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Version A
Version B
Version C
Version D
Version E
Version F
Version G
Version H
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| Version A | Version B | Version C | Version D |
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| Version E | Version F | Version G | Version H |
[ Top | Version B | Version C | Version D | Version E | Version F | Version G | Version H | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I do not have a record of when or where I acquired this eight, but I suspect that it was in around 1990.
The Smith Safety Products, Version A is milled from aluminum alloy and then hard anodized. Mine is 168 mm. tall, 150 mm wide, and 13 mm. thick. The rope hole is 77 mm. high and 77 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 13 mm. The shaft length and width are 39 mm. and 41 mm., respectively. The eye measures 27 mm. by 27 mm. The ears are 24.7 and 6.5 mm. long. My Smith Safety Products, Version A weighs 211 g.
The front and back of the shaft have inlaid plates that read "SMITH SAFETY PRODUCTS INC," "SSP," and "PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA."
The SSP, Version A is another fairly standard milled aluminum rescue eight. Like all rescue eights, it is too large for my taste. I doubt that the nubbins on the inside of the rope hole actually accomplish anything useful.
[ Top | Version A | Version C | Version D | Version E | Version F | Version G | Version H | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired my Smith Safety Products, Version B on eBay from NOCO Gear in 2021.
Version B is milled from aluminum alloy and then soft anodized. Mine is 168 mm. tall, 154 mm wide, and 13 mm. thick. The rope hole is 77 mm. high and 76 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 13 mm. The shaft length and width are each 40 mm. The eye measures 27 mm. by 27 mm. The ears are 24.8 and 6.5 mm. long. My Smith Safety Products, Version B weighs 216 g.
The front and back of the shaft have inlaid plates that read "SMITH SAFETY PRODUCTS INC," "SSP," and "PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA."
Version B is a soft-anodized variation on the hard-anodized Version A. Naturally, it will wear faster than Version A.
[ Top | Version A | Version B | Version D | Version E | Version F | Version G | Version H | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired my Smith Safety Products, Version C from Chuck Hoffmann at the 2007 NSS Convention. I acquired a second one from Steve Nutting in 2008.
The Smith Safety Products, Version C is milled from aluminum alloy. Mine is 168 mm. tall, 154 mm. wide, and 13 mm. thick. The rope hole is 76 mm. high and 76 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 13 mm. The shaft length and width are 40 mm. and 41 mm., respectively. The eye measures 27 mm. by 27 mm. The ears are 24.7 mm. long. My Smith Safety Products, Version C weighs 224 g.
This eight does not have any markings in the metal, but it does have a sticker with "SMITH SAFETY PRODUCTS, INC.," "SSP," and "PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA."
Version C is another fairly standard milled aluminum rescue eight. Like all rescue eights, it is too large and heavy for my taste.
[ Top | Version A | Version B | Version C | Version E | Version F | Version G | Version H | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired my Smith Safety Products, Version D on eBay from Jeff Brandenburg in 2021.
The Smith Safety Products, Version D is milled from aluminum alloy. Mine is 168 mm. tall, 154 mm. wide, and 13 mm. thick. The rope hole is 76 mm. high and 76 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 13 mm. The shaft length and width are 39 mm. and 41 mm., respectively. The eye measures 27 mm. by 27 mm. The ears are 24.7 mm. long. My Smith Safety Products, Version D weighs 218 g.
This eight does not have any markings.
Version D is identical to Version C, but the milling cutter used to round the edges and interior of the hole was not centered on the plate, resulting in a deeper cut on the front and a shallower cut on the rear. This produces the patterns seen on the front face. Needless to say, this does not affect the eight’s performance in any noticeable manner.
[ Top | Version A | Version B | Version C | Version D | Version F | Version G | Version H | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired this eight from N. Lester in 2004. I acquired a second one from Chris Christensen in 2007.
The Smith Safety Products, Version E is milled from steel plate and then chrome plated. Mine is 166 mm. tall, 152 mm wide, and 13 mm. thick. The rope hole is 77 mm. high and 77 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 13 mm. The shaft length and width are 39 mm. and 41 mm., respectively. The eye measures 28 mm. by 28 mm. The ears are 24.3 mm long. My Smith Safety Products, Version E weighs 614 g.
This eight does not have any markings in the metal, but it does have a sticker with "SMITH SAFETY PRODUCTS, INC.," "RESCUE EQUIPMENT," and a drawing of person on rappel.
Version E is a milled steel rescue eight. Version E does not have the nubbins that Version A has.
[ Top | Version A | Version B | Version C | Version D | Version E | Version G | Version H | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired this eight from George Stehle in 2007.
The Smith Safety Products, Version F is milled from steel plate and then chrome plated. Mine is 167 mm. tall, 155 mm wide, and 12 mm. thick. The rope hole is 76 mm. high and 76 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 12 mm. The shaft length and width are 40 mm. and 41 mm., respectively. The auxiliary hole is 19.3 mm. high and - mm. wide. The eye measures 27 mm. by 27 mm. The ears are 24.7 mm. long. My Smith Safety Products, Version E weighs 618 g.
Version F has the Smith Safety Products logo stamped into the shaft.
Version F is another milled steel rescue eight. It is essentially identical to Version E except that Version F has markings stamped into the metal. The dimensional differences are not significant.
[ Top | Version A | Version B | Version C | Version D | Version E | Version F | Version H | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired my Smith Safety Products, Version G on eBay in 2009.
The Smith Safety Products, Version G is milled from aluminum alloy. Mine is 160 mm. tall, 136 mm. wide, and 13 mm. thick. The rope hole is 61 mm. high and 61 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 13 mm. The shaft length and width are 48 mm. and 30 mm., respectively. The eye measures 28 mm. by 28 mm. The ears are 23 mm. long. My Smith Safety Products, Version G weighs 193 g.
This eight does not have any markings in the metal, but it does have a sticker that, alas, is too worn to read anything more than "SSP" in the center.
Version G is a fairly standard full size figure eight with ears. Although it looks like the other versions, it is considerably smaller, making it more practical for normal use.
[ Top | Version A | Version B | Version C | Version D | Version E | Version F | Version G | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired my Smith Safety Products, Version H from Yinetyme (Nocogear) in 2016.
Version H is 183 mm. tall, 174 mm. wide, 13 mm. thick, and weighs 325 g. Version H is milled from aluminum alloy and then hard anodized. Mine is 183 mm. tall, 174 mm. wide, and 13 mm. thick. The rope hole is 46 mm. high and 75 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 13 mm. The shaft length and width are 55 mm. and 51 mm., respectively. The auxiliary hole is 14.6 mm. high and 35.7 mm. wide. The eye measures 21 mm. by 30 mm. The ears are 32.9 mm. long. My Smith Safety Products, Version H weighs 325 g.
This eight has the Smith Safety Products logo stamped into the shaft.
Version H is a rather unusual milled aluminum rescue eight. It is essentially the same as the SBCI Banditt.
The friction slot is designed for rescue lowering. In normal use it would be rigged with the rope like any other eight . If the rescuer knew he would be lowering a litter or wanted to slow his descent for more control he would first put the rope through the friction slot then through the main hole and then around the body of the eight. This would provide added friction to the rope and allow more control during the descent. Depending on the rope, the resulting friction could be extreme. Personally, I don't like the idea of using figure eights to lower litters - why not use a rack or a whaletail?
This eight is too heavy for my taste.
[ Top | Version A | Version B | Version C | Version D | Version E | Version F | Version G | Version H ]
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