releasing by accident. Quite the opposite. Its actually a bit scary getting to the bottom and wondering if the bounce and release motion is actually doing anything. But it is. After about 20 really full on tugs down it comes. For one or two pitches of abseiling, it's just the job. I wouldn't want to do more than that as its actually knackering to keep bouncing it.

I watched a video of it, out of interest. Think I'd only ever use one as an emergency option, if you had no choice ab'ing off an overhang.

Otherwise, nah, not for me.

I'd prefer the wingsuit - but then I used to skydive.

im interested if you have any thoughts about how this product was developed?

the concept itself seems wild, to then take that forward through R&D to something i can buy off the shelf at V12 seems like a really high bar to prove its effective.

I think it is such a specialised piece of kit that there is a high chance of it being an unwanted/unloved gift.   If i was happy to use it, I'd have gone out and bought it already.

Well it's just a prussick loop/releasable Chinese finger trap. It's good lateral thinking and bound to be a guide or alpinist with a bee in their bonnet. And if you put it in the context of french multipitch bolted routes it makes some sense. Single ropes are convenient for bolted pitches, and this is a light, easy way to retreat if needs be.

Whilst I can appreciate the naysayers points of view, quite honestly I think it's because they've never been in the same room as one, let alone  tried one. I'm not going to pretent it's not niche, but it does exactly what it promises.

Perhaps worth emphasizing that for all except the last person it will never release because a stopper knot is tied as per instructions. The last person removes that knot but is still very safe abseiling as they have checked for any slippage during the previous abseils.

We took one a couple of winters ago on the north face of the eiger as we were climbing on a single rope for speed. Took it just in case.

It's ok as a present, but they'd likely prefer a full season chamonix lift pass. (Just in case my other half has created an account here to test opinions.)

As others have said, I think even if you're not planning to use it for routine descent, ie. if you were doing a big route, planning to walk off the top, but fancied a back-up descent option, seems pretty decent to me. I can think of it being pretty useful in places like the Dolomites, Verdon, alps etc