Salewa

The Salewa ascender provides a fast means of tying a self-tightening helical knot. The ascender is exceptionally small and light (11 g). They are attached to a 5- or 6-mm sling rope by a simple overhand knot (which could be glued on for security). Attaching the ascender to the standing line involves nothing more than making the proper number of wraps (usually 2 to 4) then hooking the sling rope.

The helical knot is one of the best ascender knots, and the Salewa ascender improves on it by allowing the knot to tighten under load. The slot is narrow enough (4-mm) to keep the sling rope from coming out accidentally. Needless to say, I like this device.

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©2007, Gary D. Storrick