Front	Rear	Top
Left	Right	Bottom

Technical Details

I acquired this Cypher XF Forge from On Rope 1 in 2022.

The Cypher XF Forge is a slotted-block belay device. It is forged from aluminum alloy and then anodized. Mine is 54 mm. long, 46 mm. wide, 82 mm. high, and weighs 75 g. The slots are 39 mm. long.

The front of my XF Forge is printed with three rigging illustrations labeled "LOW," "MEDIUM," and "HIGH" to indicate three friction options. The rear is printed with a hand-and-rope icon labeled "MORE FRICTION," 1 with "Ø8-11" beneath, a divided horizontal oval with "½" and two linked circles inside and "Ø7.5-11" beneath, and a hand-and-rope icon labeled "LESS FRICTION." The right end is printed with "CYPHER" and "XF FORGE."

Comments

The Cypher XF Forge is a copy of the Omega Pacific SBG. It has some unique features to distinguish it from the normal ATC-type tube belayer. The big difference is the shank, which keeps the carabiner from riding up against the bottom of the tube. This tends to decrease the friction, as do the long slots (39 mm.). The XF Forge compensates for this by including V-grooves similar to those on the Trango Jaws, the Salewa Tubus, the Singing Rock, or the Simond Cubik. On the other end there are shallower U-grooves that can be used in the same way, but providing less friction. Neither of these options provide the higher friction that I prefer, but the XF Forge is also designed so that the rope can be wrapped around the shank, at least when belaying with a single rope.

One thing that I do not like about the solid shank is that it it is not as easy to rig double ropes without removing the device from the seat carabiner. Overall, I prefer rigid rod or stiff wire keepers to the rigid shank on the XF Forge.