RescueMagazines (rescuemagazines.com) has published a comprehensive review of the AWAH Z2-R in their 84th issue.
From the Review
“AWAH stands for Artisans Working at Height and unlike many Chinese manufacturers paid less to produce the least expensive option, AWAH seem a class apart. They are actually a team of rope access technicians who install air conditioning units and needed something to assist in the hard work and tedium of getting heavy air-con units on and off at height. So they designed and built their own battery-drill assisted hauling device that also happens to function well as a powered ascender and MA system pulley.”
“This device could have had Rock Exotica emblazoned on it and we wouldn’t have been surprised or disappointed in the quality.”
Key Specifications
- Rope diameter: 10-11 mm (copes well with 9 mm)
- Load range: 30-200 kg (Z2-R rescue version)
- Wide 32 mm / 1.25″ bottom connecting eye
- Self-tailing / self-tending capability
- Requires a high-performance brushless drill with up to 150 Nm torque, minimum 4Ah battery
- Uses an 8 mm (5/16″) hexagonal bit (supplied)
As a Powered Ascender
Testing with a Milwaukee brushless M18 series drill and 5.5Ah battery gave approximately 200m of ascending with 118 kg / 260 lb load (with 10m resets giving battery recovery time). The 8Ah battery gave around a third longer run-time. Testing pushed beyond the stated 200 kg SWL — the Z2 lifted around 256 kg of timber platform easily, and was repeatedly pulled against a fixed anchor up to 400 kg with no discernible rope damage.
As a Descender
The Z2-R does not power down with the drill — it is purely manual. The handle is not proportional; it simply releases the sheave to rotate in the opposite direction. The handle operates as an autolock — if you let it go, it springs back to its parked position and you are safely held in the locked position.
Conclusions from RescueMagazines
“This is a large, heavy lump and it’s certainly not cheap so the progress capture and pulley elements are bonuses — but as a far less expensive and versatile powered ascender/hauler, AWAH are definitely on to something and they’ve done an impressive job. It is well supported by the manufacturer with a year’s warranty, a degree of self-replacement of components and a network of dealers.”
At roughly £1,200 / €1,400 / $1,500, it is less than half the price of the smallest key battery-powered ascender brands.