Front	Rear

Top	Side	Open for Rigging

Technical Details

I acquired my C.A.M.P. Lift from K&R Adventure Gear in March 2001. I acquired another in 2017 as part of Bob Thrun’s collection.

The C.A.M.P. Lift consists of a pivoting lever and two posts mounted between two side plates. One side plate is stationary, while the other pivots on the lever axle so that it may be opened to admit the rope. The lever is spring-loaded so that the tag side closes against a smooth, slightly convex anvil. The anvil is attached to the rear face plate with two stainless steel pins, one of which is extended to engage a notch in the front face plate. For some reason there are teeth on the outside of the anvil, where they cannot contact the rope.

The C.A.M.P. Lift is 74 mm. tall, 78 mm. wide, and 25 mm. thick. Mine weighs 95 g.

The front of the ascender is marked with "ITALY," "1D," "ROPE," "min ø 8," "max ø 13," the C.A.M.P. Logo, and the "Sieg Heil" icon. The "Sieg Heil" icon is repeated on the inside of the rear face plate.

Comments

The C.A.M.P. Lift is one of the following closely-related rocker-arm ascenders:

Image Ascender Made in Rocker Arm Anvil Ribs? Guide Pin? Camnal China Aluminum Yes No C.A.M.P. Lift Italy Aluminum Yes No Geelife China Aluminum Yes No Lixada China Aluminum Yes No SOB China Aluminum Yes No	Image Ascender Made in Rocker Arm Anvil Ribs? Guide Pin? Turin (Турин) Slip-Stop Basic Russia Steel No Yes Vento (Венто) Russia Aluminum No Yes Vertical (Вертикаль) Drop (Капля) ver 0103 Russia Aluminum No No Vertical (Вертикаль) Drop (Капля) ver 0104 Russia Steel No No

These are small, reliable, but inefficient ascenders. There is a significant lost motion with each step as the entire ascender rotates under load. I wouldn't choose one of these for a long climb, but their small size might make them attractive for short, remote drops.

To rig these ascenders, open the swinging plate and bring the standing rope down between the lever and the anvil. Close the swinging side gate, and insert a carabiner through the holes. When load is applied to the carabiner, the rope exerts a counter-clockwise torque on the lever, and the left side of the lever squeezes the rope against the anvil. Lifting the carabiner will allow the ascender to slide up the rope, provided there is enough rope weight below.

The Russian Turin Slip-Stop Basic and Vento each have a guide pin that the others lack. I don't notice the pin making much difference in how an ascender performs, but its weight is negligible so I see no harm in having it.

This type of device was invented by Soviet climber Yuri Gorenchuk (Юрий Горенчук). The C.A.M.P. Lift was the first non-Russian version, and it had teeth on the outside of the anvil . The teeth serve no function for the ascender whatsoever, but they were faithfully reproduced on all the Chinese copies.

In March 2012, Császár Csaba sent me the following note:

You wrote at the description of the C.A.M.P. Lift: "For some reason there are teeth on the outside of the anvil, where they cannot contact the rope." It seems to me that C.A.M.P. used the extruded raw material used for the Pro Nuts as the anvil.

This idea seemed to be correct. I wrote to Stéphane Pennequin (a good friend in Corsica who collects climbing nuts for his Nut Museum) for confirmation, and he wrote to Denis Pivot at Camp. Denis sent the following reply:

La réponse est : oui, la butée est usinée à partir d’un profil de Pro Nut # 4. Cela explique les cannelures qui ne servent à rien pour le fonctionnement du Lift.

L’utilisation du Pro Nut est facile à comprendre :

- techniquement, sa forme courbe convient parfaitement au coulissage et au blocage de la corde.

- économiquement, cela permet de gagner le coût d’une filière.

En anglais cela donne : C.A.M.P. used the extruded raw material used for the Pro Nuts # 4 as the anvil of the Lift.

My crude translation of the French (I don't know any French): The answer is: Yes, the stop is machined from a profile of Pro Nut # 4. This explains the splines which do nothing for the operation of the lift. The use of Pro nut is easy to understand: technically, its curved shape fits perfectly, economically, it provides the cost savings of a common part.

History

I long suspected that the Lift was inspired by the Russian ascenders. In 2024, I confirmed this with Denis Pivot of C.A.M.P. R. & D. He sent me the following information:

Regarding the Russian ascender, one colleague said: "I know we have a number of Soviet titanium ascenders, one of which looks similar to the Lift – it’s likely that we may have taken some inspiration from that." An other said: "I confirm that the Lift was inspired by a Russian blocker, but I don't remember all the details."

The C.A.M.P. Lift was designed from March to July 1999, EU type certified on 2001/05/03 and marketed in May 2001. Mine has a product traceability code of "1D" indicating that it was from the first batch made in 1999. Since CE markings have no legal status in the USA, C.A.M.P. was able to market my Lift prior to obtaining the certification. Denis Pivot told me that mine was made circa 4th quarter 1999. All Lifts made after May 3, 2001 have a CE marking.

Blacksmith Nicola Codega founded C.A.M.P. in 1889 to produce wrought-iron goods. The company first enteres the climbing equipment business in 1920 when Nicola's son Antonio started making ice axes for the Italian Army Alpine Corps. The firm continued to grow and was handed down through the family.

From about 1950 through 1976, C.A.M.P. used a diamopnd-shaped logo bearing "D CN & FD CAMP" for "Ditta Cogenda Nicol;a & Figli De Cogedga Antonio Metilde Premana.

In 1968, C.A.M.P. trusted Robert Charles Maillot and his firm INTERALP to distribute C.A.M.P. products outside Italy. These products bore both C.A.M.P. and INTERALP logos. Their relationship continued until 1980.

C.A.M.P. changed its name to "Construzione Articoli Montagna Premana" in 1972.

In 1977 C.A.M.P. started using a new logo with "CAMP" inside a rounded rectangle above a mountian.

C.A.M.P. introduced a new wolfs-head logo in 1992.

C.A.M.P. acquired CASSIN in 1997.

In 2003 C.A.M.P. again changed the company name, this time to "Concezione Articoli Montagna Premana, and changed their logo to CAMP in italics.

C.A.M.P. introduced another new logo in 2022.

Many C.A.M.P. products from recent decades have a product traceability code that indicates when they were made. Denis Pivot sent me the following "secret decoder ring" for interpreting these codes:

• Until and including 1995: The code is three or four digits. The first one or two indicate the batch number and the remaining two indicate the year.
  • For example, "295" means second batch made in 1995.
• From 1996 through 2005, The code is a numeral indicating the batch nmuber and a letter in the Italian alphabet indicating the year, with A in 1996 through I in 2004 and L in 2005 (J and K do not exist) .
  • For example, "1D" means the first batch made in 1999.
• From 2006 unttil 2016: The code is three digits. the first indicates the batch number and the remaining two indicate the year.
  • For example, "216" means second batch made in 2016.
• From 2017 onward: The code is two two-digit numbers, where the first indicates the month and the second pair indicates the year.
  • For example, "05 17" means it was made in May 2017.

Some products may not have received a product traceability code.