Climbing gear recall notice: Petzl ZIGZAG, ZIGZAG PLUS and ZILLON (2021)
What Health Canada and the maker say about the 2021 notices on the ZIGZAG, ZIGZAG PLUS and ZILLON mechanical Prusiks for tree work: the release lever defects, serial range, units, reports and exchange, and the maker's 2013 ZIGZAG recall.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page sets out what Health Canada and the maker say about the ZIGZAG, ZIGZAG PLUS and ZILLON, which Health Canada describes as mechanical Prusiks that let a climber move around in a tree. The ZILLON is a work positioning lanyard with the same mechanical Prusik and a built-in rope to wrap a trunk or limb. The wider list is in the guide to climbing gear recalls and safety notices. Each record is restated in our own words. This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here.
The 2021 notices
The maker posted a safety information notice on August 31, 2021. It says customer returns showed rope slippage on new or slightly used units. Its investigation found two defects in the release levers, both traced to a variance in the production process: the spring effect of the upper release lever can malfunction at random, and a variance in the surface treatment changed the geometry of the lever. The notice says this causes early wear of the levers and slippage that can show after a few months of use, or on new products.
Health Canada published its consumer product recall on November 25, 2021. It says that if the products are not tested or inspected as the maker's safety alert directs, the user could experience slippage and a high rate of descent to the ground, with severe injury or death.
Which products
- ZIGZAG, maker code D022AA00.
- ZIGZAG PLUS, D022BA00.
- ZILLON, L22A 025, L22A 040 and L22A 055.
- Serial numbers between 18L 0000000 000 and 21G 0000000 000.
The maker's FAQ gives the compatible rope diameter for the ZIGZAG and ZIGZAG PLUS as 11.5 to 13 mm, and says slippage is more frequent with small-diameter rope. It states a return rate of 0.025% for the spring defect and says all products in the serial range are affected by the lever geometry defect.
Numbers, dates and reports
- Health Canada: 1,977 units sold in Canada and 26,352 in the United States, from December 2018 to July 2021. Made in France.
- Reports as of November 23, 2021: none of incidents or injuries in Canada; in the United States, 2 reports of incidents involving slippage and no injuries.
- The maker says it stopped sales of the products and expected to deliver new ones after November 1, 2021. It says no injuries had been reported to it.
Remedy
The maker asks owners to do a manual inspection and a function test of the release levers and the rope hold, and offers an exchange for a product that slips, with return costs at its expense. Its FAQ gives December 31, 2022 as the last date to return a product in the serial range that slips in the test. Health Canada says consumers are told to stop using the products, follow the safety alert procedures on the maker's site and contact the distributor for an exchange or refund. Health Canada also says the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act prohibits recalled products from being redistributed, sold or given away in Canada.
The 2013 ZIGZAG recall
An earlier maker notice covers the same device name. On April 25, 2013 the maker recalled all ZIGZAG mechanical Prusiks. It traced the failure to the rope end attachment hole failing with the upper carabiner cantilevered and loaded off-axis. The notice says the maker offered a return at its cost with a credit of the retail price plus 30% or a full refund, later replaced by a standard exchange for units with serial numbers below 13108, and that a new version was planned for January 2014. This page does not cover later versions.
To correct or remove an entry, write to the address at the foot of this page.