Front View	Rear View	Side View

Technical Details

I acquired my Salewa nine from Paul Gerke Funcke in 2017.

The Salewa nine is forged from aluminum alloy and coated with what appears to be layers of a green and then a clear epoxy paint. It has an irregular v rope groove, a horn, two lateral projections, and a round eye. Mine is 73 mm. long, 157 mm. wide, 55 mm. high, and weighs 158 g.

The nine has a somewhat "9"-shaped rope hole which narrows at the base. The upper portion is rounded, but the lower portion is angular to provide a better wedging action. It is NOT sharp enough to cut the rope. The eye is 14.4 mm. high and 12.5 mm. wide. There are thee horns projecting from the main body, one near the top, and two lateral horns near the base.

The front of the nine is printed with "nine," a rigging illustration including the word "stop," "Ø ROPE ≥9 ≤11," and a hand icon labeled "La Mano." The rear is printed with "nine," a book/information sign icon, "before use training is essential," and the Salewa flying bird logo. All printing is on the green layer and below the clear layer.

Comments

The nine is essentially the same as the 9Spirit, except for the painted finish. I do not like the paint, as it will rub off and leave a mess on the rope.

I don't find the lateral horns to be very useful; to me, they increase the bulk of the device needlessly.

The combination of a small carabiner hole and the lower projection makes clipping in slightly awkward - perhaps this is to help prevent accidental unclipping? On the positive side, the large mass of the nine (for a belay device) helps it run cooler than many others.

The nine received French Patent #2,913,889 in 2007, Spanish Patent #2,354,029 in 2011, and U.S. Patent #8,209,823 in 2012.