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Petzl Bolsa Review

The Bolsa is a funnel style bag that we found great as either a half-day cragging pack, or as a follower bag on big multi-pitch routes where you need to bring extra cord for rappels
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Petzl Bolsa Review (Petzl Bolsa)
Petzl Bolsa
Credit: Petzl Bolsa
Price:  $40 List
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Manufacturer:   Petzl
By Ian Nicholson & Graham Williams  ⋅  Feb 23, 2018
88
OVERALL
SCORE
  • Rope Cleanliness - 25% 10.0
  • Ease of Packing the Rope - 20% 10.0
  • Ease of Unpacking the Rope - 15% 7.0
  • Packability - 15% 7.0
  • Ease of Transportation - 10% 10.0
  • Features - 15% 8.0

Our Verdict

Petzl discontinued production of the Bolsa in 2019
REASONS TO BUY
Easy and quick to pack away rope
Functions as a crag pack
Tarp lays flat and is spacious
REASONS TO AVOID
Rope isn't as easy to take out as other models
Rope doesn't always pay out as nicely once it's taken back out
The Petzl Bolsa is unique because it's a rope bag that is a fairly functional cragging pack as long as you don't need too much stuff. It easily fits a 70m rope, shoes, harness, 10 draws and still has a little more room for other items. The Bolsa uses a newer “funnel” style design. Compared to the much more common “burrito” fold-and-roll design, it's much quicker and easier to pack. Its only downside is that it's slightly harder to unpack and it doesn't keep the rope as tangle-free as most other models we tested. What's also rad is the Bolsa comes at a killer price for a funnel style designed rope bag that doubles as a crag pack.

Our Analysis and Test Results

The Petzl Bolsa doesn't cost too much and can hold its fair share of gear. One of our top scorers, it boasts a funnel style design that makes it an ideal cragging pack.

Performance Comparison


petzl bolsa - petzl bolsa
Petzl Bolsa
Credit: Ian Nicholson

Keeping Your Rope Clean


The Bolsa was one of our top scorers among rope bags for keeping ropes clean and out of the dirt. The Bolsa dimensionally features the second-largest tarp that's 55"x 55". While other tarps were close in measurements to the Bolsa, it felt bigger than the numbers might imply because of its funnel-style design which allowed it to lay flatter, unlike the burrito style designs which tended to bunch up at one end. Overall, the Bolsa does an excellent job of catching falling ropes and gives us plenty of room to flake rope on.

petzl bolsa - petzl bolsa
Petzl Bolsa
Credit: Ian Nicholson

Ease of Packing the Rope


The Bolsa uses a funnel-style design that is among the quickest and easiest rope bags to pack, simply lift all four corners, give a quick shake and the rope slides into the bag. The Bolsa is quicker than most traditional burrito-style bags.

petzl bolsa - petzl bolsa
Petzl Bolsa
Credit: Ian Nicholson

Ease of Unpacking the Rope


This is the only real downside of the Bolsa and it's a small one. After you have shaken the rope into the bag and moved on to another route, the rope is marginally harder to take out and would tangle slightly more often than a traditional folding/rolling style rope bag, obviously the trade-off with the Bolsa is it's easier and quicker to put away. Again it's not terrible; it's just not quite as easy. The rope tends to get a little more tangled.

petzl bolsa - the bolsa showing its versatility as it doubles as a cragging pack...
The Bolsa showing its versatility as it doubles as a cragging pack that can easily be used for half-day sport climbing forays or even all-day warmer-weather climbing adventures. In this photo the Bolsa has a 70m x 10.1 rope, shoes, chalk bag, harness and still has room for a little more. In addition, the Bolsa is one of the best priced products in our review.
Credit: Ian Nicholson

Compressibility, Pack-ability, and Ease of Transportation


The Bolsa, like the Metolius Speedster, is designed to be worn as a backpack rather than be packed inside of a larger crag pack. Unlike most over-the-shoulder carried rope bags, the backpack-style of this model makes long approaches more comfortable. Our testers didn't like wearing sling-style packs on approaches longer than 25-30 minutes when loaded down with a 70m x 10.1mm rope. Those same testers didn't mind wearing the Bolsa for an hour or more on hikes with the same rope, plus extras.

Short Distances

The Bolsa is easy to move route-to-route, simply grab the four corners and move on. Most of the time, we didn't shake the rope into the lower bag if we were making a short move. This also helped keep the rope from getting as clustered. We did, however, pack the rope away most of the time for moves of more than a few minutes.

petzl bolsa - petzl bolsa
Petzl Bolsa
Credit: Ian Nicholson

Other Features


Other than backpack straps and the funnel style design the Bolsa doesn't have very many extra small features. The Bolsa does have four grab loops that are also possible places to tie the end of your rope, in addition to its two color-coded tie-in points.

Best Application


The Bolsa soars above most of the competition on long approaches. If you pack light on crag days, this model is also a two-in-one rope bag and crag pack.

Value


The Bolsa is one of the best-priced rope bags out there and one of the coolest. Among backpack-style and funnel-style rope bags we tested, this model hits the lowest price point.

Conclusion


Petzl created a versatile rope bag in the Bolsa. Our ropes slid in with ease, and it keeps them clean with a large tarp. We like it for its potential crag-pack ability but also think it's a booty-kicking rope bag on its own.

Ian Nicholson & Graham Williams