I acquired this eight new on eBay from Joel Schloesser in 2009.
The KWO is forged from aluminum alloy. Mine is 106 mm. tall, 79 mm. wide, and 20 mm. thick. The KWO has a distinct bend that accounts for the increased thickness; if flat, it would be only 11 mm. thick. The rope hole is 35 mm. high and 58 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 11 mm. The shaft length and width are 26 mm. and 30 mm., respectively. The eye measures 25 mm. by 26 mm. My eight weighs 80 g.
The convex side of the KWO has "1" and "KWO" in raised characters.
The KWO is an odd-shaped, bent figure eight. It is essentially identical to the Lucky Face, Mammut, Version E, Singing Rock, and Trango Penta. The Face is lighter than most figure eights. The bend allows it to be rigged two ways with differing amounts of friction. The short overall length and sharp bends makes this eight rather "grabby" when using the high friction arrangement on sandy ropes.
Strietzel provided additional information on April 19, 2009:
Hello Gary,
Thank you for your very interresting webside.
Probably I can give some additional informations according to the KWO eight.
This eight had its origin in east germany, and was popular for climbers in the Elbsandstein.
KWO stands for "Kabelwerk Oberspree," and to my knowledge the initial intention of this device was a part of a industrial safety harness and not a abseil device. I think to remember the device was mounted at a belt for climbing poles, thru the large hole was the strap sewed on the belt and the small hole was the attachment point for the carabiner.
…the non intentional use of things was very popular for us East German climbers…. :-)
I might be wrong, but to my recognition the western versions of this shape appeared later.
best regards
Carsten
I asked if he remembered when the KWO eight appeared, and he replied as follows:
I would say the KWO "eight" appeared 1984/85, but definitely before 1987.