Petzl Djinn Axess Review

The Petzl Djinn Axess has double cold-forged keylock carabiners, with a bent gate on the lower end. The sling is 12cm long and 16mm wide. This draw has some of the largest carabiners with the widest gate opening, which is helpful if you have large hands, or need something that you can efficiently use with gloves on when ice climbing.

Performance Comparison

Petzl's Djinn Axess is a great addition to their limited quickdraw line. Constructed with durability in mind and less expensive than the Spirit Express, the Djinn Axess is sure to rival its sister in popularity.

Ease of Clipping

The carabiners on this model were some of the largest that we tested. The bent gate opening was 27mm wide, and our testers with larger hands found that the Djinn Axess clipped very easily. The wide gate opening also makes it easy to place a clove hitch or other rope anchor points in the bottom carabiner at the top of a climb.

There's a lot of different ways to clip your rope into a quickdraw. The Djinn does well at all of them.

Ease of Unclipping

The keylocking carabiners on both ends of this quickdraw prevent it from snagging on your harness, the bolt, or the rope when cleaning steep sport routes. The downside to having a keylock carabiner on the rope clipping end of a draw is that there is potential for the gate (which is heavier than a wiregate) to 'flutter' open during a fall. A carabiner with an open gate is significantly less strong than when it's closed (9kN open vs. 23 kN closed for the Petzl Djinn Axess) which can lead to the carabiner breaking. In practical application, the instances of this happening are exceedingly rare, but it is something to consider. Another downside of the solid gate design is the tendency for it to get gummed up and sticky over time. If you are looking for a keylock/wiregate combo, the Black Diamond LiveWire Quickdraw is a good choice.

Look how wide that opening is! This carabiner practically unclips itself.

Portability

This was one of the heavier quickdraws that we tested, weighing 3.7 ounces per draw. If you're looking for something lightweight to take up a long route, you'd be better off with a set of Black Diamond Oz Quickdraws. On the other hand, the Djinn are heavier because they're made with durability in mind. The bigger and heavier "rugged" carabiners on this draw are more likely to last longer than thinner, lightweight ones.

If the draws are already hanging you won't notice that they're a little on the heavy side...

Ease of Handling

The Djinn Axess earned mix reviews for ease of handling. The oversized carabiners feel great in all size hands, but our testers with larger "paws" really appreciated it, as some of the smaller carabiners out there can be difficult for them to handle. However, they did feel slightly clunky on our harness when racking a whole set of them at once. This model also comes with Petzl's String bottom carabiner positioner, which is an external and removable rubber keeper. The upside to a removable keeper is that you can switch it out if starts to wear out or break; the downside is that it creates the potential for user error. Be sure to double check that your draws are assembled correctly - the bottom carabiner must pass through the sling and the rubber String.

Male testers liked the slightly bigger than normal carabiner size. They're also a great choice for times when you'll be wearing gloves, like when ice climbing - clearly NOT pictured here.

Ease of Grabbing

The sling on the Djinn Axess is only 16mm wide. While it is easier to grab than the 10mm dogbones found on lightweight models, it's not nearly as easy to grab as the wider slings on the DMM Alpha Sport or the Petzl Spirit Express. Those quickdraws both have 25mm wide slings

The main downside to the Djinn is our estimation is the thinner sling. We've actually seen people buy these carabiners separately (because they like the larger size) and then mount them on the Spirit's wider dogbone for easier grabbing.

Best Applications

Petzl touts the Djinn Axess as good for someone's "initiation to outdoor climbing." We agree that it is a great choice for someone just starting out in the sport, as long as it's for sport climbing! These draws are heavily constructed to withstand the type of use that someone new to the sport might dish out (dropping draws, a lot of top-roping, and draw grabbing), but you wouldn't want them on your trad rack. While the Black Diamond Positron score a little lower overall, we think that is a great first draw as well, thanks to its keylock design and slightly wider sling.

These are a great quickdraw to use for repeated top-roping or for your anchors at the top of a climb. Save your expensive lightweight gear for the long routes and use these beefy draws instead.

Value

The Djinn Axess are priced about $7 less apiece than the Petzl Spirit Express, and might even last longer than them, so, all in all, they are a great buy.

Conclusion

Unlike Black Diamond, which seems to have a different draw for every day of the week, Petzl only had two options for many years: the Spirit Express and the lightweight Ange Finesse (not reviewed here). Their decision to make another sport-specific draw might end up challenging the popularity of its ubiquitous Spirit Express. The Djinn Axess is a great, though heavy, sport climbing draw that should stand up to the wear and tear that bolts and repeated top roping will dish out to your gear.