Front	Rear

Top	Side	Open for Rigging

Technical Details

I acquired my Geelife from Geelife in 2019.

The ascender 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 Geelife is 74 mm. tall, 76 mm. wide, 25 mm. thick, and weighs 91 g.

Comments

The Geelife 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 (see the Camp Lift page for the reason why) . The teeth serve no function for the ascender whatsoever, but they were faithfully reproduced on all the Chinese copies.