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Singing Rock Locker
(#1754)

 

Front Rear Open for Rigging
Front Rear Open for Rigging

Technical Details

I acquired my Singing Rock Locker from Outdoors Etc. in 2012.

The Singing Rock Locker is 118 mm. tall, 68 mm. wide, 29 mm. thick, and weighs 174 g. It consists of a movable lever and a fixed anvil sandwiched between two plates. The rear plate is an irregular pentagonal-shaped stamping made from 4 mm. anodized aluminum. A round 15.0 mm. hole is cut in the right side of the plate, and a larger 24.6 by 24.6 mm. hole is cut in the left side. The front plate is pear-shaped and smaller, lacking the projection for the upper hole. The front plate pivots on the lever mounting pin, and a notch in the left side of the front plate provides clearance for the anvil mounting pin.

The anvil and lever appear to be 13.5 mm. slices cut from an aluminum extrusion. The anvil is attached to the rear plate by a rivet and a pin. The anvil itself is shaped like a low, wide isosceles triangle, with a cutout opposite the lever end. The lever is mounted on another rivet, but is free to rotate. A small spring forces the lever to the engaged position. A cutout on the rear side of the lever provides clearance for the spring.

The front plate has a rigging icon, "ø 11 mm," an up-pointing arrow, "singing rock," "EN353-2:02," "EN358:99," a book-with-an-"i" icon, and "CE0123" printed on the face. The inside of the rear plate has a printed rope-hanging-from-rigging illustration and "0701 - 04/01/08" printed in white.

Comments

The following rope grabs are all variations of the same basic design:

Image Rope Grab Manufactured Side Plates Lever Locking Tab
ISC Rocker ISC Rocker 2006 (?) 3.9 mm. Anodized Aluminum Yes
NTR Rocker NTR Rocker 2017 (?) 3.9 mm. Anodized Aluminum Yes
with forward fold
Proverti AC08 Proverti AC080 4/2015 4.4 mm. Anodized Aluminum Yes
Proverti AC081 Proverti AC081 4/2015 2.5 mm Stainless Steel Yes
SAR Rocker SAR Rocker 2012 3.9 mm. Anodized Aluminum Yes
Singing Rock Locker Singing Rock Locker 1/2008 4.0 mm. Anodized Aluminum Yes
Troll Rocker, Version A Troll Rocker, Version A ~2001 4.3 mm. Anodized Aluminum No
Troll Rocker, Version B Troll Rocker, Version B ~2003 3.9 mm. Anodized Aluminum Yes
Vento (Венто) Rocker Vento (Венто) Rocker ~2019 3.9 mm. Anodized Aluminum Yes
Xinda Rocker Xinda Rocker ~2014 4.0 mm. Anodized Aluminum Yes
Xinda Rocker Vertical (Вертикаль) Rocker
ver 0115
12/2021 4.0 mm. Anodized Aluminum Yes
with forward fold
Yates Rocker Yates Rocker ~2003 4.3 mm. Anodized Aluminum Yes
Z&W Rocker Z&W Rocker ~2019 4.0 mm. Anodized Aluminum Yes
with forward fold

Each of these is a compact, lightweight (except for the stainless steel Proverti AC081) fall arrest that can also be used as a ratchet when hauling loads over a pulley. They can all be used as rocker-arm ascenders, but that was not the original design intent for the Troll Rocker, the progenitor of the others in the chart.

These have no sharp teeth to cut the rope sheath. Some informal testing suggests that, lacking teeth, these can slide before engaging, but normally the slippage is less than a foot. The cases where I observed this were somewhat contrived (i.e., I held the grab in a specific position and carefully dropped the load straight down), and so I'm not too worried about the slippage. I would be far more concerned if they had sharp teeth and didn't slip at all.

The top hole is used for releasing or offloading a locked rocker by placing a carabiner in the hole and pulling toward the slack rope.

Except for the early Troll, each of these incorporates a lever lock. Troll added one to theirs before the others came out. The lever lock works, but one needs to be careful not to bump it so that it accidentally disengages. A carabiner in the upper hole can help prevent this. When the lever lock is disengaged, it blocks access to the upper hole.

The NTR, Vertical, and Z&W have a forward 90° bend at the top of their lever lock, making their locks much easier to operate than the others that rely on shallow rounded serrations.

Troll warns that using a rocker as a on soft or loose-sheathed ropes can cause the rope sheath to slip or tear. They also warn that rope conditions (water, ice, mud, dirt, etc) as well as rope diameter, manufacturer, etc. will affect device performance. These warning apply to all of these fall arrests.

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