Single	Double

Overview

History

Emili Sabaté [1936-2006] was a prominent caver from Barcelona. He started making caving equipment in 1952, and initially sold his products directly to caving clubs. His products included helmets, carbide lamps, cable ladders, descenders, and ascenders. In 1961 he started selling some of his products in the Saber mountaineering equipment store in Barcelona.

Sabaté eventually formed EMILSA (derived from his name) to take control of his own sales and distribution. We do not know the exact date that he founded the company, but his trademark registration application was dated May 12, 1972. The application required some minor corrections, and it wasn't approved until March 17, 1977.

In 1979, Sabaté requested another trademark that seems somewhat suspicious. Consisting of the word “F PEZTL” (no period) inside an ellipse, it resembled Petzl's trademark “F.PETZL” (with a period) inside an ellipse. Since that other firm filed no objection, Sabaté's trademark application was approved.

A year later, Sabaté filed for another trademark, “DRESLER,” sounding similar to the surname of Bruno Dressler who in the 1960s had developed various ascenders and descenders, subsequently transferring those rights to Ferdinand Petzl. Sabaté's application was delayed, not because of any issues with Dressler or Petzl, but because of some incorrect paperwork. Trademark approval was granted in late 1980 and remained in effect until 1996, when it expired after not having been renewed.

[1] José Manuel Sanchis. “Lámparas de Mina Españolas: Carbureros de Emili Sabaté, (EMILSA).” Uploaded to https://issuu.com/malacate/docs/emilsa by Jesus Alonzo, August 5, 2021.

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Single
(#3358)

Front View	Rear View	Left Side View	Right Side View

Front View: Open for Rigging	Rear View: Open for Rigging

Technical Details

Raúl Macia Sanchez sent me this Dresler Single in 2023.

My Dresler, Single is 193 mm. tall, 44 mm. wide, 27 mm. thick, and weighs 227 g.

This bobbin has a fixed and a pivoting side plate made of 32 by 3.0 mm. aluminum. The upper end of each plate is bent inwards in a quarter circle. When the bobbin is in use the side plates keep the rope on the top bollard. The lower ends of the side plates are bent to converge at the attachment point, which consists of a 13 by 23 mm. hole in the fixed plate and a matching hook in the pivoting plate. The upper portion of the hook is covered by a stamped metal gate. The gate pivots on a steel rivet, and a spring closes the gate.

The bollards are turned aluminum with a milled slot to keep them from rotating on the fixed side plate The lower bollard has a U-shaped rope groove, while the upper bollard has a V-shape grrove. The bollards are bolted to the fixed side plate with 7 mm. bolts. The pivoting side plate pivots on a shoulder nut on the lower bolt and has a slot to allow clearing the upper bolt. The lower U-groove bollard is mounted through a hole in its center, but the upper V-groove bollard uses an off-centered arrangement to allow a smaller clearance slot in the upper side plate. The upper bollard has two threaded holes, allowing it to be reversed when worn.

The pivoting side plate is stamped with "DRESLER."

Comments

The Dresler Sinvle is a copy of early Petzl single-rope bobbins, which were in turn designed by Bruno Dressler. It was made by Emilsa, Emili Sabaté's company.

Single-rope bobbins are substantially smaller than their double-rope equivalents. Most people choose the smaller version on size and weight considerations alone. The disadvantage of this choice is that single rope bobbins effectively cannot be used on double rope rappels, and hence cannot be relied on when conditions are not known with absolute certainty in advance.

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Double
(#3161)

Front View	Rear View	Left Side View	Right Side View

Front View: Open for Rigging	Rear View: Open for Rigging

Technical Details

I acquired my Dresler Double from Josep Guarro in 2022.

My Dresler Double is 197 mm. tall, 45 mm. wide, 40 mm. thick, and weighs 321 g.

This bobbin has a fixed and a pivoting side plate made of 32 by 3.1 mm. aluminum. The upper end of the fixed side plate is bent inwards in a quarter circle, while the upper end of the pivoting side plate is bent into a 13 mm. I.D. inverted U-shaped channel. The end of the side plate is cut so that when closed, approximately 2/3 of the width of the side plate is nearly in contact with the upper bobbin. The remainder is cut away to allow clearance for opening the bobbin. When the bobbin is in use the side plates keep the rope on the top bollard, and the end of the pivoting side plate keeps the rope from jumping between the two grooves in the top bollard. The lower ends of the side plates are bent to converge at the attachment point, which consists of a 13 by 23 mm. hole in the fixed plate and a matching hook in the pivoting plate. The upper portion of the hook is covered by a stamped metal gate. The gate pivots on a steel rivet, and a spring closes the gate.

The bollards are turned aluminum with a milled slot to keep them from rotating on the fixed side plate The lower bollard has a single wide rope groove, while the upper bollard has independent grooves for the two ropes. The bollards are bolted to the fixed side plate with 7 mm. bolts. The pivoting side plate pivots on a shoulder nut on the lower bolt and has a slot to allow clearing the upper bolt. The lower U-groove bollard is mounted through a hole in its center, but the upper V-groove bollard uses an off-centered arrangement to allow a smaller clearance slot in the upper side plate. The upper bollard has two threaded holes, allowing it to be reversed when worn.

The pivoting side plate is stamped with "DRESLER."

Comments

The Dresler Double is a copy of early Petzl double-rope bobbins, which were in turn designed by Bruno Dressler. It was made by Emilsa, Emili Sabaté's company.

Double-rope bobbins are substantially larger than their single-rope equivalents, and most people choose the smaller version on size and weight considerations alone. The disadvantage of this choice is that single rope bobbins effectively cannot be used on double rope rappels, and hence cannot be relied on when conditions are not known with absolute certainty in advance. Double rope bobbins do not have this disadvantage, and can be used on single ropes as well.

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