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I acquired this sidewinder from John E. Weinel, Inc. in 1985. The small Lirakis Hall Sidewinder is made out of 5/16" (8 mm) stainless steel rod. Because of its size, it works best on thinner ropes, say 9 to 11 mm, particularly the more flexible ones. I find that it does not work smoothly on stiff 11 mm. ropes such as PMI pit rope. The horns on a small sidewinder are a bit short for providing the most secure lock-off, particularly
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Sidewinders have been out of production for many years, but I found a few online, and acquired this one from Hawill's Ltd. in August 2005.
The medium Lirakis Hall Sidewinder is made out of 3/8" (9.7 mm) stainless steel rod. Its increased size allows one to use it on larger ropes, say, up to 13 mm, provided the rope is not too stiff. I find it too small for best use on stiff 11 mm ropes such as PMI pit rope. In general, for the same rope, the medium sidewinder will provide more friction than the small and less than the large.
The long horns on the medium sidewinders provide convenient ways to lock off a rappel.
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I acquired this sidewinder from John E. Weinel, Inc. in 1985.
The large Lirakis Hall Sidewinder is made out of 1/2" (12.7 mm) stainless steel rod. Because of its size, it works more smoothly than the smaller versions; nevertheless, it is heavy, and there isn't a performance improvement over the figure 8 to justify my using it regularly. Hawill's Ltd. recommends using this one on ropes up to 16 mm, but I'm not likely to carry ships hawsers into caves with me. The "bigger is better" crowd should love it, though.
The horns on the large sidewinder are longer than those on the smaller versions, so it is easier to get a secure lock-off.
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All sidewinders have been out of production for many years, and I never got an open one when they were readily available. I found a few online, and acquired a set from Hawill's Ltd. in August 2005.
The small Lirakis Open Sidewinder is made out of 5/16" (8 mm) stainless steel rod. Like its closed Hall brother, it does not work smoothly on stiff 11 mm. ropes such as PMI pit rope.
The open sidewinders are similar to their closed brothers, except that there is no closing weld. The shapes are not identical, however. The open models are somewhat wider, which leaves a wider (6 mm) opening between the two U-shaped bends.
One may be able to attach the open sidewinders to one's harness without needing a carabiner. This may place the trailing end of the rope too close to the harness, increasing the chance of melt abrasion. This problem is more pronounced with the smaller versions. My harness has Forgecraft MS22046 D-rings as attachment points, and these have an 8.5 mm. cross-section that will not pass through the gap on any of the open sidewinders.
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This is another one of the sidewinders that I acquired from Hawill's Ltd. in August 2005.
The medium Lirakis Open Sidewinder is made out of 3/8" (9.7 mm) stainless steel rod. The gap between the two U-shaped bends is about 6.7 mm, making it easier to attach to one's harness in the carabiner-less mode.
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This is the final sidewinder that I acquired from Hawill's Ltd. in August 2005.
The large Lirakis Open Sidewinder is made out of 1/2" (12.7 mm) stainless steel rod. The gap between the two U-shaped bends is about 7.4 mm, making it even easier to attach to one's harness in the carabiner-less mode than it is for the medium version.
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©2007, Gary D. Storrick