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Version A
Version B
Version C
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[ Top | Version B | Version C | Return to E.C. Ascenders ]
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| Front View: Closed | Rear View: Closed |
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| Front View: Open for Rigging | Rear View: Open for Rigging |
I acquired my Xinda, Version A from Kuang Kianjin in 2017.
The ascender is left-handed, as are most chest ascenders I have seen.
The ascender is 118 mm. tall, 81 mm. wide, 35 mm. thick, and weighs 159 g. The ascender shell is subtriangular
blue anodized shape bent from 4 mm. aluminum sheet. The
rope channel is formed by bending the right side of the ascender
into a U. The rope channel is 17 mm. wide. The main
sling attachment point is located below the cam and behind the
rope channel. A second attachment point is located above the cam,
also behind the rope channel. The shell is bent backwards at both
points to provide clearance between the attachment slings and
the main rope. This accounts for the rather large thickness of
this ascender. The attachment points appear to be ovals distorted
by the stamping operation. The lower attachment point measures
22.5 by 19.9 mm. and the upper 17.0 by 15.8 mm. The left side
of the shell is bent on an inclined axis to form another U. A
hole drilled through both sides of the U accepts a semi-tubular rivet.
The cam and cam spring are mounted on this rivet. The pivot is centered
48 mm. from the inside of the rope channel.
The cam is a stainless steel casting with an open web. The cam radius increases from 38 to 57 mm. over an angle of 44°, giving a 28° cam angle. The cam has number of small conical teeth, all of which have their axes approximately aligned with the cam axle. The tooth pattern is (3)^3(1S1)^5(3)^2.
A spring-loaded manual safety tab is mounted on the bottom of the cam with a steel semi-tubular rivet. The normal action of the spring holds the safety against the cam. When the cam is opened, the shell interferes with the safety bar, thus preventing opening the cam. If the safety bar is moved away from the cam (opposing the spring), it will clear the shell and the cam will open. At full open the safety can be released and the spring will hold the safety against the back of the shell. This provides a means of locking the cam open.
The front of the Xinda is printed with an up-pointing arrow labeled "UP," the Xinda logo, "Xinda," "CE1019," "EN 567," "FOR ROPE: Ø 8-12MM," and "16/12." The inside is printed with the Xinda logo and "Xinda."
The Xinda is one of the following group of closely-related chest ascenders:
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I obtained most of these from China. The others (e.g., the International Safety
Components and WestFall Pro from the U.K., the Rock Empire from the Czech Republic, the Vento from Russia) were made in China as well. These are all well-made ascenders and the prices that I paid, even with shipping, were far below those of the European-made equivalents. One potential concern is that we don't have the experience with Chinese metallurgy and quality control that we have with American and European devices, but I have no evidence suggesting that the metallurgy is unacceptable and the quality certainly appears to be fine. I'm not making any recommendation on this point one way or the other.
All sharp edges have been removed, except for those on the inside of the attachment holes on a few of these. The user should round the attachment holes with a Swiss file.
The cams are all very well made. There are two distinct cam types, "symmetrical" and "asymmetrical." The reverse side behind the cam face is parallel to the cam axle on the symmetrical cams, and sloped on the asymmetrical cams. This has no practical significance. The asymmetrical cams have a (3)^3(2)(1S1)^4(3)^2 tooth pattern while the slot in the symmetrical cams is slightly longer (extending to between the top tooth pair), giving a (3)^3(1S1)^5(3)^2 tooth pattern. This also has no practical significance.
Another minor difference is that the cam rivet on the Yoke has a smaller head than the ones on the others.
All of these have aluminum tab cam safeties, but the ones on the GM Climbing and Rock Empire are plastic-covered. I don't find a particular advantage or disadvantage to the plastic tab, but one may have a personal preference. Mine is to save weight by choosing one without the plastic cover.
[ Top | Version A | Version C | Return to E.C. Ascenders ]
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| Front View: Closed | Rear View: Closed |
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| Front View: Open for Rigging | Rear View: Open for Rigging |
The rope channel is 16 mm. wide. The pivot is centered 45 mm. from the inside of the rope channel. The cam radius increases from 30 to 50 mm. over an angle of 39°, giving a 37° cam angle. The tooth pattern is (3.3.4.2)(2S2)(1S1)^4(3.4.3).
The ascender is left-handed, as are most chest ascenders I have seen.
This Version is 102 mm. tall, 63 mm. wide, 32 mm. thick, and weighs 110 g. The ascender shell is an irregular
blue anodized shape stamped from 3.6 mm. aluminum sheet. The
rope channel is formed by bending the right side of the ascender
into a U. The rope channel is 16 mm. wide. The main
sling attachment point is located below the cam and behind the
rope channel. A second attachment point is located above the cam,
also behind the rope channel. The shell is bent backwards at both
points to provide clearance between the attachment slings and
the main rope. This accounts for the rather large thickness of
this ascender. The lower attachment point measures
25.8 by 19.7 mm. and the upper 27.5 by 15.1 mm. The left side
of the shell is bent on an inclined axis to form another U. A
hole drilled through both sides of the U accepts a semi-tubular rivet.
The rivet is centered 45 mm. from the inside of the rope channel. The cam and cam spring are mounted on this rivet.
The cam is a stainless steel casting. The cam radius increases from 30 to 50 mm. over an angle of 39°, giving a 37° cam angle. The cam has number of small conical teeth, all of which have their axes approximately aligned with the cam axle. The tooth pattern is (3.3.4.2)(2S2)(1S1)^4(3.4.3). A spring-loaded manual safety is mounted to the center rear of the cam with a shoulder rivet. The safety consists of a block with a folding shelf riveted to its lower outer edge. The normal action of the spring holds the safety block against the cam. When the cam is opened, the block interferes with a pin attached to the shell below the cam axle, thus preventing opening the cam. If the safety bar is moved away from the cam (toward the rope and opposing the spring), the block will clear the pin and the cam will open. At full open the safety can be released and the spring will hold the top of the block against the pin. This provides a means of locking the cam open.
The front of the Xinda is stamped with the Xinda logo, "XINDΛ," and an open up-pointing arrow with "UP" inside. The rear is printed with the UIAA logo, "CE1019," "EN 567:201," "Max 150KG," "ROPE: Ø 8-13 MM," "MADE IN CHINA," and "19571201J0633."
This is a nicely made ascender. The cam and safety are quite compact; however, the shell has a more standard size. The result is a lightweight but typical-size ascender.
The cam safety mechanism is clever and unique. Folding the shelf makes it rather difficult for something to accidentally open the cam. Unfolding the shelf can be difficult with slippery fingers or gloves. Once the shelf is open, the safety mechanism works reasonably well, but it does take getting used to if your muscle memory is set by more traditional designs. I found that pushing the side of the shelf then rolling the thumb on top works for me. The shelf is small, so slippery fingers or gloves can make this more difficult, as the thumb can just slide off the shelf.
The cam is well made and the teeth are sharp. The central mud slot is quite small, and like most mud slots, probably more of an example of a marketing gimmick than an effective means to remove cave mud from the cam face. To be fare, I've never seen a design that can do that effectively under heavy mud conditions.
[ Top | Version A | Version B | Return to E.C. Ascenders ]
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| Front View: Closed | Rear View: Closed |
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| Front View: Open for Rigging | Rear View: Open for Rigging |
I acquired my Xinda, Version C from Kangjin Liao (e4store) in 2021.
The Xinda, Version C is 113 mm. tall, 78 mm. wide, 34 mm. thick, and weighs 144 g. The ascender shell is a subtriangular
anodized aluminum stamping 3.85 mm. thick. The rope
channel is formed by bending the right side of the ascender into
a U. The rope channel is 16 mm. wide. The main sling attachment point is located
below the cam and behind the rope channel. A second attachment
point is located above the cam and also behind the rope channel.
The shell is bent backwards at both points to provide clearance
between the attachment slings and the main rope. This accounts
for the rather large thickness of this ascender. The lower attachment point measures 27.7 by 25.3 mm.
and the upper 26.7 by 20.0 mm. The left end of the shell is
bent on an inclined axis to form another U. A hole drilled through
both sides of the U accepts a semi-tubular rivet. The cam, cam spring,
and a spacer washer are mounted on this rivet. The pivot is centered 47 mm.
from the inside of the rope channel. There is no cam stop.
The cam is a plated skeletonized steel casting. 38 to 57 mm. over an angle of 35°, giving a 33° cam angle. The cam has number of small conical teeth. The upper teeth are parallel to the top of the cam, but the lower teeth have their axes sloping downward. The tooth pattern is (3.4)(1S1)^2(4)((1S1)^3(2.3.2.2.3).
A spring-loaded aluminum manual safety tab is riveted to the cam. The normal action of the safety spring holds the safety against the cam. When the cam is opened, the shell interferes with the safety, thus preventing opening the cam. If the safety is moved away from the cam (opposing the spring), it will clear the shell and the cam will open. At full open the safety can be released and the spring will hold the safety against the back of the shell. This provides a means of locking the cam open.
The front is stamped with an up-pointing arrow with "UP" inside, a Xinda logo, and "xindΛ." The rear is printed with "CE 1019," "EN121841:2006-B," "ROPE: Ø 8-13 mm," and "Max 150KG," a book-with-an-"i" icon, "MADE IN CHINA," amd "1832573J190."
In general I feel that this is a well made ascender. All sharp edges have been removed. The cam teeth are rather well done. The thumbs knob is large with a textured surface to help give the fingers a better grip.
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