Collection Home
Version A
Version B
Version C
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| Version A | Version B | Version C |
Chouinard employees took over the company in 1989 and changed its name to Black Diamond Equipment. Although the new company had a new logo, they continued to sell Super 8s with the Chouinard "C inside a diamond" logo for some time before switching their eights to the current double-diamond logo. I do not know a simple way to date used eights with the older logo to know whether they were made before or after the company name change. I chose to put all Super 8s on the Black Diamond page.
[ Top | Version B | Version C | Return to Figure Eights ]
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| Front | Rear |
I acquired this eight from Skinny Skis around 1979. I acquired a second one from Mark Schneider in 2018, a third from eBay seller zombiefamilyjohn in 2021, a fourth from Repair Lair in 2023, and a fifth from Al & Karen Padgett at the 2023 Fall TAG Cavein.
Version A is forged from aluminum alloy and then soft anodized. Mine is 107 mm. tall, 74 mm. wide, and 17 mm. thick. Version A has a distinct bend that accounts for the increased thickness; if flat, it would be 10.7 mm. thick. The rope hole is 35 mm. high and 54 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 11 mm. The shaft length and width are 26 mm. and 30 mm., respectively. The eye measures 26 mm. by 26 mm. My eight weighs 82 g.
The concave side is stamped with "Chouinard."
The Chouinard, Version A is one several odd-shaped, bent figure eights. Here are several that I have collected:
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The bend allows these eights to be rigged two ways with differing amounts of friction. The rope hole is shorter than normal, so the high friction position may provide too much friction on stiff or muddy ropes. The short overall length and sharp bends makes this eight rather "grabby" when using the high friction arrangement on sandy ropes.
None of these eights have slots for sticht-type belaying, and their round eyes are not designed for that purpose.
[ Top | Version A | Version C | Return to Figure Eights ]
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| Front | Rear |
I acquired this eight from Skinny Skis around 1979.
Version B is forged from aluminum alloy and then soft anodized. Mine is 136 mm. tall, 76 mm. wide, and 16 mm. thick. The rope hole is 42 mm. high and 48 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 14 mm. The shaft length and width are 48 mm. and 26 mm., respectively. The eye measures 22 mm. by 22 mm. My eight weighs 146 g.
The front of the eight has a forged logo (a "C" inside a diamond) and "CHOUINARD." The rear is stamped "ITALY."
The Chouinard is a full-sized, forged, aluminum eight with a rounded shaft. The following eights of this type are similar to each other, but vary in color and markings:
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Each of these eights is 139±3 mm. tall and 75±1 mm. wide. Their weights fall in the 137±9 g. range. These are normal manufacturing variations that have no practical significance. They are slightly heavier than Standard, Full Size, Forged Eights, but the difference is only 6 g. on average and their ranges overlap.
The shafts on these eights are rather fat and well-rounded, so the rope tends to run smoothly. They provide excellent contact for dissipating heat. Their soft finishes wear faster than a hard-anodized finish would, but the fat shafts have more than adequate margin for accomodating reasonable wear. These eights may sometimes grab a bit when one first stars to move, but this is not a big problem for competent users.
Although similar, these eights are not identical, and close inspection will reveal some minor differences in their shapes. None of these affect their performance to any noticeable degree.
None of these eights have slots for sticht-type belaying, and their round eyes are not designed for that purpose.
[ Top | Version A | Version B | Return to Figure Eights ]
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| Front | Rear |
I acquired this eight from Michael Silvey in 2009, and a second from Steven Gonzales in 2021.
The Chouinard, Version C is forged from aluminum alloy and then soft anodized. Mine is 140 mm. tall, 76 mm. wide, and 16 mm. thick. The rope hole is 42 mm. high and 48 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 14 mm. The shaft length and width are 49 mm. and 26 mm., respectively. The eye measures 22 mm. by 22 mm. My eight weighs 134 g.
The front of the eight has a stamped logo (a "C" inside a diamond) and "CHOUINARD." The rear is stamped "ITALY."
Version C is essentially identical to Version B except that the markings do not sit in a recess in the shaft.
The Chouinard is a full-sized, forged, aluminum eight with a rounded shaft. The following eights of this type are similar to each other, but vary in color and markings:
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|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Each of these eights is 139±3 mm. tall and 75±1 mm. wide. Their weights fall in the 137±9 g. range. These are normal manufacturing variations that have no practical significance. They are slightly heavier than Standard, Full Size, Forged Eights, but the difference is only 6 g. on average and their ranges overlap.
The shafts on these eights are rather fat and well-rounded, so the rope tends to run smoothly. They provide excellent contact for dissipating heat. Their soft finishes wear faster than a hard-anodized finish would, but the fat shafts have more than adequate margin for accomodating reasonable wear. These eights may sometimes grab a bit when one first stars to move, but this is not a big problem for competent users.
Although similar, these eights are not identical, and close inspection will reveal some minor differences in their shapes. None of these affect their performance to any noticeable degree.
None of these eights have slots for sticht-type belaying, and their round eyes are not designed for that purpose.
[ Top | Version A | Version B | Version C ]
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