Front View: Closed	Rear View: Closed
Front View: Open for Rigging	Rear View: Open for Rigging

Technical Details

I acquired my Camp Turbochest from Expé-Spelemat in 2014.

The Camp Turbochest is 92 mm. tall, 57 mm. wide, 38 mm. thick, and weighs 110 g. The shell is an irregular shaped anodized stamping made from 3.5 mm. aluminum alloy sheet metal. The ascender is left-handed. The stamping has a reinforcing dimple below the cam. Instead of a standard rope channel formed in the left side, this ascender has three tabs formed and drilled in a geometry that allows them to support two rollers. The resulting rope channel is 15 mm. wide. The rollers ride on pins screwed to the tabs. A hole drilled through the shell supports a 6 mm. pin which enters from the front and is riveted over a bushing in the rear. The cam, cam spring and a spacing washer are mounted on this pin. A small pin riveted below the cam axle acts as a cam stop. A 15.9 x 19.4 mm. oval sling attachment hole is punched below the cam and a 19.1 x 11.4 mm subtriangular hole provides an attachment point just above the cam.

The cam is a skeletonized steel casting. The cam radius increases from 37 to 55 mm. over an angle of 42°, giving a 28° cam angle. The tooth pattern is (3.2)(1H1.2)^2(1H1.2.3). A spring-loaded manual safety mounts on the bottom inside of the cam. A small cord and tab resembling a zipper pull is tied to a hole in the safety.

The front of the ascender is printed with the Camp Safety logo. The inside of the shell has a printed book-with-an-"i" icon, "Patent pending," "TURBOCHEST," and "Ref.2256." The rear is printed with "Made in Italy," "CE0123," "UIAA," "3 14,"0522," the Camp Safety logo, "EN567:2013¡¤8<ø13," a book-with-an-"i" icon, "EN12841B:2006•10<ø13," another book-with-an-"i" icon, the Sieg Heil icon, and "Max 120 Kg." "Camp" is cast on the outer side of the cam.

Comments

Like they did with the Solo 2, Camp certainly made this a small, light ascender. Once again, this ascender’s small size makes it rather difficult for me to operate, especially if I'm wearing gloves. I don't normally climb Frog and I would not make this my normal chest ascender, but folks who place a premium on weight might find it attractive.

The cam is essentially a mirror image of the Solo 2 cam.

Unlike most ascenders, this one does not have the shell bent to form a channel to support the outer end of the cam axle. I have some concern about the bending moment placed on the axle, and wonder if, over time, the axle might loosen.