ZIL
(ЗИЛ)
(#3638)

Front View	Rear View

Technical Details

I acquired this Likhachev Automobile Plant ascender from Artyom Babin (Артём Бабин) in 2024.

The cam axle is centered 57 mm. from the inside of the rope channel. The tooth pattern is 4^13.

This ascender is 195 mm. tall, 103 mm. wide, 28 mm. thick, and weighs 286 g.

The shell is a tall irregular shaped stamping made from 5 mm. aluminum alloy sheet metal. It is covered with what appears to be a zinc chromate finish. There is a 15 mm. diameter rope channel is formed in the upper portion of one side and a smaller cam channel lies opposite. A hole drilled through both sides of the cam channel accepts a 6 mm. semi-tubular rivet. The cam and cam spring are mounted on this rivet. The cam axle is centered 57 mm. from the inside of the rope channel.

The handle below the cam has a one-piece wooden hand grip riveted into place. The hand grip has four finger grooves. A 16 mm. sling attachment hole lies below the handle opening. This hole is not beveled. A 216 mm. hole at the top of the frame provides an attachment point just above the cam. This hole is not beveled either

The cam is a soft aluminum casting. The cam radius, measured from the axle axis, increases from 47 to 63 mm. over an angle of 37°, giving a 24° cam angle. The cam has number of small milled rectangular teeth The tooth pattern is 4^13.

The cam safety is a machined aluminum lever mounted on a 3 mm. roll pin in the same shell channel as the cam. A second spring serves as a safety spring. Normally this spring holds the safety where it blocks the cam from opening. When the end of the safety lever is depressed, the opposite end pivots upwards so that the cam is no longer obstructed.

There are no markings on this ascender.

Comments

This ascender appears to be rather rugged for a stamped-frame ascender. The cam casting looks crude, but I think this is more from the pattern being crude rather than poor casting. The cut teeth are nicely made. The wooden handle is adequate, but a bit blocky for my taste.

This ascender is easily opened with one hand, but only with the "wrong" hand. It is very difficult to open this right-hand ascender with one’s right hand without going through some severe contortions. The ascender can be removed from the rope by simply depressing the safety with one’s thumb and lifting up on the handle. It is much more difficult to put the ascender on the rope with one hand, particularly the proper hand. Normally it becomes a two-handed operation.

History

Артём called this a "ZIL," but since this is just a transliteration of "ЗИЛ" for "Завод имени Лихачева" (="Likhachev Plant"), I won't use that name here. According to the climber that he acquired this from, it was made by order of Moscow climbers at the Moscow Likhachev Automobile Plant in the 1970s or 1980s. Артём says that it is difficult to verify this, since the plant has long been demolished.