Russian, Version C

Closed for Use

Open for Rigging

Technical Details

I acquired this ascender from Robert Allen Steed in 2006.

The front and rear plates are made from 2 mm anodized aluminum plate cut. A 5 mm steel pin extends through the front plate, a pivoting lever, the rear plate, and a washer, and is then riveted in place. The head of the pin is riveted to the front plate with two small (3 mm) rivets.

Two 5 mm screws hold a 12 mm thick, 32 mm high, 52 mm wide black-anodized aluminum block on the inside of the rear plate. The outer end of the block sticks out beyond the side plates. A round-head pin pressed into this block forms a slot to capture the pivoting front plate when closed. The inner end of the block has a threaded hole that accepts a 12 mm thick anvil with a 10 mm threaded stud. The side of the anvil opposite the stub has a 4 mm deep U-shaped rope groove. A 5 mm screw fits through a slot in the rear plate and into a threaded hole in the anvil, keeping it from rotating. 13.5 mm diameter holes in the front plate, black block and rear plate align to provide a carabiner attachment point.

The pivoting lever is rounded at each end. It has three projections on the inner side, one at each end and one near the center. Each projection has a U-shaped groove in it.

There are no manufacturer markings on this ascender

Comments

The top-bottom symmetry makes this a truly ambidextrous ascender.

The user can change the anvil to lever distance by removing the three 5 mm screws, turning the anvil, and then bolting the anvil and black block back into place. Although designed to allow adjusting for different rope diameters, the adjustment must be done prior to rigging. It will hold well if adjusted well, and won't if it isn't.

The ascender rotates under load to create the rope bend required to keep it from slipping. This lost motion is a considerable efficiency loss when climbing.

The attachment hole is too small for many carabiners. The ascender will not come off the rope when an attachment carabiner is in place (unless, of course, you take the ascender to an end of the rope).