Front	Rear 3/4	Right Side

Left Side	Top	Open for Rigging

Technical Details

Stephan Chudowski of Raed Climbing donated this Raed Climbing ZÆD in 2024.

My ZÆD is 86 mm. long, 79 mm. wide, 61 mm. high, and weighs 321 g.

The ZÆD consists of two laminated plates separated by 14 mm. Each plate is made from 3.5 mm. stainless steel on the inside with a 5 mm. clear plastic sheet on the outside. There are three connecting bollards. The top is a 12 mm. round head hex socket stainless steel shoulder bolt held by a 10 mm. stainless nut. the other two are stainless steel bolts and nuts with V-groove bollards between the plates. These bollards are 16 mm. in diameter at the plates and taper to 11.8 mm. at the center. A 110 mm-long 10.7 mm webbing sling is sewn around the top bollard. It has a hole at the distal end for a supplied Climbing Technology carabiner. Three 8.4 mm. holes on the right side accept an 8 mm. quick release pin.

The front has an insert printed with the Raed Climbing logo, "8.9:10.5 mm.," "24 kn,,"a book-with-an-"I" icon, "TUV AUSTRIA and "TESTED inside a square, "Patented," "Made in Germany", a rigging illustration with climber and hand icons connected by a line, a weight icon, a double weight icon, and a dot icon. The rear is printed with "ZÆD," a rigging illustration with climber and hand icons connected by a line, a weight icon, a double weight icon, and a dot icon.

Comments

The ZÆD is an assisted-braking resistor designed to increase rope friction when there is a large weight difference between belayer and lead climber. It is used for belaying a lead climber from below after the climber has clipped the ZÆD to a bolt anchor and has passed and clipped a second piece of protection. In the event of a fall, the ZÆD increases the amount of rope friction so that a lighter belayer can hold a heavier lead climber without difficulty. The three holes allow positioning the QR pin for various climber weight differences. Raed Climbing provides a chart with the ZÆD indicating which hole to use, but cautions that results will depend on rope diameter.

The ZÆD should only be used when the lower protection is a bolt and hanger. Raed Climbing warns that the ZÆD will not work safely if traditional climbing anchors (e.g., nuts, cams, or even pitons) are used.

My ZÆD came with a nice carrying bag.

The ZÆD works well, but it is heavy. This is not the sort of device that I would want to haul up a big climb, even if I could find a partner exceeding my 90 kg. For "sport" climbing at the local bolted crag, I can see how some teams would like it.

History

On May 2, 2024, Stephan sent me an email with the following information:

Hey Gary, this is Stephan from raed climbing, a new climbing brand from the Allgäu Alps, Germany. You can find our website here: https://raed-climbing.com/ We brought a new belay resistor to the market, called ZÆD. If you’d like to add it to your collection, I’m happy to send one over to you.

Raed sells some interesting slackline equipment that may interest some of you.