Version A	Version B

Overview

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Version A
(#765)

Front View	Rear View	Top View

Technical Details

I acquired my Barrow/Hepburn Everest Camlock, Version A from Geofrey Sykes in 2002.

Version A is 137 mm. tall, 157 mm. wide, 83 mm. thick, and weighs 757 g.

The Camlock body is a 129 mm. long, 51 mm. O.D. metal cylinder with a plastic cap in each end. Each plastic cap has a curved funnel that tapers to a 16.2 mm. hole where the rope passes. A 3.2 mm. roll pin holds each cap in place. There are two 8 mm. steel rods that connect the cylinder to the attachment plate. These pivot at each end. The attachment plate is 162 mm. long, 51 mm. wide at the widest, 6.5 mm. thick, and has a 25.4 mm. attachment hole at the upper end.

The internal workings of the cylinder are not clearly visible. There appears to be a plastic cylinder inside that is free to move laterally, and moves vertically when the connecting rods pivot. The central hole in the inner cylinder is about 16 mm. Three 9- to 10 mm. steel balls project into the central hole at 120° intervals. These can retract when the connecting rods rotate upward, but are forced inward against the rope when the rods rotate downward.

The sticker on the Camlock provides instructions for use, the manufacturer’s address and phone number, and "APPROVED TO BRITISH STANDARD 5062."

Comments

I find this to be an interesting device, although it would be impractical to adapt the concepts to an ascender. The Camlock can only be rigged if one has the end of the rope available, so it is inconvenient to move it great distances along a rope.

Two days after creating this page, I received an email from the Netherlands with a link to some pages showing a climber using the Camlock as a self-belay device. I don't particularly like that idea. Among other things, the Camlock does not lock reliably unless one falls away from the rope. If the climber falls straight down, the Camlock can simply slide down the rope without locking.

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Version B
(#2856)

Front View	Rear View	Top View	Bottom View

Technical Details

I acquired my Barrow/Hepburn Everest Camlock, Version B from Jerry L Barthelemy in 2021.

Version B is 74 mm. long, 137 mm. wide, 50 mm. high, and weighs 560 g.

The Camlock body is a 129 mm. long, 42 mm. O.D. metal cylinder with a plastic cap in each end. The top plastic cap has a 12.3 mm. hole where the rope passes, and the bottom cap has a 9.2 mm. hole. Two small screws bold each cap in place. A 7.7 mm. steel rod pivots on two holes in the cylinder.

The internal workings of the cylinder are not clearly visible. Three brushes just inside each end cap obscure the view.

The metal cylinder is stamped with "001105," a hollow up-pointing arrow, "UP," "1994," and "C." A large sticker has "THIS WAY UP", an up-pointing arrow, the Barrow Hepburn logo, "EVEREST," "SAFETY ANCHOR", "PROOF TESTED 454.5Kg STATIC LOAD," "USE ONLY MAXIFLEX 8.3mm DIA. STEEL WIRE ROPE," "READ INSTRUCTION MANUAL BER+FORE USE," "ONLY ONE PERSON TO BE CONNECTED TO THIS DEVICE," "REPLACE ROPE AND DEVICE AFTER ANY FALL," another Barrow Hepburn logo, "BARROW HEPBURN EQUIPMENT L.TD," "OLD MILL ROAD," "PORTSHEAD, AVON," "ENGLAND BS20 9BX", and telephone, FAX, and Telex numbers. There is also a DBI/SALA warning sticker.

Comments

Like Version A, it would be impractical to adapt the concepts to an ascender. The Camlock can only be rigged if one has the end of the rope available, so it is inconvenient to move it great distances along a rope.

The sticker makes it clear that this is designed for use with steel cable, not normal climbing or caving rope.

The decision to proof test this to 454.5 kg. seems very strange, as this is 1002 pounds. Why not an even 1000?

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