ek wrote:On the topic of "failure," I have been present when Petzl ascenders have come off rope (i.e. operated by the environment) several times..<snip>..It might be good for Petzl to have a relevant warning in their documentation about these kinds of situations.
They do. Check out
the instructions:
Precautions
Guard against anything that could accidentally open or block the action of the cam or the safety catch (webbing, clothing, pebbles, twigs...).hunter wrote:Hmm, I've got to admit I don't like the looks of the foot ascender for a couple reasons. First, it looks to me like twisting a bit you could pop the rope out. Because of this I would never use it as a life supporting device (could use it like the pantene though). Second, my ascenders wear out by cutting of the aluminum where the rope sits.
True foot ascenders like the Pantin are
designed to pop off the rope if you kick out in a certain way, and I assume this new Kong ascender is the same. This is a safety feature in itself, which allows you to remove the device even when it may be too awkward to reach by hand.
Personally I find it annoying that my Pantin pops off the rope all the time when I don't want it to, but this is probably the fault of my poor climbing technique. I made a small modification which holds my Pantin on the rope better, but still allows easy detachment. Of course foot ascenders should not be used as PPE anyway, only in addition to your 2 other ascenders. I think you're right about a foot ascender probably wearing out quicker because it uses less material, but then again you probably wouldn't use one on every climb (I certainly don't).
Ralph E. Powers wrote:Am thinking that eventually other manufacturers of ascending devices will probably follow suit on the design, unless they have already.
In a way, I hope other manufacturers don't follow the design of the "handled" Kong ascender shown in this topic -at least until it is well-proven and/or improved upon. I may be wrong, but just by looking at the design the negatives seem to outweigh the positives (ie less weight). See my previous post.