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Chest Up
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Ondřej Belica of Climbing CZ sro sent me this Rock Empire ascender in 2017.
The ascender is left-handed, as are most chest ascenders I have seen.
The ascender is 118 mm. tall, 78 mm. wide, 33 mm. thick, and weighs 163 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
22.4 by 20.0 mm. and the upper 16.6 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 plastic-covered 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 ascender is printed the Rock Empire logo, a book-with-an-"i" icon, "CE1019," "EN 567," "4kN," "032" and "N045/15." The inside is printed with a hollow up-pointing arrow labeled "UP," "ROPE: Ø 8-13mm," and a second hollow up-pointing arrow labeled "UP."
The Rock Empire 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.
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[ Top | Chest | 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 |
Ondřej Belica of Climbing CZ sro sent me this Rock Empire Chest Up ascender in 2020.
The Rock Empire Chest Up is The rope channel is 13 mm. wide. The cam radius increases from 29 to 48 mm. over an angle of 39°, giving a 37° cam angle. The tooth pattern is (2)^3(1S1.2S2.1S1)(2)^3(4^2).
The ascender is left-handed, as are most chest ascenders I have seen. It is
98 mm. tall, 62 mm. wide, 31 mm. thick, and weighs 118 g. The ascender shell is quasi-rectangular orange anodized stamping made from 3.8 mm. aluminum sheet. The
rope channel is formed by bending the right side of the ascender
into a U. The rope channel is 13 mm. wide. The main sling attachment point is a forged stainless steel swivel below the cam and behind the
rope channel. The swivel is essentially a 15 mm. round eye with a stem and a ball at the end. It is held in place by a 3.8 mm. aluminum strap riveted to the back of the shell. A second and more traditional attachment point is located above the cam,
also behind the rope channel. This slot is 27 mm. wide and 13 mm. high. The shell is bent backwards at both
attachment points to provide clearance between the attachment slings and
the main rope. This accounts for the rather large thickness of
this ascender. 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 44 mm. from the inside of the rope channel. The cam and cam spring are mounted on this rivet. The pivot is centered
48 mm. from the inside of the rope channel. There are two 4.2 mm. countersunk holes at the lower left corner of the ascender that have no apparent purpose.
The cam is a stainless steel casting. The cam radius increases from 29 to 48 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 (2)^3(1S1.2S2.1S1)(2)^3(4)^2. A spring-loaded plastic manual safety 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. There is a pin pressed through the top of the cam. It protrudes 4.4 mm. from the front, with a 4.4 mm. shaft and 6 mm. head. It also protrudes about 1 mm. behind the cam. This pin has no apparent purpose whatsoever.
The front of the ascender is printed the Rock Empire logo, a dashed up-pointing arrow, and "PAT." The rear is printed with "CHEST UP," "EN 567:13," "Ø 8-13mm," "EN 12841:06/B," "• 10-11 mm," "CE," "1019," a scanner code, "max 140 kg," "N132/18," "0336," and a a book-with-an-"i" icon.
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Warning: The weight ("140kg") printed on the shell can easily be less than the weight of a fully loaded caver. |
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The Chest Up has a unique lower attachment swivel in place of the more traditional hole in the lower shell. Since a chest ascender is normally used with a frog system with the chest ascender connected directly to the seat maillon, a traditional hole in the shell requires some "twisting" so that the ascender can sit flat. The swivel addresses the need in a different way. While it appears to be an elegant solution, I prefer the simpler traditional approach, as I consider it to be more robust. The swivel may be tested and not likely to fail, but it still has more failure modes than a traditional lower eye.
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