I acquired this pair of ascenders in January 2005 when Serguei Khramtsov of Ural Sport made a shopping trip through the climbing shops of Yekaterinberg, Russia for me.
The shell is a tall irregular shaped stamping made from 3.9--mm. aluminum alloy sheet metal. A rope channel is formed in the upper portion of one side and a smaller cam channel lies opposite the first. There is a stamped rib behind the cam, and grinding marks at the base of the cam channel. A hole drilled through both sides of the cam channel accepts a 5--mm. roll rivet. The cam, cam spring and a washer are mounted on this rivet. The head of the rivet sits into a depression on the front of the shell, while the roll is exposed on the back side. The handle below the cam has a soft black plastic hand grip molded into place. The rounded hand grip is a synthetic rubber with one cusp to fit between the index and ring fingers. A 13.1 mm. sling attachment hole is punched below the handle opening. This hole is slightly beveled. A subtriangular hole through both sides of the rope channel provide an attachment point just above the cam. This hole is 18.4 mm. high, 15.9 mm. wide, and not beveled. It is clearly formed by milling a pattern similar to the letter "T" lying on its side.
The cam is a webbed casting with a cutout behind the cam face. The cam face is divided by a vertical slot designed to provide clearance for mud. The conical cam teeth have their axes approximately parallel to the lower surface of the cam. The tooth pattern is (3)(2S1.1S1)^3(2S2)(3), where the "S"s stand for the single longitudinal mud removal slot. The cam safety pivots on a 5.5 mm. roll rivet that passes through the cam and spur extending from the base of the cam casting. The safety is cast aluminum with a pointed thumb tab. The safety pin actuates a plunger that presses against a notch in the cam spur, much like the spring and plunger mechanism on a traditional carabiner.
The handgrip has a logo and the word "VERTICAL" molded into the front side.
The Kirov is clearly copied from the Petzl Ascension, Version D, even to the point of copying the uncomfortable spur in the hand grip, but it is better well made compared to my earlier Russian copies. I think that they could have eliminated the crude grinding on the frame, though.
The cam is nicely made (copying the Petzl Ascension, Version D), and the cam safety is solid. I like the way they attached the cam safety (the same as Petzl Ascension, Version D), but the thumb tab is too sharp (also like the Petzl Ascension, Version D). I suggest rounding this. The safety operates easily with one hand, holds the cam open well, and releases smoothly. There are no stiffening ribs in the front strap or above the hand grip, so I would be concerned about bending it over pit lips, just as with the Clog and other stamped frame ascenders.
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©2007, Gary D. Storrick