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Super 8 v. A
Super 8 v. B
Super 8 v. C
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| Standard | Super 8 v. A | Super 8 v. B | Super 8 v. C |
[ Top | Super 8 v. A | Super 8 v. B | Super 8 v. C Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired this eight from Needle Sports in 2009.
This Wild Country eight is forged from aluminum alloy. Mine is 146 mm. tall, 76 mm. wide, and 16 mm. thick. The rope hole is 52 mm. high and 51 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 13 mm. The shaft length and width are 46 mm. and 26 mm., respectively. The eye measures 26 mm. by 26 mm. My eight weighs 128 g.
The front of the shaft is printed with "WILD COUNTRY," and the rear has "kN30" in raised forged letters. The top front is printed with "HKB."
The Wild Country Super 8 is a typical example of a full-sized, forged, aluminum figure eight. These are by far the most common figure eights. Everybody, their sisters, and their brothers seem to make one, and half the world's population and businesses have issued a custom version with their own name on it. I certainly have not acquired and tested every version madel, but I show the following eights as examples:
Some of these eights are made in Europe, and some in Asia. Some are obviously rebranded eights, a good example being the Trillium Health + Fitness eight.
The S.E.Peak is larger than the others, an outlier. Each of the remaining eights is 145±2 mm. tall and 76±2 mm. wide, and has a weight in the 126±12 g. range. These variations have no practical significance.
Although similar, these eights are not identical, and close inspection will reveal some minor differences in their shapes. For example, the Fusion Tiny 8, Version A and Lucky Ecos are noticeably wider for their height than the others. None of these affect their performance to any noticeable degree.
The AMP Tiny 8, C.A.M.P. 548.00/01 (Otto Large), Fusion Tiny 8, Version A, Hugh Banner, Version D and SUT appear to have harder anodizing than the others, and may wear better. My experience with the high-quality hard anodizing on the similar CMI eights is that hard anodizing provides considerable protection on clean ropes, but the protection provided against cave mud is limited. In bad conditions the anodizing soon breaks through, and the protection is lost. For this reason, I don't place a lot of value on hard over soft anodizing for caving use, but I prefer hard anodizing for climbing applications.
None of these eights have slots for sticht-type belaying, and their round eyes are not really designed for that purpose. Some people will belay with an eight rigged for rappelling, but I don't like that practice since it does not provide the automatic locking assist and additional friction that a sticht plate or belay tube does.
Some caver friends refuse to use figure eights because they twist the rope. Eights are short drop devices, and rope twist concerns are absurd for short drops.
Many climbers think that eights are outdated, and prefer to rappel on belay tubes. I prefer belay tubes for belaying, but belay tubes get very hot when used for rappelling. Eights run much cooler. I would rather use an eight, but that may require carrying an extra device. On any given day, I make my choice about carrying a separate rappel device by considering several factors, and it is not unusual for me to carry an eight if I expect to be rappelling more than a very short distance.
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[ Top | Standard | Super 8 v. B | Super 8 v. C Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired this eight from Ralph Morvant in 2007.
The Wild Country Super 8, Version A is forged from aluminum alloy. Mine is 113 mm. tall, 68 mm. wide, and 13 mm. thick. The rope hole is 41 mm. high and 47 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 11 mm. The shaft length and width are 34 mm. and 21 mm., respectively. The eye measures 21 mm. by 24 mm. My eight weighs 80 g.
The front of the shaft is forged with "WILD COUNTRY" in raised letters, and the rear is forged with "GREAT BRITAIN," also in raised letters.
The Wild Country Super 8, Version A is a typical example of a "mini" size, forged, aluminum eight. The rope hole is shorter than normal, so it may provide too much friction on stiff or muddy ropes. The Wild Country, Version A is lighter than most figure eights.
[ Top | Standard | Super 8 v. A| Super 8 v. C | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired this eight from Exkursion in 1990.
The Wild Country Super 8, Version B is forged from aluminum alloy. Mine is 114 mm. tall, 68 mm. wide, and 13 mm. thick. The rope hole is 40 mm. high and 46 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 11 mm. The shaft length and width are 34 mm. and 21 mm., respectively. The eye measures 20 mm by 24 mm. My eight weighs 78 g.
The front of the shaft is forged with "WILD COUNTRY" in raised letters, and the rear is forged with "GREAT BRITAIN," also in raised letters.
Super 8 Version B is similar to Version A, although there are small dimensional differences. The most obvious difference is the size and shape of the rectangular areas for the markings.
[ Top | Standard | Super 8 v. A | Super 8 v. B| Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired this eight from Catherine Molineux and a second one from Cotswold Outdoor, both in 2007.
The Wild Country Super 8, Version C is forged from aluminum alloy and then soft anodized. Mine is 114 mm. tall, 68 mm. wide, and 13 mm. thick. The rope hole is 40 mm. high and 46 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 11 mm. The shaft length and width are 34 mm. and 20 mm., respectively. The eye measures 20 mm. by 23 mm. My eight weighs 78 g.
The front of the shaft is forged with "WILD COUNTRY" in raised letters, and the rear is forged with "GREAT BRITAIN," also in raised letters.
Super 8 Version C is essentially identical to Version B except that Version C is anodized.
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[ Top | Standard | Super 8 v. A | Super 8 v. B | Super 8 v. C ]
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