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

Technical Details

I acquired my Fort from Raminta Pilioniene at Quality For You in 2019.

The Fort is 112 mm. tall, 73 mm. wide, 23 mm. thick, and weighs 126 g. Like most handleless eccentric cam ascenders, the Fort is right-handed.

The ascender shell is subtriangular red anodized shape bent from 3.0 mm. aluminum sheet. The rope channel is formed by bending the left side of the ascender into a U. The rope channel is 15 mm. wide. The main sling attachment point is a 32 mm. wide, 17 mm. high D-shaped hole located below the cam and to the right of the rope channel. There is an upper attachment point above the cam, passing through both sides of the rope channel. The upper opening is oval, 18.2 mm. high, and 15.5 mm. wide. The right side of the shell is bent on an inclined axis to form another U. This U is stamped with reinforcing ribs, and the top is turned inward, providing more reinforcement. A hole drilled through both sides of the U accepts a standard rivet. The cam and cam spring are mounted on this rivet. The pivot is centered 46 mm. from the inside of the rope channel. There is a small stamped cam stop that actually touches the cam.

The cam is a plated skeletonized steel casting. The cam radius, measured from the pivot, increases from 39 to 56 mm. over an angle of 34°, giving a 31° cam angle. The cam has number of small conical teeth, all of which have their axes approximately aligned with the cam pivot. The tooth pattern is (3.4)(1S1)^2(2S2)(1S1^2)(2.3.4.3) where the S stands for a single vertical slot. A spring-loaded plastic safety is mounted on an axle riveted to the bottom of the cam. The normal action of the spring holds the safety against the cam. When the cam is opened, the shell interferes with the safety tab, thus preventing opening the cam. At full open the safety can be released and the spring will hold the tab against the back of the shell, locking the cam open.

The front of the ascender is printed with "YAS10B." The rear is printed with "FORT" and "EN567:2013 Ø8-13mm 100KGS."

Comments

This is a nicely-made ascender. The top of the cam support is turned inward, giving a rounded form that is more comfortable than the abrupt edge found on most stamped hand ascenders. This is offset by the wide attachment hole at the base, whose edge tends to dig into my hands.

As commonly seen, a carabiner through the upper attachment holes will drag on the rope.

The Fort ascender is essentially the same as the Camnal Basichold and S.E.Peak SA–206.