Collection Home
Karo
Toucan 2
Tubik
Tubik 2
|
|
|
|
|
| Karo | Toucan 2 | Tubik | Tubik 2 |
[ Top | Toucan 2 | Tubik | Tubik 2 | Return to Belay Tubes ]
|
|
 |
 |
| Front | Rear | Top |
 |
 |
 |
| Left | Right | Bottom |
I acquired my Simond Karo from High Roca / Amazon.com in 2019.
The Simond Karo is a standard belay tube. It is forged from aluminum alloy and soft anodized. It features a single slot and has a plastic-covered cable keeper. Mine is 57 mm. long, 24 mm. wide, 78 mm. high, and weighs 39 g. The slot is 40 mm. long and 13 mm. wide. The top of the Omega oval carabiner that I use for comparing belay tubes sits 26 mm. below the ends of the slot. There is a notch on the top of each side which lightens the karo.
One side is printed with a UIAA logo, the Simond logo, "karo," and "Simond."Simond logo and "simond." The other side has a book-with-an-"i" icon, "005216," a rigging illustration, "Ø," "min 8.9 mm," and "max 11 mm.".
The Karo is a lightweight single-rope belay device. It is not the lightest in my collection, but at 39 g. it is considerably lighter than, say, the Black Diamond ATC-Sport (59 g.) or Edelrid Jul (62 g.). It retains enough wall thickness to allow for some significant wear. Naturally, it does not have enough mass to absorb heat without getting rather hot. The notch in the top is for lightening the device.
The Simond Karo received French Patent #3,022,465 in 2014.
[ Top | Karo | Tubik | Tubik 2 | Return to Belay Tubes ]
|
|
 |
 |
| Front | Rear | Top |
 |
 |
 |
| Left | Right | Bottom |
I acquired my Simond Toucan 2 from Expé-Spelemat in 2012.
The Simond Toucan 2 is a notched belay tube. It is forged from aluminum alloy and hard anodized. Mine is 96 mm. long, 42 mm. wide, 85 mm. high, and weighs 92 g. It has two slots with ribbed v-grooves. The slots are 36 mm. long and 15 mm. wide. The top of the Omega oval carabiner that I use for comparing belay tubes sits 22 mm. below the ends of the slots.
The Simond Toucan 2 has a doubled vertical carabiner eye at the end opposite the grooves. It also has a plastic-covered cable keeper.
One side has a printed Simond logo and "simond." The other side has a book-with-an-"i" icon, "120110," "TOUCAN," and a rigging illustration.
Salewa recycled the name, but the Toucan II looks nothing like the original Simond Toucan! It is unique among the "guide ATCs" like the Black Diamond ATC-Guide, BlueWater Ranger and LACD Evo Alpine in that it has no release hole at the slot end and two vertical eyes at the other end. Personally, one is sufficient for my needs.
[ Top | Karo | Toucan 2 | Tubik 2 | Return to Belay Tubes ]
|
|
 |
 |
| Front | Rear | Top |
 |
 |
 |
| Left | Right | Bottom |
Technical DetailsI acquired my Simond Tubik from Expé-Spelemat in 2008.
The Simond Tubik is forged from aluminum alloy and then soft anodized. Mine is 56 mm. long, 47 mm. wide, 101 mm. high, and weighs 57 g. The slots are 35 mm. long and 16 mm. wide. The top of the Omega oval carabiner that I use for comparing belay tubes sits 7 mm. below the ends of the slots. The Tubik has a flexible, plastic-covered, cable keeper.
One side of my Tubik is marked with the Simond
logo and the word "simond," while the other has a "-" inside a circle and a "+" inside another circle.
The following closely-related belay tubes include the Simond Tubik as an example:
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Each of these is 55±1 mm. long and 47±1 mm. wide, and has a weight in the 54±3 g. range. Their slots are all 35±1 mm. long and 16 mm. wide. The main differences are that most have cable keepers and U-shaped notches on both ends, but some have rod keepers and V-shaped notches on the high end.
These have several distinctive features, but overall, perform like most devices of this type. The rope slots are hour-glass shaped, but this does not appear to affect their performance. They are slightly asymmetrical with a high and a low end, giving two distinct riggings. One would expect a difference in friction for the two riggings, with more friction if the braking line runs over the shorter end; however, I do not notice much difference.
Most of these have shallow U-notches at both ends. The Clog Flyer, Ellis Brigham Climb and Unknown have V-notches at the high end, so I call these notched belay tubes. The V-notches are not as tall and acute as those on the Trango Jaws and its equivalents, so they do not provide as much braking. The U-notches on the others are are too shallow to noticeably amplify braking.
I prefer the ones with the rigid rod keeper. For the others, the plastic-coated cable keeper is moderately flexible, but stiff enough that it tends to stay out from under the rope.
[ Top | Karo | Toucan 2 | Tubik | Return to Belay Tubes ]
 |
|
 |
| Front | Rear | Top |
 |
 |
 |
| Left | Right | Bottom |
I acquired my Simond Tubik 2 from Expé-Spelemat in 2012.
The Simond Tubik 2 is a notched belay tube. It is forged from aluminum alloy and soft anodized. Mine is 58 mm. long, 42 mm. wide, 81 mm. high, and weighs 74 g. It has two slots with ribbed v-grooves and a plastic-covered cable keeper. The slots are 36 mm. long and 15 mm. wide. The top of the Omega oval carabiner that I use for comparing belay tubes sits 22 mm. below the ends of the slots.
One side has a printed Simond logo and "simond." The other side has a book-with-an-"i" icon, "006712," the UIAA logo, and a rigging illustration.
The Simond Tubik 2 is similar to many others like the Brasovia Notched, ClimbTech, Cypher, Climb Axe V-Lok, Elliot, Fusion Neosat, Good Makings notched, NAT, and Yoke, but the v-grooves are unique in having only one rib.
[ Top | Karo | Toucan 2 | Tubik | Tubik 2 ]
For far more content, use a larger monitor and a full-width window.
Hundreds of cell phone users complained and asked me to for a simpler, mobile friendly site. In particular, they wanted me to limit each page to a small number of pictures and minimize my use of text. This new site provides what they asked for.
