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I acquired this Gravity Equipment plate from Vintage Climbing in 2022.
This French Gravity Equipment belay plate is 61 mm. tall, 62 mm. wide, 46 mm. thick, and weighs 78 g. It has two slots that are 31 mm. long. There is a 6.2 mm. hole for tying a keeper loop.
This plate has a spring to help keep the plate away from the brake carabiner. The spring fits into a circular groove in the bottom of the plate, and is crimped into place. There are shallow grooves in the top and bottom of the plate, perpendicular to the slots.
One side of the plate is stamped "GRAVITY."
The Gravity Equipment 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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