Adjustable Daisy

Really considering getting a pair of these for this coming season. Seems like I alternate between double normal daises and single normal depending on the wall, and difficulty of the aid. Really looking to streamline my system, and improve speed for certain goals I have this year.

Any opinions or insight for those of you who have experience with these?

Currently looking at Fish (#1 option), Yates, those Petzl ones w/o the cam buckle, and have also considered having a set sewn by Runout.

i have the yates ones and they make top stepping feel secure and add some speed to your set up.

Purcell Prusik

climbing.com/skill/purcell-…

It will boil down to what works for you. Sewn daisys w/fifi take more effort. The buckle type work well but are heavier and wear faster if you're trying to haul yourself and eventually you'll bust a knuckle on the metal. Also the loop that attaches to your harness is so large it makes it impossible to topstep securely if at all. (at least for me) The Metolious work well and are lighter but can't be released under load. Some people can't figure out how to extend them.

They are not as fast as standard daisy's.
They take more "moves" to get to the same place...and they tangle easier.
Look at what all the "fast" guys use....

josh

That's just not true.
If you don't believe me ask the guy with the most El Cap speed records out there what he uses.

josh

To clarify Josh's post, adjustable daisy chains have almost no learning curve so they seem much faster at first, but they totally cripple you in terms of really learning to move fast on aid. If you want to fix and fire Moonlight without learning much, they are great. If you want to link multiple walls in a day, not so good. They are really convenient on big roofs though. I'm kind of in awe when I see Josh in a hurry. Not sure I free climb 5.6 that fast.

I bought 2 metolious adjustable daisies when I first started learning to aid (I still am in my infancy of aid climbing, but have done a 10-15 C1 pitches). I found that I enjoyed them the most when I would climb up the aid ladder and tighten the daisy, or when I was standing at a belay and could adjust as needed. When they are a pain in the butt is when they matter most. SCENARIO: you have set your next piece, and are trying to clip the next one. When you reach down to grab the daisy hanging free, you realize your forgot to release it to its full length after you unclipped it. I guess if you can remember to always extend the daisy back again it could work well, enough people use them.

I went and bought 2 monster daisies and a fifi hook and love that set-up. The fifi is quick and easy. Though it gets caught on things sometimes, I have gotten used to maneuvering around to limit that. I have gotten faster with this set-up. Some might be more mileage aid climbing, but I do think honing the set-up has made me faster.

+1 on the "check out what the fast guys use" comment. I watched all of the Supertopo videos from Chris Mac and that is what he uses. His advice and reasoning seems pretty sound and thoroughly tested!

All good insight guys, thanks. Like most gear it's a tool for a specific application.

I like them. Granted my background is slow shit in the desert anyway. I feel like I'm able to move rather efficiently on them but it is tempting to futz with them.

Also, my faith was reaffirmed in them when I took a full length daisy fall onto a Yates on on Cottontail and it saved me from taking a 50 footer onto the belay.

I've only been up a few walls but here's what I think. Adjustable daisys make jugging easier. You can make micro adjustments to your distances to your ascenders very quickly. As you probably know if your top arm is too extended you will weight it too much and you will get tired, but too close and well, you know. When I am leading I mostly keep them all the way out. I usually just walk up the steps holding on to the biner or the wall. If the route is steep I try to use the fifi first the adj daisys only if I have to. I used to constantly pull in the slack on the daisy, then I would have to remember to let out the slack so I could make the next move. This constant adjusting takes time and I had to finally just stop doing that.

M2C YMMV

Wes

I'm not super experienced at aid, but that possibly makes it more relevant:
Adjustables are slower and a bit of a faff, but, if like me you are slow, crap and get worried easily, then for roofs they seem really relaxing. On less steep ground, no real point: just walk to the top of the ladder and clip/fifi in.

The most important things for speed I've ever been told are: never look at the piece or the rock once you have stepped into the ladder - just start walking up; don't stop walking until you reach the second step; short fix.