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11 spring, v. A
11 spring, v. B
11 spring, v. C
11 spring, v. D
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| 11 spring, v. A | 11 spring, v. B | 11 spring, v. C | 11 spring, v. D |
Fritz Sticht and Hermann Huber invented the Sticht Plate and filed for a patent in late May 1969. They received German Patent DE1927155A1, "Braking device for a rope, especially for mountaineers," in late November the following year. Salewa started producing Sticht plates around this time. Günther Gabriel's GAB factory in Germany made these Sticht Plates for Salewa. GAB later made Sticht plates under their own label, GAB.
The Sticht Plate soon acquired considerable popularity in the climbing community. Apparently not considered in the U.I.A.A. Committee on Belaying Methods Bulletin 50 (June 1972)[1], their June 1974 report[2] included the Sticht Plate. I'll not summarize their conclusions, as the state of the art has evolved somewhat since those days.
Sticht Plates came in several variations. Some had one slot, some had two. Some slots were sized for 9 mm. rope, some for 11 mm. Early plates came in several shapes, but Salewa soon settled on a fairly standard arrangement of a 66 mm. diameter, 10 mm. thick aluminum plate. In 1973, Salewa introduced improved versions incorporating a spring that helps the plate release under load. With the former "clean climbing" ethic giving rise to climbers carrying many slung chocks, the springs' tremendous capacity for entanglement proved disadvantageous.
Many companies copied and offered variations of Salewa's Sticht. Although Sitcht Plates are still readily available, they are no longer as common as they once were. When Black Diamond introduced the Air Traffic Controller, the days of the Sticht Plate were numbered, at least over here. Weighing next to nothing (but, despite what one of my friends said, still weighing more than a pop tab from a can of Miller), the ATC soon pushed the Sticht plate out of favor among the masses.
Although I have quite a few variations of the Sticht Plate, I do not have the three variations illustrated on the instructions that came with the first Salewa plate that I acquired. I would greatly appreciate any assistance in acquiring these for this museum.
[1] I do not have this report, but am drawing my tentative conclusion from Walt Fricke, August 1973. "The report of the U.I.A.A. Belaying Methods Committee." Off Belay, #10, pp. 2-5.
[2] Again, I do not have this report. I am drawing my tentative conclusion from Jurgen Meyer-Arendt, October 1974. "Report of the U.I.A.A. Belaying Methods Committee." Off Belay, #17, pp. 15-19.
The Salewa Sticht Plate is one of many round "Sticht" plates with springs. This table compares the ones in my collection. Colored shading (not white) in the "Belayer" column indicates different brand plates with particularly similar plate designs, excluding markings and finish.
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The spring helps the plate release under load, helping the belayer. I prefer having the spring. Unfortunately, the springs have a tremendous capacity for tangling with other equipment on a climber's rack. If you can't find a way to prevent this - and I've tried - you will hete the spring as I do.
Sticht Plates came in many variations.Some had one slot, some had two. Some slots were sized for 9 mm. rope, some for 11 mm. My preference is for two-slot plates since they are lighter and more versatile. Choose one that matches the ropes that you will be using. My first Sticht Plate had one 11 mm. and one 9 mm. slot. One could use the same slot for both, and get different performance, but I like the different size slots. I'm often climbed with an 11 mm.lead line and a 9 mm.haul line, so this arrangement suited me well. It was s a good choice for most situations other than rappelling on double 11 mm. lines.
All of the plates listed in the table have considerable wear margin. The Cassin #221.02 has a particularly thick hard anodized finish. I slightly prefer the hard anodized GAB plates, but don't see a large advantage over any other anodized plate, or even the bare plates. I dislike the painted plates.
There are several methods used to attach the spring to the plate. They all seem to be equally effective, but the ones using a side groove seem more robust than the ones using bottom grooves.
Most of the Salewa plates have spring brackets. They hold the spring in the compressed position for carrying.. Sometimes these are effective, but more often, I find them inadequate for their task.
The Single Rope Technique Equipment BPS is the only one without a hole for a keeper sling. I like having a keeper and having a hole to attach it instead of tying to the spring is nice. I would drill a hole in the BPS plate if I were going to use it much.
Many plates have a shallow groove across the top and bottom surfaces. The grooves don't seem to do much, in my opinion.
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[ 11 spring, v. B
| 11 spring, v. C
| 11 spring, v. D
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I acquired this Sticht plate used from Patrice St. Germain in 2005 along with the Salewa Sticht (/w spring), 9/11, Version B.
The Salewa Sticht (/w spring), 11 is forged from aluminum alloy. It is 65 mm. tall, 66 mm. wide, and 46 mm. thick. There is only one slot, and it is 30.2 mm. long and 14.7 mm wide. This Sticht plate weighs 108 g.
A spring fits in a circumferential groove in the side of plate, and the groove is sheared and crimped closed over about one-fourth the circumference to provide an exit. The outer end of the spring is welded to the pervious coil to provide a smooth, closed loop. There is a steel bracket screwed to the top of the plate from below by a 4 mm. countersunk screw. A small dimple on the lower end of the bracket can hold the spring in the compressed position.
The plate is stamped "11mm Sticht Seilbremse," "DBPa," "SALEWA" and "made in West Germany."
The plate is similar in size to the double-slot versions. Having only a single slot results in a heavier plate, and eliminates some operational flexibility; therefore, I consider this one to be inferior to, say, the 9/11 (/w spring), Version B. The spring bracket is similar to that on than 9/11 (/w spring), Version B, with the dimple on the bottom that holds the spring rather securely in the compressed position.
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[ 11 spring, v. A
| 11 spring, v. C
| 11 spring, v. D
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I acquired this Sticht plate used on eBay from Alec Rowley in 2008.
The Salewa Sticht (/w spring), 11 is forged from aluminum alloy and soft anodized. It is 65 mm. tall, 66 mm. wide, and 45 mm. thick. There is only one slot, and it is 30.7 mm long and 15.2 mm. wide. This Sticht plate weighs 98 g.
A spring fits in a circumferential groove in the side of plate, and the groove is sheared and crimped closed over about one-fourth the circumference to provide an exit. The outer end of the spring is welded to the pervious coil to provide a smooth, closed loop. There is no spring retention bracket.
The plate is stamped "SALEWA," "made in West Germany, and "11mm Sticht Seilbremse."
This is a forged single-rope Sticht plate. The plate is similar in size to the double-slot versions. Having only a single slot results in a heavier plate, and eliminates some operational flexibility; therefore, I consider this one to be inferior to, say, the 9/11 (/w spring), Version B.
I don't really miss not having spring retention bracket.
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| General Comments ]
[ 11 spring, v. A
| 11 spring, v. B
| 11 spring, v. D
| Return to Sticht Belay
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| Top View | Side View | Bottom View |
I acquired this Sticht plate used from Mark Adler in 2009 along with the Salewa Sticht 11 (/w spring), Version D.
The Sticht plate is forged from aluminum alloy. It is 66 mm. tall, 65 mm. wide, 49 mm. thick, and weighs 106 g. There is only one slot, and it is 30.7 mm. long and 14.9 mm wide.
A spring fits in a circumferential groove in the side of plate, and the groove is sheared and crimped closed over about one-fourth the circumference to provide an exit. The outer end of the spring is welded to the pervious coil to provide a smooth, closed loop. There is a steel bracket screwed to the top of the plate from below by a 4 mm. countersunk screw. The bracket is different than the one for Version A in two respects: it is not tapered, and it does not have a dimple.
The plate is stamped "11mm Sticht Seilbremse," "DBPa," "SALEWA" and "made in West Germany."
The bracket does not work as well as the one on 11 (/w spring), Version A, but then again, that one isn't exactly perfect either.
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| General Comments ]
[ 11 spring, v. A
| 11 spring, v. B
| 11 spring, v. C
| Return to Sticht Belay
]
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| Top View | Side View | Bottom View |
I acquired this Sticht plate used from Mark Adler in 2009 along with the Salewa Sticht 11 (/w spring), Version C.
The Sticht plate is forged from aluminum alloy. It is 64 mm. tall, 65 mm. wide, 47 mm. thick, and weighs 92 g. There is only one slot, and it is 30.7 mm. long and 14.9 mm wide.
A spring fits in a circumferential groove in the side of plate, and the groove is sheared and crimped closed over about one-fourth the circumference to provide an exit. The outer end of the spring is welded to the pervious coil to provide a smooth, closed loop. This plate does not have a spring bracket.
The plate is stamped "11mm Sticht Seilbremse," "DBPa," "SALEWA" and "made in West Germany."
Since the spring brackets don't work very well, omitting them makes some sense.
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[ 11 spring, v. A
| 11 spring, v. B
| 11 spring, v. C
| 11 spring, v. D
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