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The Levistan, Version A is a Russian ascender that appears to be made of titanium. The shell consists of 4-mm sheet metal bent into a U-shaped shell. One side has a swinging side plate attached by a 21-tooth hinge milled into the shell. The hinge pin is approximately 2-mm in diameter. Although each hinge tooth is probably fairly weak, the combination appears to be adequate. The cam is milled with four low-relief teeth. It is mounted on the swinging side plate with a captured spring-loaded pin as an axle. This pin mates with a hole in the main shell, keeping the ascender closed while in use. The ascender is quickly opened by pulling on the split ring attached to the spring-loaded pin. A ring in the cam provides a larger attachment point than would otherwise be available.
This ascender is small and nicely made, although the long arm and short shell mean that the ascender will rotate about 45 degrees under load, resulting in significant lost motion.
Originally I thought the spelling was "Leviston," but in late 2006 Konstantin Serafimov (originally of Ust Kamenogorsk, Kasakhstan, now living in Isreal) sent me the following note:
You asked about "Leviston." It is really a surname - Levistan [He included the spelling in Cyrillic characters], not Leviston. I don't now his [full] name. Levistan lived in the USSR, in the town Yalta, Crimea, Ukraine. He was not a caver, but he was contriver, and invent same things for his friends-cavers, including "Levistan". This was about 1980, I think.
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William Shrewsbury gave me this ascender at the 2004 Old Timers Reunion.
This ascender appears to be made from titanium. The shell consists of a 5.3-mm sheet metal bent that was milled down to 2.8-mm except in the hinge area, then bent into a U-shaped shell. One side has a swinging side plate attached by a 19-tooth hinge milled into the shell. The hinge pin is approximately 2.5-mm in diameter. The side plate is also 5.3-mm thick in the hinge area and milled to 2.8-mm elsewhere. The hinge strength appears to be adequate. The cam is milled with four rounded teeth. It is mounted on the swinging side plate with a captured spring-loaded pin as an axle. This pin mates with a hole in the main shell, keeping the ascender closed while in use. The ascender is quickly opened by pulling on the split ring attached to the spring-loaded pin. A ring in the cam provides a larger attachment point than would otherwise be available.
The shell has a gamma-shaped extension of 3.2-mm thick, 10-mm wide fastened to the lower outside of the bend with two 2.5-mm countersunk screws. The cam has a similar extension screwed to its bottom, also with two screws. The cam end of the extension is irregular to match a clearance cut in the cam for the axle assembly. The cam and shell extension extend 55 and 51-mm below the shell, respectively.
At first I mistakenly took it for a cable ascender, but it is for rope. This ascender is small and nicely made, although the long arm and short shell mean that the ascender will rotate about 45 degrees under load, resulting in significant lost motion. The extensions below the cam do not prevent rotation; instead, they provide a convenient place for the user to squeeze the cam shut on the rope. In fact, I find that this makes a rather nice top ascender when operated manually, except that the sling rope lies a bit close to the main line for my large hands to fit between the two comfortably.
In August, 2006 Konstantin Serafimov sent me the following note:
You write about "Leviston" and about ascender which you call by name "Russian ascender, Version B" [which is what I originally called this ascender - gds]:
"In many ways, it looks like the Levinston ascender".
I want to say - it is really Leviston ascender, but this more last modification have especial function.
You can see likeness between my "Reflex" and "Leviston-B." I have a reasons believe that "Leviston-B" took main idea from "Reflex."
In October, 2006, Konstantin elaborated as follows:
"Levistan-reflex", as I identify your "Version B", was modified from "Levistan-simple" after 1983, when I worked with our "Reflex" in the Caucasus, in the All Union seminar of caving instructors, 1983 and 1985, I think.
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This ascender is not as crudely made as it first appears, since most of the illusion is due to the loose cable ends. The frame is bent from sheet steel , and the cam is milled from steel plate. The cam face has three shallow grooves, giving the ascender two low-relief teeth. The cam axle is a steel pin that is retained by a steel cable passing through a hole in the end of the pin. Two sets of holes in the shell allow the cam to be positioned for climbing different size cable.
The ascender is designed to be used on cable, but can also be used on 9-mm rope if the cam is in the outer position.
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John Weinel found this nice little ascender in 1994, and imported it as a novelty device. I like the design because it is different than many of the western designs. The frame and cam are milled from aluminum, and the cam is permanently bolted to the frame. A swinging side plate is riveted to the upper side of the frame. After the rope is inserted, the side plate is closed and slings are attached with a carabiner or maillon that passes through both the cam eye and the oval hole in the side plate. As the climber climbs, the side plate rotates with the cam. The oval hole allows this, even though the two parts are pivoting about different points. One disadvantage of this system is that it is not conducive to sewing slings to the ascender.
As with all short ascenders, this one rotates significantly in use, resulting in lost motion.
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©2008, Gary D. Storrick