Front	Rear

Technical Details

I acquired my Notch Equipment Jet Step from OMB Group, LLC in 2019. Nick Bonner of Treestuff.com donated another later that year.

The Jet Step consists of a stamped, anodized aluminum shell, two cam assemblies, and a set of straps and buckles. It is 73 mm. tall, 80 mm. wide, 27 mm. thick, and weighs 176 g., including the harness. The straps are sewn to the harness so I was not able to get a bare weight.

There are two cast and plated steel cams. The cam radius increases from 37 to 55 mm. over an angle of 67°, giving a 17° cam angle. Each cam is spring-loaded and has a (Z)^8 tooth pattern on a concave cam face. The cam springs are extremely weak but sufficient. There are no cam safeties and no method for locking the cams open.

There are no makings on the Jet Step.

Comments

The Jet Step is designed for ropes ranging from 8 mm. to 13 mm. It is identical to the Harken Ninja.

A complaint that applies to most foot ascenders is that they come off rope too easily. The Jet Step seems far less likely to have this problem than others. Although it is not completely symmetric, the Jet Step seems to work equally well on either foot, with the main difference that most people favor one foot over the other, just like they tend to be right- or left-handed.

The harness design and size of the ascender help hold the Jet Step in position better than many other foot ascenders.

The dual cam takes some getting used to. One advantage is that it allows for much weaker cam springs, and so the Jet Step does not tend to lift the rope as much as normal foot ascenders do.

The Jet Step packaging calls this a "Toothless Twin-Cam Foot Ascender." I count eight teeth on each cam, so I cannot accept this as an accurate description. The Z-shaped teeth also help reduce the tendency to lift the rope.

Foot ascenders such as this don't fit into the climbing systems that I commonly use, although I have met froggers that seem to like them (they also like the frog).