Review of Petzel Freino Carabiner
By Matt Smith

Rigging the proper amount of friction on a rappel or belay device can be tricky, especially when you have changing conditions, such as in a guiding situation. In the past, I have dealt with this by rigging with a second carabiner, an extra bight on the rope, a biner on the leg loop, or a muenter combination. Now there is a convenient alternative, the Petzl Freino.

There are a few limitations to the Freino. First, Petzl's technical data sheet says you can only use it with devices where the rope is not in direct contact with the carabiner, such as a rack, a figure 8, or a stop. Second, the wire gate doesn't fit double ropes very well (one might say if you're using double ropes friction isn't a problem...I beg to differ with Ice Floss or true 8 mm ropes). There is a solution to the first problem. I just put the Freino on one end of a 3 or 4 inch draw, and a standard HMS carabiner on hte other end. You can rig whatever rappel device on the HMS carabiner, and when necessary, clip the rope through the wire gate on the Freino. I have had excellent results using this configuration.

As to the second issue of fitting double ropes through the wire gate I only have one observation, making sure the strand getting the most friction from the rappel device is on the bottom in the Freino, thus equalizing the friction to some degree. I found this helped with rope slippage to some degree.

With a little creativity, the Freino can ver extremely versatile. However, I recommend practicing using the Freino in a controlled environment before taking it out for back country use. As with any new device or carabiner it can behave differently than you might imagine.

Summary: The Frieno is verastile, light, and original. I give it a thumbs up, and while at $37 it is a little on the pricey side it wont break your bank to try it out. And besides, you can tell your wife it is a little bit like getting two carabiners!

For more information contact:
Petzl America
www.Petzl.com
PO Box 160447
Clearfield, UT 84016
(877) 807-3805

Matt Smith is the canyoneering specialist at GearReview.com, and loves steep, cold canyons.