Next Return Previous

Early Jumar Version E

This Jumar puzzles me. It is essentially the same as Version D, even down to the "+GF+K9681" cast into the frame, but it is painted yellow. The paint is peeling off, but inside the frame there is a remnant of the original Jumar label over the paint, and the paint also runs under the cam rivet, so it appears that the paint was original. On the other hand, the cam looks unused while the rest of the ascender looks abused, so this may be a replacement cam, and a replacement sticker could have been added later. A touch of red paint on the pivot cover suggests a later repainting as well.

The initials "KK" are stamped into the frame. The safety has a countersink head wood screw added to serve as cam hold-open catch.

I included this ascender because of the spring-wire clip at the bottom. It is well-made, so I don't know if it is original or was added by a previous owner. I suspect the latter, but in any case its a bad idea, because it implies that you can tie in to this type of jumar by tying around the frame instead of using the square hole at the base. There have been several reports of ascender failure resulting from this mistake (Davison, Don Jr., Hits and Near Misses, N.S.S. News, v 34, #5, May, 1976, p. 80; Davison, Don Jr., Hits and Near Misses, N.S.S. News, v 35, #4, April, 1977, p. 73).