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Ascenders

oxman@chatlink.com
Sun, 12 Oct 1997 12:31:08 -0500

I picked up the Grillon (pronounced gree-yone'), manufactured by Petzl in France, and used it as a lanyard during cone collecting ( http://www.chatlink.com/~oxman/conepick.html ) this summer. It immediately gooped up with pitch and became unusuable. I'm glad I had replaced the 6' stock Petzl sewn-eye rope with a 12' piece of KM III 1/2" static line. I even replaced that with an 11 mm rope, which also gummed up. It would work fine in hardwood trees, but I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. I finished out the season with the 3/4" Gibbs stainless ascender with a 12' long steel core 5/8" lanyard.

Now, I'm trying out a Ropeman ascender as a flipline adjuster. It is made in England by Wild Country. This camming device locks off the rope in one direction between a pivoting eccentric toothed cam on one side, and the biner that holds it on your saddle on the other. Not much there to grab onto when it's time to release tension. The diameter of rope secificied by Wild Country is 10-11 mil. This makes the device non-OSHA compliant. The rod stock used in the carabiner affects the rope diameter range, so maybe trying a biner made out of skinny stuff will allow a bigger rope or more freedom of action.

These ranges of rope diameter are always best in the smaller end. Using a thin rope keeps the cam from having to move it's spring through to full stop. When reversing a rope backwards past a cam, tension is released and the rope gains in diameter. This is when the rope can puff up and snag cam surfaces, especially the gnarly teeth on the Petzl ascenders. When using 1/2" rope, this can cause the rope to bind up inside the ascender body. Hence the switch to the Ropeman, since there is no body to speak of.

With the tendency for ascenders to grab clothing, fingers, hair, etc., the miniscule size of the Ropeman makes it feasable to carry as a backup to get out of these, as well as other jams.

Just as the Gibbs came out in the bigger sizes, I predict the Ropeman will beef up, also.

Mike Oxman