Side Entry Ascenders

Top:Kantyu, Bogibbs, Gibbs Modification

Bottom: Ural-Alp, Ural-Alp Supplemental

Bogibbs

The Bogibbs is a Hungarian ascender that can be placed on the rope without disassembling the device. The shell is 2-mm stainless steel bent or stamped to form a U-channel. The holes in the shell appear to be for weight savings only. The cam looks like it is forged stainless steel. Mine has a slight flaw in the underside which should not affect the strength of the unit. The teeth are rounded and unlikely to damage the rope in normal use. The axle bolt is drilled out, again an apparent attempt to save weight.

The rope is rigged by inserting a bight from the side. Start with the cam closed (i.e., lever down, and insert the top of the rope first. Rotate the cam open as you work the rope in. If you start at the bottom, the rope will keep the cam from rotating fully and inserting the top will be difficult. It takes longer to describe This than to do it, sitting here, I can rig the ascender in about 3 seconds, without looking, and with practice one could get faster.

The arm on the cam is longer than on the Gibbs, which gives better grip but increases the motion required to release and move the ascender. I would prefer a shorter arm, but mainly because I'm used to the Gibbs.

Karel Kocourek sent me the following note from the Czech Republic:

In your article about Bogibbs ascenders you write that you don't know the purpose of the holes on the upper part of the ascender body. If there are some larger holes, they are probably only for weight reduction, as you write (although I think the gain is almost negligible). Small (sometimes oval) hole near upper edge is intended for attachment of thin cord or webbing.

Your Bogibbs is one of possible modifications, another versions are on Fig. 1 , where: The left one was meant as "versatile"; usually 2 pieces made a set, sometimes there were "left", "middle" and "right" versions. The second one is so called " Bogibbs. Its shape enabled insertion of a loaded rope. I have never seen it in reality. The right one is so called "chest" Bogibbs. Some people didn't use chest box, and preferred the third Bogibbs on the chest harness. It had to be installable onto a loaded rope. The thick circle on the cam means a screw lock (additional safety against slipping out).

In my set of Bogibbses are 2 "versatile" Bogibbses (right and left) and a "chest" one. All without any enlightening holes; there are only small holes of the second type on both of the "versatiles". All were made by some Moravian (Moravia is a part of the Czech Republic) speleological club according to officially distributed documentation (no industrial production of caving equipment existed in Eastern Europe that time). Your Bogibbs is of color combination and type I have already seen, but I cannot remember where was it.

The other end of the thin cord attached to the small hole of the knee-level Bogibbs was tied into a loop and put around a wrist of a caver. Fig. 2 describes the use of such system: Left person is a caver prepared for ascent; the second and third person are cavers in different phases of ascent. Many cavers in Slovakia preferred this system, but I used to attach the knee-level Bogibbs to my leg using an elastic tape. Any of these Bogibbses weren't supposed to withstand shock load. For self belaying, some type of Gibbs (often homemade) was used. At the end of 1980's almost all Czech/Slovak cavers switched to French method enhanced by the third ascender attached to an ankle of one leg.

In Czech (and Slovak) Republic is widely spread an opinion, that Bogibbs was invented by Gustav Stibranyi, a Hungarian (or Slovak with Hungarian last name??) living in Slovakia. Nevertheless, Czechs, Slovaks and Hungarians always used the same equipment, so it is not easy to say where any particular Bogibbs came from.

With regards

Karel Kocourek
Pilsen, Czech Republic

Sources:
Fig. 1 - in: "Studijni texty - Speleolog I. stupne" (= "Textbook - Speleologist of the 1st rank" ), Czech Speleological Society, Prague, Czechoslovakia, 1986
Fig. 2 - in: "Prakticka speleologia" (= "Spelology in practice"), Osveta, Martin, Czechoslovakia, 1982

Gibbs Modification

I made this ascender in 1983 after seeing the Kantyu. I took a stainless steel Gibbs with a hard-coated cam, and had Ron Simmons make me a custom round-headed stainless steel axle bolt with an oversize nut. I cut the shell away on one side to allow rigging, and cut a notch on the back side so that the slings would clear while the rope was being rigged. The result is a Gibbs that is does not require disassembly for rigging: a definite improvement. I used a rather tight tolerance when I cut the shell, and I feel that more metal could be cut away to allow faster rigging, without increasing the risk of the ascender coming off rope accidentally.

I cut the two largest teeth off the cam, following the "lore" that originated with Don Davison's article in Nylon Highway #4. When used on 11-mm or smaller ropes, these teeth do nothing but add drag.

This ascender is heavy, and I'm convinced that weight could be saved in a number of ways, starting with using an aluminum shell instead of stainless steel. The bolt and nut I used are undoubtedly larger and stronger than they need to be to keep the cam from torquing, but I was being cautious.

Kantyu

I acquired this ascender at the International Congress of Speleology in 1980, but wasn't fast enough to get the other one.

The Kantyu is Hungarian, like the Bogibbs. The frame and cam are both made of anodized aluminum. The cam has 6 Z-shaped teeth that are very sharp, and I would dull them before use. The one side of the shell is cut away to allow rigging. Unlike my Gibbs modification, the concern here seemed to favor ease of rigging over security, almost to the opposite extreme. The Kantyu can accidentally come off rope more easily than most lever-cam ascenders.

Ural-Alp

The Ural-Alp is a nicely made aluminum ascender from Russia. Because of the shape of the cam, the rope must be rigged from the bottom up. A large clearance makes this easy. The cam has no teeth; instead it has a U-shaped groove that fits the rope nicely. This probably requires the long lever arm found on this ascender. Once loaded, the long arm causes the ascender to rotate almost 90 degrees, so quite a bit of motion is lost. The cam is spring-loaded, so the ascender tends to stay in place when unloaded. Markings on the shell indicate that it is designed for 6 to 13-mm rope or wire cable.There is a hole in the spine that serves no purpose that I can determine.

Ural-Alp Supplemental

I received this ascender from Ural Sport (Serguei Khramtsov's eBay store) in October, 2003.

This is another nicely made aluminum ascender from Russia. Unlike the other Ural-Alp, the rope can be rigged from the top down or the bottom up. The cam has no teeth; instead it has a U-shaped groove that fits the rope nicely. This probably requires the long lever arm found on this ascender. Once loaded, the long arm causes the ascender to rotate almost 90 degrees, so quite a bit of motion is lost. The cam is spring-loaded, so the ascender tends to stay in place when unloaded. A spring-wire arm on the cam provides some token assistance in keeping the cam from over-opening while climbing, but is too light for me to trust it completely. The shell is marked "1,5 kN", "RUSSIA URAL-ALP" and "KOZLOV DESIGNS"

Serguei wote to emphasise, "The device is not rated to be used alone and must be used as additional device only."