Semi-mechanical Ascenders

In his book Prusiking, Bob Thrun divided ascender knots into "knots consisting entirely of rope" (which I now call "ascender knots") and "semi-mechanical knots." I've chosen to break the latter into "carabiner knots" which use only a sling and a carabiner, and "semi-mechanical ascenders," which include the rest.

Paraphrasing Bob, carabiner knots and semi-mechanical ascenders use the sling rope to do most of the gripping. The semi-mechanical ascenders in my collection appear in the first table, and the carabiner knots are discussed below.

Image	ID	Device ↓	Description	Acquired	Weight ↓	Height ↓	Width ↓	Thickness ↓	Std. volume ↓
	107	C.A.M.P/Interalp Look	Forged Al plate /w notches, for single or double rope.	Repetto Sport, 1982	58	98	42	8	33
	161 238	Eight-Link	8-link for connecting chain, for Eight-Linkor Heddon Eight-Link knots	Robert W. Storrick, 2002 William Greenwald, 2007	146	74	38	11	30
	3528	Grivel Magic Ring	Sewn 7.5 mm. cord /w plate, for semimechanical double Penberthy knot	Tradeinn / Amazon.com, 2022	50	56	27	7	11
	176	H-Bar, Version A	Two 7/16" steel side bars with two 1/4" steel crossbars, for semimechanical Prusik	Gary Storrick, 2004	122	70	60	11	46
	177	H-Bar, Version B	Two 7/16" steel side bars with two 1/4" steel crossbars, for semimechanical Prusik	Gary Storrick, 2004	133	74	58	11	48
	2303	Rope-Tek Hitch Hiker 2	Riveted steel channel, steel dogbone	Pinnacle Arborist Supplies, 2017	311	90	51	63	291
	108 2038 3569 3631	Salewa	Forged Al block /w hole and notch, for semi-mechanical helical knot.	Eiselin Sport, 1982 Bill Edwards, 2016 Raúl Macia Sanchez, 2022 Miles Bradshaw, 2024	11	31	27	8	7
	109	Snap Hook	Small hardware store snap link, for Varnedoe V-knot.	Tru-Value Hardware, 1989	25	77	27	10	21
	3536	Storrick, Version A	Hand cut Al block /w hole and notch, Salewa copy, noncommercial	Gary Storrick, before 1982	22	35	34	10	12
	259	Storrick, Version B	Milled Al block /w hole and notch, for semimechanical helical knot.	Gary Storrick, 2008	11	31	26	7	6
	3442	Storrick, Version C	Milled Al block /w hole and notch, for semimechanical helical knot.	Gary Storrick, 2021	9	29	25	6	5
	3443	Storrick, Version D	Milled Al block /w hole and notch, for semimechanical helical knot.	Gary Storrick, 2021	9	31	25	6	5
	3533	Storrick, Version E	Milled Al block /w hole and notch, for semimechanical helical knot.	Gary Storrick, 2022	8	31	25	6	5
	3473	Storrick – Taylor Prusik Comealong, 9 mm.	Slotted Al cylinder, for 9 mm. rope	Gary Storrick, 2021	41	45	25	23	26
	3474	Storrick – Taylor Prusik Comealong, 11 mm.	Slotted Al cylinder, for 11 mm. rope	Gary Storrick, 2021	36	45	25	22	25
	2294	Thrun, Version A	Drilled Al plate with 3 3/8# holes, for semimechanical Prusik	Bob Thrun Collection, 2017	30	63	26	6	10
	198	Thrun, Version B	Drilled Al sheet with 2 5.16" holes, for semimechanical Prusik	Gary Storrick, 2005	6	51	20	3	3

Carabiner Knots

I placed the carabiner knots in a separate table because the weight and dimensions depend on the particular carabiner being used.

Image	Knot		Image	Knot
	Bachmann Knot			Cheater Knot
	Bachmann Knot with Turns (a.k.a. Silverterknoten)			Garda Knot
	Bachmann Ring Knot			Marlatt Knot
	Carabiner Hedden			Prusik Around Carabiner
	Carabiner Knot (a.k.a. Bachmann 1947)			RBS Knot
	Carabiner Prusik			Snap Link Twist

 

I would like to thank Franz Bachmann for letting me know of the history of his knots that he makes available at http://www.eneafiorentini.it/icorsroc/nodroc1.html, and for the nice comments he has made there about my site.

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