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Tiny 8, A
Tiny 8, B
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| Tiny 8, Version A | Tiny 8, Version B |
[ Top | Version B | Return to Figure Eights ]
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| Front | Rear |
I acquired this eight from Hao Pham in 2007.
Version A is forged from aluminum alloy and then hard anodized. Mine is 143 mm. tall, 76 mm. wide, and 16 mm. thick. The rope hole is 51 mm. high and 51 mm wide. The top center thickness is 12 mm. The shaft length and width are 45 mm. and 26 mm., respectively. The eye measures 26 mm. by 26 mm. My eight weighs 135 g.
The front of the shaft is stamped with "32kN" and the Fusion logo.
The Fusion Tiny 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.
This version of the Fusion Tiny 8 is dimensionally similar to other eights in the table such as the Hugh Banner, Lucky Ecos, Mammut Version A, and Trango Versions A and B, but it is not the same eight. Not only is the shaft web area smaller, but the perimeter of the eight is subcylindrical (note: cylindrical does not mean circular cylindrical!). This should not provide any noticeable difference in handling.
[ Top | 8 Square | Return to Figure Eights ]
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| Front | Rear |
I acquired my Fusion Tiny 8, Version B from Hanny Piltz in 2010.
Version B is forged from aluminum alloy and then hard anodized. Mine is 15 mm. tall, 76 mm. wide, and 16 mm. thick. The rope hole is 51 mm. high and 51 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 12 mm. The shaft length and width are 46 mm. and 26 mm., respectively. The eye measures 26 mm. by 26 mm. My eight weighs 132 g.
The front shaft is printed with "FUSION," the rear top with"DYNA 09D," and the rear shaft with "35kN" and the Fusion logo.
The Fusion Tiny 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:
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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.
AMP makes Fusion products, and Version B is essentially the same as the AMP Tiny 8.
[ Top | Version A | Version B ]
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