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Overview

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Small
(#587, 588)

Front	Rear

Technical Details

I acquired two of these eights in 2001, one donated by Cormier Mountaineering and one purchased from Yucca Dune.

The Snap Small Bottle Opener is forged from aluminum alloy and then hard anodized. Mine is 118 mm. tall, 80 mm. wide, and 10 mm thick. The rope hole is 34 mm. high and 60 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 10 mm. The shaft length and width are 41 mm and 20 mm., respectively. The eye measures 19 mm. by 19 mm. My eight weighs 88 g.

One side of the Snap Small Bottle Opener is marked with the Snap logo and "30 kN."

Comments

The Snap Small Bottle Opener is one of a few eights that have inner projections in the main rope hole. The oddly-shaped rope hole is designed to keep the rope running exactly where it is supposed to. I doubt that this is necessary but it certainly doesn't do any harm.

The small eight is one of the lightest figure eights available, but it is too small for my taste. The smaller size means sharper rope bends and less metal to absorb heat. The rope hole is shorter and wider than normal, so it may provide too much friction on stiff or muddy ropes. The eye is too narrow to accept two full size locking carabiners.

The Snap Bottle Opener Eights are not to be confused with the toy bottle opener eights designed for key chains - the Snap eights are serious rappel devices, and are not designed to open bottles (don't try, besides, they don't do this well). For the clueless, Snap provide the following warning:

Do not try to open bottles with this fig. of 8, this can deteriorate the device and lead to damage of the rope.

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Large
(#589, 590, 1249)

Front	Rear

Technical Details

I acquired two of these eights in 2001, one donated by Cormier Mountaineering and one purchased from Yucca Dune. Harald Müller sent me a third one in 2010.

The Snap Large Bottle Opener is forged from aluminum alloy and then hard anodized. Mine is 134 mm. tall, 87 mm. wide, and 12 mm thick. The rope hole is 37 mm. high and 65 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 12 mm. The shaft length and width are 47 mm and 22 mm., respectively. The eye measures 25 mm. by 25 mm. My eight weighs 133 g.

One side of the Snap Small Bottle Opener is marked with the Snap logo and "40 kN."

Comments

The Snap Small Bottle Opener is another one of a few eights that have inner projections in the main rope hole. The large Snap Bottle Opener 8 is slightly smaller than the average "deaf" figure eight, and the weight is average. The rope hole is shorter and wider than normal and the shank is smaller, so, when rigged in the standard manner, this eight tends to provide more friction than average.

Snap recommends rigging the eight as shown in the figure. This not only reduces the friction, but it also allows one to rig the eight without removing it from the carabiner. I prefer not to use this configuration since it does not provide as much friction as I prefer (but remember, I'm 1.95 m., and weigh 90 kg. plus gear).

For the clueless, Snap provide the following warning:

Do not try to open bottles with this fig. of 8, this can deteriorate the device and lead to damage of the rope.

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