The Petzl ZigZag, due for worldwide release in February, has already sent ripples across the tree climbing pond.
The ZigZag is still largely an unknown quantity but tree climbers are already asking about the possibility of mid-line attachment and use of the device in SRT Work Positioning (regarding the latter, Petzl have spec'ed the ZigZag for doubled rope only).
Outside the Petzl behemoth, Gordon Svedberg has been beavering away on his Bulldog OAR, first featured on these pages back in 2010.
The OAR is more Unicender-like than Petzl ZigZag but you can see the similarities - and the potential for mid-line attachment.
Gordon's latest advancements include set-nut adjustments for anchor point attachment to help reduce potential slippage on a single line and improve descent control on a doubled line - see video below.
The 'finish' on the Bulldog OAR is reminiscent of the original Unicender before is was flashed up by Rock Exotica but don't let that image taint Gordon's idea.
Treetools climbers have not trialled the Bulldog OAR yet so we cannot comment on its functionality but it does appear to present some interesting possibilities.
