Adjustable daisies

It just so happened that I just received my own brand new Alfifi from my partner on Friday as a gift. We both loved using his on our last aid practice while leading. Seeing my present, my eyes opened wide and I uttered out loud, "thanks, but... but... MP says only the leader needs one." He smiled, "it's okay. You can keep this one with you. Plus, maybe Mark Hudon will climb with you now that you have your own."  Knowing my partner is the only one who climbs with me, my brain went to work trying to figure out how to make use of this second Alfifi. This morning, as soon as he picked me up, I excitedly announced to him that I had figured out a great way to use Alfifi as a follower on traverse and could not wait for our next aid practice to put it in action.

You can imagine the smile on my face when I just read your responses. Thanks Kevin and Ricky for sharing your lived experience, which confirmed my vision. 

Thanks Skot for making the Alfifi! A follow up question: what's the best way to carry it when not in use? I try to let it dangle below me, but the tail seems too long. I try to carry the hook on my gear loop on the side, but it unhooks and falls off. I am thinking about rigging a very small carry loop at the hook so I can clip it into a biner on my gear loop. 

I'm sure I'll catch a bunch of sh@t for saying this but I still don't see how the alfifi is that much better than a standard Yates adj.  I concede that the Fifi hook part is probably a bit faster but you still need to lengthen it and adjust it for each move.  I've also been watching some of Oliver Tippets videos (that dude is a badass) and he still has a daisy connecting his aiders as a leash and then uses the alfifi for each move to fine tune his height.  I'm still wary about using ladders that aren't connected as all so if I'm going to have a Leash for my aiders using the Yates why have a third adj piece of gear. Obviously there are a multitude of ways to aid climb and everyone gets to use what system works best for them. I just don't see it as a massive game changer over the Yates which I have been using for 20+ years and a bunch of walls.  I did buy a petal dual connect for a trip a few years ago and did not like it.  It was hard to release under a load and felt clunky. I am a gear hoarder so maybe I'll try one for my trip this summer but I never liked Fiji hooks and ditched them when I got my 1st set of Yates.  The downfall of the Yates is that they aren't very durable but the Alfifi looks like its the same kind of webbing and buckle.

Dan Mydans wrote:

I'm sure I'll catch a bunch of sh@t for saying this but I still don't see how the alfifi is that much better than a standard Yates adj.  I concede that the Fifi hook part is probably a bit faster but you still need to lengthen it and adjust it for each move.  I've also been watching some of Oliver Tippets videos (that dude is a badass) and he still has a daisy connecting his aiders as a leash and then uses the alfifi for each move to fine tune his height.  I'm still wary about using ladders that aren't connected as all so if I'm going to have a Leash for my aiders using the Yates why have a third adj piece of gear. Obviously there are a multitude of ways to aid climb and everyone gets to use what system works best for them. I just don't see it as a massive game changer over the Yates which I have been using for 20+ years and a bunch of walls.  I did buy a petal dual connect for a trip a few years ago and did not like it.  It was hard to release under a load and felt clunky. I am a gear hoarder so maybe I'll try one for my trip this summer but I never liked Fiji hooks and ditched them when I got my 1st set of Yates.  The downfall of the Yates is that they aren't very durable but the Alfifi looks like its the same kind of webbing and buckle.

I started out leading on daisies as it's what Vdiff teaches in his big wall course and I like most of his advice, so I decided I'd give it a try. I was running laps on a tall bolt ladder and timing myself. My time dropped a lot when I switched to the alfifi. It removes a couple operations per move to use an alfifi instead of daisies. 

Dan Mydans wrote:

I'm sure I'll catch a bunch of sh@t for saying this but I still don't see how the alfifi is that much better than a standard Yates adj.  I concede that the Fifi hook part is probably a bit faster but you still need to lengthen it and adjust it for each move.  I've also been watching some of Oliver Tippets videos (that dude is a badass) and he still has a daisy connecting his aiders as a leash and then uses the alfifi for each move to fine tune his height.  I'm still wary about using ladders that aren't connected as all so if I'm going to have a Leash for my aiders using the Yates why have a third adj piece of gear. Obviously there are a multitude of ways to aid climb and everyone gets to use what system works best for them. I just don't see it as a massive game changer over the Yates which I have been using for 20+ years and a bunch of walls.  I did buy a petal dual connect for a trip a few years ago and did not like it.  It was hard to release under a load and felt clunky. I am a gear hoarder so maybe I'll try one for my trip this summer but I never liked Fiji hooks and ditched them when I got my 1st set of Yates.  The downfall of the Yates is that they aren't very durable but the Alfifi looks like its the same kind of webbing and buckle.

Pretty much you’re just adjusting one daisy instead of two daisies. I run my ladders connected to me still and the alfifi is much faster. Plus if you ever have to transition to free climbing it’s so much better; you can hang on the alfifi while wrapping up the ladders then start climbing and the fifi just falls off the piece. 

Mei pronounced as May wrote:

 

Thanks Skot for making the Alfifi! A follow up question: what's the best way to carry it when not in use? I try to let it dangle below me, but the tail seems too long. I try to carry the hook on my gear loop on the side, but it unhooks and falls off. I am thinking about rigging a very small carry loop at the hook so I can clip it into a biner on my gear loop. 

Thanks for supporting an independent American company.  Support from people like you is critical!! 

Skot Richards wrote:

Thanks for supporting an independent American company.  Support from people like you is critical!! 

Side note: Skot throws in a fistful of REAL COOL STICKERS in every order. Even my 8th graders, who are normally blase about everything wanted one...

James Arnold wrote:

Side note: Skot throws in a fistful of REAL COOL STICKERS in every order. Even my 8th graders, who are normally blase about everything wanted one...

It’s great to know they aren’t shunned! Haha 

Mei pronounced as May wrote:

Thanks Skot for making the Alfifi! A follow up question: what's the best way to carry it when not in use? I try to let it dangle below me, but the tail seems too long. I try to carry the hook on my gear loop on the side, but it unhooks and falls off. I am thinking about rigging a very small carry loop at the hook so I can clip it into a biner on my gear loop. 

I don't know if my partner came up with it intuitively, but I liked his method so much that I started doing it too, which is to shove the Alfifi down the shirt. This way, pretty much all the webbing is out of the way. I might have gone overboard when I started shoving the two aiders down my shirt when I was done using them with only free climbing left to do. Worked well though.

I usually add a turks head stopper knot that double's as a little pull-tab that sometimes comes in handy.

Isaac Leija wrote:

I usually add a turks head stopper knot that double's as a little pull-tab that sometimes comes in handy.

Ask me how to void your warranty without asking me….  

That little hole isn't going to weaken the hook in any appreciable way.  And I can see the utility in using it to clip into one's harness in a less snaggy way.  And for pulling the hook off a crowded carabineer.  

So Skot, when will we see this hole on production models?  

Don't knock it until you try it, Kevin.  I'm going to drill a hole in mine.  If I don't find it helpful, I can remove the cord.  

Lol, I've never warrantied a piece of climbing gear in 33 years.  I did have the head of my BD Yo hammer fly off and disappear into the void... But it was over ten years old, so no dice.

There’s a warranty?

JaredG wrote:

There’s a warranty?

Of course!  I stand behind the materials and craftsmanship.   I even offer replacement cam levers should yours start to slip due to wear.  The replaceable cam lever ensures you can get many years of use from your A4… 

I don't even see a hypothetical advantage of the new hole vs the existing holes.

And +1 for the warranty, replaced my cambuckle last month.

John Vang wrote:

I think usually folks replace with a thinner cord to make it easier to adjust. Also, if using as adjustable daisy, replacing the stock cord with a longer one allows for full arm extension when clipping high above you.

What size cord is recommended? 

Andrew Havranek wrote:

What size cord is recommended? 

Petzl adjust people seem to like the 5.9mm power cord or low 8mm half ropes, camp swing the Edelrid 8.9mm eco (NOT the protect pro) seems best, but most any high 8mm or low 9mm rope will work OK

many years ago long before the Petzle connect came on the market I climbed with an arborist that had a very similar  unit tied to his harness as an adjustable  personal tether.