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I acquired this eight from Canyon Country at the 1994 TAG Fall Cave-in.
The Blue Water, Version A is forged from aluminum alloy and then soft anodized. Mine is 142 mm. tall, 72 mm. wide, and 15 mm. thick. The rope hole is 50 mm. high and 50 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 13 mm. The shaft length and width are 45 mm. and 26 mm, respectively. The eye measures 26 mm. by 26 mm. My eight weighs 131 g.
One side is stamped with the Blue Water logo, "600431," and "FRANCE." The other side has "3000" in raised digits.
The Blue Water, Version A is a typical example of a full size, flat shaft, forged, aluminum eight. It is essentially the same as the Simond standard eight.
The flat shaft is less common than other designs, but has little functional effect. The body is thin but well-rounded, and the rope tends to run smoothly. The inside of the eye and the rope hole have a cylindrical area. This does not affect the eights performance since the rope does not really cross the edge of the rope hole cylindrical boundary. The finish is harder than many eights, so the eight will wear better until the finish breaks through. The eye is not designed for belaying.
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I acquired this eight from James & Bobbi Hyde in 2007.
The Blue Water, Version B is forged from aluminum alloy and then soft anodized. Mine is 144 mm. tall, 74 mm. wide, and 15 mm. thick. The rope hole is 50 mm. high and 50 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 12 mm. The shaft length and width are 45 mm. and 26 mm., respectively. The eye measures 25 mm. by 25 mm. My eight weighs 129 g.
One side is stamped with the Blue Water logo, "FRANCE," "30 KN," and "42903." The other side has "3000" in raised digits.
Except for the markings, Version B is essentially the same as Version A. I would not have bought it solely for the different markings; instead, I had other hopes. I bought Version B on eBay because it was black, hoping that it was hard anodized (most Type 3 anodizing is dyed black or dark gray because the pore structure is not as amenable to coloring). Alas, it was not, but at least something changed, so it is not exactly the same as Version A.
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©2007, Gary D. Storrick