Treetools published the latest Husky promo video in a Pro Climb blog the other day. The climber depicted in the video flicks his Husky chainsaw off the 'caritool' on his harness with ease - attracting comments from some of our regular blog readers.
The Petzl Caritool (available in large and small format) is not the only option for easy tool attachment to the harness but it is definitely one of our biggest sellers.
Its popularity can be attributed to the unique clip attachment which slides securely onto the harness webbing locking it into position. The caritool also has a strong wire gate snap.
But there is one complaint leveled regularly against the Caritool (the small option in particular) - they are prone to break on the bottom curve where it swings away from the webbing.
A stronger alternative wire-gate tool attachment clip is the Ice Clipper by Black Diamond.
The Ice Clipper appears to be made from a better grade of plastic (if there is such a thing) and the load-bearing bottom curve is well-and-truly beefed up (15mm diameter over 8mm diameter on the Petzl) making this a far more robust solution.
The downside of the Ice Clipper is the webbing attachment - it's a relatively lightweight elastic loop which is the first thing to go. Some climbers replace the original Ice Clipper attachment with with a rubber carabiner clasp from Kong and that seems to work far better.
Another niggle with the Ice Clipper is the wire snap gate - it is not as strong as the Petzl offering.
All-in-all it does appear… you certainly can't always get what you want!
