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

Technical Details

I acquired two Goracon ascenders from Bobby Smith in 2022.

The ascender is left-handed, as are most chest ascenders I have seen.The ascender shell is subtriangular shape bent 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 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 attachment points are pear-shaped openings distorted by the stamping operation. The lower attachment point measures 24 by 23 mm. and the upper 25 by 20 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 43 mm. from the inside of the rope channel.

The cam is a stainless steel casting with a hybrid form consising of a large opening behind the mud slot, a smaller oepning behind this, and a reinforced partial web filling the remainder. The cam radius increases from 36 to 52 mm. over an angle of 38°, giving a 30° cam angle. The cam has number of small conical sloping teeth. The tooth pattern is (2.4)(1S1.2S2)^2(1S1)(2.3) where the "S" represents a single longitudinal mud slot. Like many other ascenders, the inner cam face radius reduces from top to bottom to accommodate various sized ropes.

A spring-loaded manual safety tab is attached to the cam with a semi-tubular rivet. The safety is stamped from 2.5 mm. aluminum alloy. The lower portion is bent outward about 60° to form a thumb tab. The top of the tab has a stamped checkered pattern. The spring is a compression spring that fits over a post on the base of the cam and a small tab on the stamped safety. The normal action of the 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 of the ascender is printed with a "JKL" logo and "ROPES Ø 8-13mm." The rear is printed with "CE 1019", the Goracon logo, and "EN567."

Comments

I feel that this is a well made ascender. All sharp edges have been removed. The cam teeth are rather well done.

The tab on the safety is rather small and slopes downward, allowing one’s thumb to slip off rather easily.

The Goracon is essentially identical to the NewDoar Version A and the Proverti 202L.