![]() Place the bite of the rope around the smaller circle of the device.You take a bite of the rope through the large hole.How do Figure 8 Belay devices workįigure 8 devices work by creating a separation between you and the rope while also allowing the user to have better control over how much rope goes through the device.įigure 8 belay devices are relatively easy to use: Though you can purchase them relatively cheap (mine were $8), they are considered less safe and most climbing gyms around the world don’t allow them. I have two figure eights and used to use them to repel. However, the biggest problem that they presented was that they twisted the rope and there wasn’t an easy way to lock off the device.įigure 8s are still sold and used by many climbers. The Figure 8 was unique and revolutionary because it created a smooth surface for the rope to move through and it was easy to use. The slotted block devices maintained a more flat profile and eventually the figure 8 came about. Some devices thickened the space where the rope would go through and some created metal bars that would better separate the device from the climbers’ harness/belt and some created a more tube-like device.Įventually, designs branched off from each other and there was a separation between Slotted Block devices and a tubular device, which is similar to the basic ATCs we have today. In the 70s more and more devices that had a wider base started to be developed. How belay devices have changed over the years The general idea of this device picked up momentum and many companies started creating their own devices that functioned similarly to the Stitcht.įor example, this is an Edelrid Bankl from the 70s has a large hole for the rope (37mm wide) and two smaller holes for a rope or carabiner to go through it. Later renditions of this device had two holes and a metal spring to better help with the movement of the rope through the device. The plate may have two staggered parallel apertures for use with two ropes. It has an additional bore, and a string (16) passing through it fastens the plate to the hook or to a climbers belt. The aperture walls are rounded off, the plate being formed of aluminium or aluminium alloy. An aperture (17) is located in a plate (13), and its internal longitudinal measurement is the equivalent of the sum of the double rope diameter and the diameter of the hook (11). The brake is for a climbers rope which passes twice through a safety hook.
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