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At the
2000 Old Timer's Reunion, Carroll Bassett gave me this prototype
Nano-belay device to test. I didn't get much testing in before
leaving to work in Europe for a few months. By the time I was
able to test it well, Carroll had already made changes to address
the main weakness.
The prototype consists of three 44.7 mm long, 21.7 mm diameter stainless steel tubular brake bars mounted on 8.1 mm stainless steel side rails. The rails pass through holes in the first and third bars, which are free to slide, but do not pivot to open. The middle bar is slotted on one side. The bar middle bar has a unique internal spring that acts as a bar latch. I like the "feel" of this latch - although it won't support load, it does provide a definite closure and resists accidental opening under most circumstances.
The Bassett Metal Studios Nano-Belay is normally used at the top of a drop, above the load being belayed. The device works like an inverted J-bar, not like an inverted rack. The load rope comes up and over the top of the bar closest to the anchor, then winds through the other bars and into the belayer's hands. When catching a load, the weight forces the bars together, greatly amplifying the friction. Heavy loads are easily held, and I found the belaying action to be quite instinctive. Releasing the load was another matter. With the bars squeezed together under load, it was nearly impossible to separate them and release the load. This problem was solved in the production model with the addition of the Nano-Unloader.
Some people may be bothered by the two nuts that hold the bars
on. They don't look strong enough, but any engineer will understand
that the nuts are essentially as strong as the rod itself. I certainly
don't worry about them. Carroll has done some destructive testing
and the strength of the Nano-belay is quite impressive. Carroll
does suggest retiring the device if it ever bends after a hard
fall - I recommend the same for any product.
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I acquired my production-model Nano-Belay at the 2001 NSS Convention. There are two improvements over the prototype. First, the eyes are larger and oval-shaped, which provides room for using the Nano-Unloader. The second improvement is that the top bar is longer and tapered on the lower side. This makes it easier to grab, so separating the bars is not as difficult as on the prototype. The tapered bar also accepts the Nano-Unloader.
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Even with the tapered bar, the Nano-Belay is difficult to release. The Nano-Unloader solves this problem. The Nano-Unloader is a lever-actuated device designed to pull the top bar toward the anchor eyes. I had the opportunity to play with the Nano-Unloader at the 2001 NSS Convention, where I used it to lower people who were learning to use ascenders on a fixed rope. They would climb, then I'd lower them with the Nano-Unloader. The action was a bit sensitive, but with minimal practice it was easy to control the descent. I did notice that the Nano-Belay got quite hot - no surprise, considering it's small mass, stainless-steel construction and the large rope angle over the top bar - so I don't recommend lowering heavy loads long distances.
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©2007, Gary D. Storrick