Reversino	Reverso, Version A	Reverso, Version B

Overview

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Reversino
(#793)

Front	Rear	Top
Left	Right	Bottom

Technical Details

I acquired my Reversino from Mountain Gear in 2004.

The Reversino is a smaller Version of the Reverso, designed for use with 9 mm. ropes. Mine is 68 mm. long, 93 mm. wide, 33 mm. high, and weighs 57 g. The Reversino is made from a stamped aluminum frame, a stamped aluminum rope channel, two extruded aluminum rope blocks and a rivet. The frame is a tilted heart-shaped stamping with one large hole below the rope channels and a smaller hole to the side. The rope channels are formed by a second U-shaped stamping. The center of the U is notched so that won't wobble on the frame. The sides have a quadrilateral cutout that lightens the reversino somewhat. The ends are closed by a rivet that passes through the channel piece, a rope block, the frame, a second rope block, and the other end of the channel piece. The rope blocks are tear-drop shaped, 9.5 mm. long, 16 mm. high and 14.3 mm in diameter, with the point of the teardrop pointing down and inward at about 135°. The rope channel is 27.3 mm. long, 10.9 mm. wide at the one end, and 9.6 mm. wide at the rope block.

One side of my Reverso is stamped "03335C," which is the date of manufacture (335th day of 2003) and the control code. The other side has the "reading is dangerous" icon. The end of the channel piece is stamped with the Petzl Logo, "PATENTED," "REVERSINO," and "∞Ø≥7.5."

Comments

The Reversino is a smaller Version of the Reverso, designed for use with 9 mm. ropes. Most of my comments on the Reverso apply to the Reversino as well, except that the Reversino does not have instructions stamped on it, while the Reverso does - so I cannot object to them. The Reversino is too large and has too many limitations for me to choose it. I won't say that it is dangerous, but the user needs to be aware of its limitations to use it safely.

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Reverso, Version A
(#761)

Front	Rear	Top

Left	Right	Bottom

Technical Details

I acquired this Reverso from Inner Mountain Outfitters in 2001.

This Reverso is 73 mm. long, 99 mm. wide, 42 mm. high, and weighs 84 g.

The Reverso is made from a stamped aluminum frame, a stamped aluminum rope channel, two extruded aluminum rope blocks and a rivet. The frame is a tilted heart-shaped stamping with one large hole below the rope channels and a smaller hole to the side. The rope channels are formed by a second U-shaped stamping. The center of the U is notched so that won't wobble on the frame. The ends are closed by a rivet that passes through the channel piece, a rope block, the frame, a second rope block, and the other end of the channel piece. The rope blocks are tear-drop shaped, 13 mm long, 16 mm. high and 14.3 mm. in diameter, with the point of the teardrop pointing down and inward at about 135°. The rope channel is 31.4 mm. long, 15 mm. wide at the one end, and 14.3 mm. wide at the rope block.

Each side of the rope channel has hand and climber icons showing how to rig the device. One side of my Reverso is stamped "01176C," which is the date of manufacture (176th day of 2001) and the control code. The other side has the "reading is dangerous" icon. The end of the channel piece is stamped with the Petzl Logo, "REVERSO," and "Patented."

Comments

First of all, I don't know why this is called the "Reverso" when the instructions don't mention anything about "reversing." Perhaps it refers to the fact that one can ignore the icons on the side of the device and reverse it to get more friction, as shown by the figure above - if so, I can't agree with putting icons on to show the minimum friction configuration.

One thing I dislike about the normal rigging configuration is that the rope to the climber leaves the rope channel over the stamping. With time, the stamping will wear into a sharp edge that can do serious rope damage. The Reverso should be discarded before this happens, but in caving, devices can wear pretty quickly. If I had to use the Reverso, running the rope in this direction might save it once, but I’d rather choose another device where I didn't have to worry.

Petzl shows the Reverso being used as an Autoblock (see the figure at left), but warns, "Be careful, it is not possible to give slack with the rope under tension." The Trango B52 has a similar capability and limitation.

Like most belayers, the Reverso can be used for rappelling. The figure at the bottom of this page shows Petzl’s recommendations. Petzl recommends using a Petzl Shunt as a rappel "safety;" I won't show this figure because I have differing opinions.

The Reverso is too large and has too many limitations for me to choose it. I won't say that it is dangerous, but the user needs to be aware of its limitations to use it safely.

Friction Settings for Rappel

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Reverso, Version B
(#3745)

Front	Rear	End

Top	Bottom

Technical Details

I acquired this Petzl Reverso, Version B from Goodholm Living Inc. in 2022.

This Reverso is 78 mm. long, 95 mm. wide, 41 mm. high, and weighs 82 g.

This version is made from a stamped aluminum frame, a stamped aluminum rope channel, two extruded aluminum rope blocks and a rivet. The frame is a tilted heart-shaped stamping with one large hole below the rope channels and a smaller hole to the side. The rope channels are formed by a second U-shaped stamping. The center of the U is notched so that won't wobble on the frame. The ends are closed by a rivet that passes through the channel piece, a rope block, the frame, a second rope block, and the other end of the channel piece. The rope blocks are 12.4 mm long, 17 mm. high and 15 mm. wide with four ribs on the upper surface. The rope channel is 33.5 mm. long, 14.7 mm. wide at the "U" end, and 12.4 mm. wide at the rope block.

One side of the rope channel is stamped with "06194KC," "1401," and hand and climber icons showing how to rig the device. The other side is stamped with the "reading is dangerous" icon. The end is stamped with the Petzl Logo, "Patented," "REVERSO," and "½ Ø ≥ 8."

Comments

This version adds ribs to the top of the rope blocks. These do not make a noticeable difference when compared to the smooth blocks found on the previous version.

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