Version A	Version B	Version C	Version D

Overview

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Version A
(#2378)

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

Technical Details

I acquired my Vertical (Вертикаль), Version A from Artyom Babin (Артём Бабин) in 2019.

The shell is a tall sub-triangular shaped stamping made from3.9 mm. aluminum alloy sheet metal. It is painted green. The ascender is left-handed, as are similar chest ascenders made by others. A rope channel is formed in the right side and a smaller cam channel lies to the left. The rope channel is 15 mm. wide. A hole drilled through both sides of the cam channel accepts a 3.5 mm. rivet. The cam, cam spring, and a spring bushing are mounted on this rivet. A 23.3 mm. by 19.8 mm. sling attachment hole is punched below the cam and a 25.2 mm. by 14.2 mm. hole is punched above. Both holes are distorted by bends formed during the shaping process. A cylindrical cam stop is riveted above the cam.

The cam is a steel casting. The cam has number of small conical teeth, all of which have their axes approximately parallel to the top of the cam. The cam radius increases from 37 to 54 mm. over an angle of 35°, giving a 32° cam angle. The tooth pattern is (3.4)(1S1.2S2)^3(3).

A cast aluminum alloy, spring-loaded manual safety bar is mounted on the bottom of the cam with a small 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 are no markings on this ascender.

Comments

Considering its origin and probable age, this is reasonably well-made ascender. It performs much like the Petzl Croll. The edges of the shell and the attachment holes are not rounder, but these can be touched up with a small swiss file

The safety is awkward to use with one hand (like the Petzl Croll), and the point on the safety tab digs into my thumb, rather painfully at that.

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Version B
(#2378)

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

Technical Details

I acquired my Vertical (Вертикаль), Version B from Artyom Babin (Артём Бабин) in 2019.

Version B is 107 mm. tall, 73 mm. wide, 40 mm. thick, and weighs 143 g. It differs from Version A by having a small nubbin on the base of the cam safety.

There are no markings on this ascender.

Comments

The nubbin on the base of the safety limits the cam opening to less than what is possible with the Version A style safety. Since the cam is not able to open as far while in use, there is less chance of a rope escaping. Jamming is still possible, but perhaps less likely.

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Version C
(#2930)

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

Technical Details

I acquired my Vertical (Вертикаль), Version C from Artyom Babin (Артём Бабин) in 2019.

Version C is 109 mm. tall, 76 mm. wide, 38 mm. thick, and weighs 133 g.

This version has a molded plastic safety.

There are no markings on this ascender.

Comments

The plastic safety results in a slightly lighter ascender. The safety spring is fairly strong, making this ascender slightly harder to open than some other chest ascenders.

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Version D
(#2975)

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

Technical Details

I acquired my Vertical (Вертикаль), Version D from Artyom Babin (Артём Бабин) in 2020.

This version is 108 mm. tall, 75 mm. wide, 38 mm. thick, and weighs 138 g.

This version has a new cam design with a second opening in the cam web. The tooth pattern was changed as well, to (3.4)(1S1.2S2)^2(1S1)^2(3).

The front of the rope channel is printed with a Sieg Heil icon, "Ø8-12," and the Russian Conformity Mark with "AГ13" beneath. The rear is printed with the Vertical logo, "VERTICAL," "2016", and "4 kN."

Comments

This version is quite similar to the previous version. Cosmetically, the paint looks better than it does on earlier versions, but functionally, I find no real difference between this verion and the previous one.

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