Front	Rear

Technical Details

I acquired this eight from Andrew Knoflicek in 2006.

The French Gravity Equipment eight is forged from aluminum alloy. Mine is 137 mm. tall, 77 mm. wide, and 16 mm. thick. The rope hole is 42 mm. high and 48 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 13 mm. The shaft length and width are 49 mm. and 26 mm., respectively. The eye measures 22 mm by 22 mm. My eight weighs 139 g.

The front of the eight is stamped "FRENCH GRAVITY EQUIPMENT," and the rear is stamped "Kg. 3000."

Comments

The Gravity Equipment 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:

Image Eight C.A.M.P., Version G Cassin, Version A Cassin, Version B	Image Eight Cassin, Version C Chouinard, Version B Chouinard, Version C	Image Eight Climb High, Version A Climb High, Version B Gravity Equipment

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.