Russian Petal

The Petal is cast from aluminum. Six sprues were visible. My Petal is stamped 0487 on one side (possibly the date of manufacture) and OTK on the other.

The top of the Petal is wide enough for 11 mm. rope, but it works better on 9 mm. line. In its normal configuration it is rigged in the free running configuration shown. This does not provide as much friction as I prefer, especially since the rope does not want to stay in the hook as it is shown in the figure. There are several alternative rigging methods available. The slot can be used to rig the petal like a Sticht plate. This works, but the rope tends to bind somewhat. Another alternative is to use carabiners as brake bars in the long slot, much like as with the Baechli or Yates Belay Slave. There are three grooves in the Petal that appear to be there for this purpose (except that the top groove is too close to the end of the slot).

I'm not a fan of cast aluminum for making descenders, and I don't see enough advantages of this device to choose it for other than occasional experimental use.