[ Top | Version B | Return to E.C. Ascenders ]
Hieblers are German ascenders made out of a forged aluminum frame and cam. The frame is open on one side to admit the rope, and relatively thick (13 mm) on the back so that the cam will not twist. The cam appears to have an integral rivet that is staked to the frame. The cam is spring-loaded. A small hole is visible on the bottom of the frame. It angles toward the cam pivot. I suspect it either holds a pin to retain the cam, or provides a place for the spring to engage. I haven't disassembled my Hieblers to find out, since This would destroy them.
Hieblers are old ascenders - my 1981/82 catalog from Caving Supplies says "get some now for your museum." They work on 6 to 11 mm rope, but not well. One problem is that they rotate about 90 degrees under load, resulting in a lot of lost motion. They are easily removed from the rope, even to the point of accidentally coming off in use.
I consider
Hieblers to be unsafe since they sometimes come off the rope when
the load is applied.
[ Top | Version A | Return to E.C. Ascenders ]
Since Hieblers can come off rope, Salewa added a safety clip. The clip is made of thin wire (it is about 20% larger than a large paper clip, according to my micrometer) and hardly does anything. This does not address the fundamental safety problem with the Hiebler.
I consider
Hieblers to be unsafe since they sometimes come off the rope when
the load is applied.
As far as I know, the
Hiebler disappeared almost 20 years ago. I'm glad that I managed
to get some for my museum.
[ Top | Version A | Version B ]
T1LeverCam85.html/070616
©2007, Gary D. Storrick