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I acquired this eight from Pathfinder Sports in 1979.
The Famau, Version A is forged from aluminum alloy. Mine is 154 mm. tall, 79 mm. wide, and 41 mm. thick. The Famau's upper loop has a distinct bend that accounts for the increased thickness; if flat, the Famau would be only 16 mm. thick. The rope hole is 42 mm. high and 59 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 9 mm. The shaft length and width are 85 mm. and 20 mm, respectively. The eye measures 15 mm. by 15 mm. The ears are 32.2 and 37 mm. long. My Famau, Version A weighs 203 g.
The concave side of the Famau has "Mod Depose Famau" in indistinct, raised, forged letters. The convex side is stamped with "Famau" and "mod depose."
The Famau falls into my miscellaneous figure eights with ears category. The Famau is one of my favorite eights - not to use, but because it is "different." The upper portion of the rope loop is bent toward the viewer, so the eight can be rigged in two configurations for lesser and greater friction. The center horn (inside the rope loop) keeps the rope tracking properly, but is probably unnecessary. The lower ears are out of the way. This is a much more sensible location than on the side of the rope loop. The Famau can also be rigged with the rope running around the shank above the horns. For double rope rappels, one rope runs above and the other below.
The eye is too narrow to accept two full size locking carabiners.
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I acquired this eight from Craig Kubanoff in 2007.
The Famau, Version B is forged from aluminum alloy. Mine is 153 mm. tall, 80 mm. wide, and 46 mm. thick. The Famau's upper loop has a distinct bend that accounts for the increased thickness; if flat, the Famau would be only 16.5 mm. thick. The rope hole is 42 mm. high and 59 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 10 mm. The shaft length and width are 85 mm. and 20 mm., respectively. The eye measures 15 mm. by 15 mm. The ears are 31.5 and 36.7 mm. long. My Famau, Version B weighs 211 g.
The concave side of the Famau has "Mod Depose Famau" in indistinct, raised, forged letters. The convex side is stamped with "Famau."
Version B is larger than Version A, but the increase is not significant. There is a minor thickening at the center of the top look on Version B that Version A does not have, but this has no functional significance. Version B has different markings than Version A.
I saw my first Famau at Eastern Mountain Sports in Lake Placid NY over the 1976 Labor Day weekend, but did not buy it. I regretted that decision for years, and even made a long road trip to the Lake Placid NY and North Conway NH stores to try to find another, with no success. Roland Brown of Pathfinder Sports finally gave me his Version A in 1979. I did not see another Famau until about 2002 when a German collector sent me a photo of his collection. In 2006, I saw a photo of another Famau in a small collection on the Supertopo climbing web site. My Version B is the fifth Famau that I've seen, and I bought a large box of climbing gear just to get it for its sentimental value.
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©2007, Gary D. Storrick