Trango Squid - The UnClip Stick

Did some research on which stick clip to buy and this one seemed to be the right fit. Watched some videos on how to use it. Sadly when I got it and was pulling off one of the zip ties it broke one of the "rope arms".So I epoxy glued it together. Went to the crag for a test and learned quickly that it is somewhat slippery, meaning it doesn't quite want to hold the carabiner in place but instead it is slowly slipping out of position, especially with rope weight.When applying enough pressure to hold the carabiner, it seems like its ready to break.After some getting a feel for it (clipping in and unclipping) it works ok.Also on vertical or less than vertical wall angles clipping the rope in after the quickdraw was placed was difficult.Lastly it seems like it can be somewhat easily broken if hit against something or if something hit it.

This device would be amazing if it wasn't made out of cheap plastic. It is easy to clip and unclip draws. It's easy to clip fixed draws, but unfortunately it broke my second time out. I broke after a few weeks of owning it. I reached out to Trango to see if they'd replace it. I own a whole rack of their big bros and genuinely like their products. I'll report back if they honor their products.Edit Dec 18 2022- After initially having good conversation with Trango I was lead to believe they were going to replace it, but after no contact and multiple emails sent they haven't replied back. Unfortunately this company doesn't stand by their products which is a total bummer. It honestly makes me rethink buying anything from them again.

I am using this to hook and un-hook things from my ceiling; I built an aerial gym for my autistic kid. I am using standard light duty D-style carabiners. The device does work with a lot of fussing and luck. It can hook and un-hook carabiners; however, this is very difficult. The arm that holds the gate open keeps its position by the friction of it's mounting pivot; some gate springs may be too strong for this. It holds the body of the carabiner between the gate arm and a silicon pad; which does not grip very well.I have found that it is easier to use if there is tension on the system in some way. This is a great idea that needs just a little more development. There needs to be a way to lock carabiners into the system that can be set and released at a distance. Any engineers in the house???!!!I'm keeping it until I break it... It does work.

Decided to buy this for sketchy or high first bolts. It took just a few attempts and I'm pretty comfortable clipping and unclipping using this thing. Seems to work easiest when using key lock biners as it's less likely to be snagged as you clip and unclip from below. Might be obvious for some (and maybe it's in the instructions), but I found it easier to unclip without the rope in as the weight of the rope kept pulling down the draws as I attempted to unclip them. It'd be best to practice clipping and unclipping on something easy to make sure you can retrieve your gear just in case. Durability seems solid as I was pretty harsh on it and its pretty much all plastic so it was a concern I had initially.

This is probably the most versatile stick clipping tool. You can use it like a normal stick clip and clip ropes into a caribiner that is already up. I would say there is one minor design issue. The tension system for holding the gate open works much better on some caribiner shapes than others. Not an issue for me because I have a variety of draws. If you had one model of draw only, however, this could be an issue

I enjoy sport climbing very much. The Squid is a fantastic tool I take every outing. I use it to both attach my first quickdraw and to clip the rope in at the bottom of a route to insure I will not take a fall. Another use is to remove a quickdraw from a route. We use the Squid every time we climb outdoors. Every team my wife and I climb with has a Squid as a part of their must have gear. Do yourself a favor and grab a Squid.

I love this thing.There is certainly a learning curve - at first I back clipped 4/5 clips. However, once you get the hang of it, this thing works perfectly. My favorite part - you can use it to unclip. This feature is extremely useful when you're not sure of the grades at your local crag, or you're ready to push your grade and not excited about the possibility of losing gear.

It takes a while to get the hang of using this stick clip to retrieve a quickdraw from a bolt, but it's a great option to avoid having to leave gear when you can't finish a route and need to lower off before reaching the chains/bolts.I know there are cheaper options to stick a clip and rope to a bolt, but I have not seen anything that can also retrieve a quickdraw as efficiently as this device.I would definitely recommend this product to anyone that has experienced the frustration of having to retrieve gear after being exhausted.