Don't buy Petzl Dragonfly half ropes.

I recently bought Petzl Dragonfly 60m half ropes. They are bad. The very first time I used them the sheath tore exposing the core of the ropes. This was from normal wear and tear - no falls or sharp edges. I sent the damaged ropes back to Petzl for warranty and they could not offer me anything; not even covering the shipping cost for the return. I now learned that other people have had similar problems with Petzl ropes, so I recommend you avoid Petzl ropes altogether.

I can't believe that Petzl hasn't fixed this yet. I've heard this happening to lots of people, myself included. This happened to me a couple years ago. Pathetic. What a dangerous waste of $320.

How old are those ropes?

I know folks who have had similar experiences; the sheaths of those ropes are notoriously delicate. Disappointing from a company that is usually known for durable, high quality items.

First use of the ropes. I bought them in June 2011 and they sat in my closet for almost a year (dry, dark wrapped in original plastic) while i was using my previous set of ropes for their final season. What a waste of $320 indeed. My previous doubles - Bluewaters - lasted for years in great shape.

It seems to be a variable problem. People ranted how bad the Petzl Fuse were and I have two of them, zero problems. But I guess I lucked out with my batch (so far).

There was also a problem with the Petzl Zepyhr. I would really think that a quality company like Petzl who charges an arm and a leg for,usually top notch products, would have better QC when it comes to their ropes.

I had the Petzl Nomad 9.8 a couple of years back and had experienced similar problems. I used it as my primary gym rope and after only a few visits the sheathing started to frey.

I had the same experience... one of the buyers in the store i worked at had a bad experience (almost terminal fuzzing on the first use) when he called petzl on it they said they'd give him a discount on a new rope... a nominal discount... anyway, we didn't restock their ropes... Enter David Roetzel (or however he spells it) from petzl... man i have never seen someone throw such a fit and try to suppress information... despite it being common that they had a problem with their ropes in the beginning, he shows up in the shop raving pissed saying that he can't have people saying bad things about his ropes...but when people are getting core shots lowering climbers on topropes at the ice cream parlor with gri-gri's.... that's something i'd like to know before buying one... Shameful that their ropes had to compromise their good name... I had really high hopes...

My Petzl Zephyr was absolutely awful. It handled terribly, and the sheath would literally just disintegrate and powder off as it ran through devices and carabiners. Never have I had a rope that went straight from being bad out of the package to a fuzzy kinky mess in such a short amount of time.

I have used the 9.4 fuse for almost two years now, and I have no complaints. Sure, it was orange, and it is now black, but Smith Rock is a pretty dusty place so I haven't given it much thought. Has it worn? yes. Too fast? I wouldn't say so.

I've also climbed on a buddy's set of dragonflies, on mixed snow and Oregon volcano crumble, luckily for us no core shots like you experienced

Sorry your ropes were bogus, IMHO it doesn't really make sense

Climbed for 3 years on Dragon Flies with no problems. I have also owned two Nomads (one 60m and one 70m); no problems there either. On the contrary, one of my partners owned one of the original Fuzes and it was a piece of garbage after one week of climbing; fuzzy, stiff as shit, and dirty as hell. I guess I don't have any real complaints because my ropes all seemed to be fine, but at the same time, I think the quality of all of the Bluewater products I have owned in the past has been quite a bit higher (doubles and single lines).

I originally bought the Petzl ropes because when I bought them, they were a good bit cheaper than similar ropes and they included some bells and whistles to boot (i.e. double dry, middle mark at no extra cost). However, in the past year or two, Petzl jacked up their prices to equal Bluewater stuff. Thus I will likely never buy another Petzl rope....why the hell would I pay an equal price for an inferior product.

J. Albers wrote:On the contrary, one of my partners owned one of the original Fuzes and it was a piece of garbage after one week of climbing; fuzzy, stiff as shit, and dirty as hell.

True the fuses are pretty stiff. I didn't mind though since the sheath at least for me was pretty tough, no fuzzing or frays at all.

And the fact I got a 70m for $100 new. That helps.

Scott McMahon wrote: True the fuses are pretty stiff. I didn't mind though since the sheath at least for me was pretty tough, no fuzzing or frays at all. And the fact I got a 70m for $100 new. That helps.

Yeah, the whole $100 thing was indeed the reason my partner bought the rope (REI, yes?). Hard to turn down a 70m rope for that amount of change. However, if that rope were any more expensive, it would not be worth it.

For those of you that had problems with the Dragon Flies, what color were your ropes? The reason I ask, is that they changed the color a while ago, and knowing the color of the rope may help date the model. My ropes were the orange and green ropes....probably about 3 years old or so.

John Wilder wrote: That said, its not so much the problems with the ropes that bother me (although that is disconcerting), its the approach Petzl takes with it. They are overly self-defensive and accusatory toward their customers if anything goes wrong with them. No other manufacturer does this...

I thought the customer service was crap. The guy who managed (and denied) my warranty request gave me this long schpeil about how he had that same kind of sheath tear at Indian Creek one time and it was just tough luck and part of the game... That's totally unreasonable. I've been climbing regularly for 10 years now and have never seen or heard of a new rope failing like that. It seemed like a slimy way to get out of providing good customer service or reliable products.

J. Albers wrote:However, in the past year or two, Petzl jacked up their prices to equal Bluewater stuff. Thus I will likely never buy another Petzl rope....why the hell would I pay an equal price for an inferior product.

I totally agree. Thanks everyone for sharing your input.

John Wilder wrote:They are overly self-defensive and accusatory toward their customers if anything goes wrong with them. No other manufacturer does this- Sterling, Blue Water, Edelrid, Mammut, New England- i've heard of folks having various problems with all of these lines, and without exception, they have all been taken care of immediately and without question.

It says a lot about the company's priorities....

Kind of scary.

Dragonflys are total crap. Had the sheath on one rip on first use. Dry coating isn't. Barely lasted 1/2 a season with occasional use.

Nomad just about as bad terminal fuzz after only a couple of uses.

Will NEVER by Petzl ropes again. Between these, the issues with the Nomic pommel, and the initial issues with the Gri Gri 2, I think they need to re-examine their QC processes.

There have been tons of people that have had problems with Petzl's ropes. I am amazed that Petzl does not take a more professional stance on this and warranty out their obviously flawed product. Realistically, they need to recall all of the effected ropes and replace them. Sheath failure is a big concern. If a climber is using an ascender and the rope desheaths, he or she could deck and possibly die. It has certainly happened before. Most climbing equipment manufacturers jump at replacing damaged goods, largely in fear of a lawsuit. It seems if the only way Petzl is going to fix this obvious engineering flaw is if someone actually gets hurt and files a lawsuit against Petzl. I don’t mind the lawsuit part as much, if Petzl is knowingly distributing a defective life safety product then they should get sued. However, if it takes someone getting hurt or killed before they fix this issue, then they should not be in the climbing equipment manufacturing business period. Petzl's lack of professionalism in this manner has damaged their reputation with me, and no longer will I reference them as a leader in the field.

I had a petzl sama harness. The contact points at the tie in wore out in TWO MONTHS. I sent it to them, complete with the receipt.

Petzl sent me a nice letter claiming it was "normal wear" and was not covered under warranty. Really? Two months of "normal wear" is your product shitting out at the tie in?

I have a set of dragonflys (70m). They are okay, but honestly, have not seen a ton of use. I have occasionally used one on a flatiron jaunt, and they've seen some ice.

I noticed the same thing that others did, that the sheath seemed to disintegrate in the belay device, leaving a lot of the sheath remnants on the device.

Due to the fact that I use these ropes seldomly, I predict that they will reach end-of-life time-wise before they wear out, but they do seem to wear A LOT faster than the Edelwiess Bluewater, and Mammut ropes I have had in the past. I won't be buying a Petzl rope the next time I need doubles.

I WOULD like to see Petzl recall, and either give me my $340 back, or provide a replacement.

I agree that Petzl ropes are aweful

I think the quality control is quite spotty. I have a 9.4 70m that has lasted almost 3 years and still looks good, but the 10.2 petzl rope (zephy?) wore out in less than a year of light use.

Also wasn't the Gri-Gri 2 recalled shortly after it was released? It seems to me that the commitment to good quality gear isn't there. I wouldn't buy a petzl rope anytime soon.