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Big "8" 805.04
Big "8" 805.05
Big "8" 805.06
Small
Oka 805.08.B
Oka–X
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| Big "8" 805.04 |
Big "8" 805.05 |
Big "8" 805.06 |
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| Small | Oka 805.08.B | Oka–X |
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I acquired this eight from Inner Mountain Outfitters in 2000.
The Kong Big "8" (805.04) is forged from alloy steel and then chrome plated. Mine is 171 mm. tall, 170 mm. wide, and 17 mm. thick. The rope hole is 63 mm. high and 72 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 14 mm. The shaft length and width are 49 mm. and 40 mm., respectively. The auxiliary hole is 31.4 mm. high and 15.8 mm. wide. The eye measures 35 mm. by 40 mm. The ears are 35.7 long. My Kong Big "8" (805.04) weighs 787 g.
One side of the 805.04 has "ITALY" in raised forged letters.
The Kong Big "8" (805.04) is a typical forged steel rescue eight. All three of the Kong Big "8" eights are the same size and shape; only the material differs. The 805.04 is far to heavy for normal use.
[ Top | 805.04 | 805.06 | Small | Oka | Oka–X | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired this eight from Inner Mountain Outfitters in 2000.
The Kong Big "8" (805.05) is forged from stainless steel. Mine is 171 mm. tall, 170 mm. wide, and 17 mm. thick. The rope hole is 63 mm. high and 72 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 14 mm. The shaft length and width are 49 mm. and 40 mm., respectively. The auxiliary hole is 31.4 mm. high and 15.8 mm. wide. The eye measures 35 mm. by 40 mm. The ears are 36 mm. long. My Kong Big "8" (805.05) weighs 822 g.
One side of the 805.05 has "ITALY" in raised forged letters.
The Kong Big "8" (805.05) is another typical forged steel rescue eight. The 805.05 is made of stainless steel. The easiest way to tell the 805.05 and 8045.04 apart is to use a magnet. The 805.04 is even heavier than the 805.04, which is not an advantage. Although well-made, I can't see actually carrying one of these. The weight is absurd for an eight, but still not enough to make a reliable canoe anchor.
[ Top | 805.04 | 805.05 | Small | Oka | Oka–X | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired this eight from Inner Mountain Outfitters in 2000.
The Kong Big "8" (805.06) is forged from aluminum alloy and then soft anodized. Mine is 171 mm. tall, 170 mm. wide, and 17 mm. thick. The rope hole is 63 mm. high and 71 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 13 mm. The shaft length and width are 49 mm. and 40 mm., respectively. The auxiliary hole is 31.4 mm. high and 15.4 mm. wide. The eye measures 35 mm. by 39 mm. The ears are 36.1 mm. long. My Kong Big "8" (805.06) weighs 265 g.
The front is printed with an icon showing the strength test rigging and "kN 40," the Kong logo, "Italy," and "1999004423." The rear has "ITALY" in raised forged letters.
The Kong Big "8" (805.06) is one of the following family of nearly identical forged aluminum rescue eights with ears:
Some of these eights are made in Europe, and some in Asia. Some are rebranded eights made by one manufacturer for others.
Each of these eights is 170±1 mm. tall and 170±2 mm. wide. Their weights fall in the 269±20 g. range. Although similar, these eights are not identical, and close inspection will reveal some minor differences in their shapes. Thickness variations account for much of the wide weight range. None of these affect their performance to any noticeable degree.
The Climbing Technology Ltd. eight is similar, but the ears are shaped differently. The Climb Right, Version B has a similar design, but it is a milled eight and is significantly smaller. There are several Kong steel eights that also have similar designs, some about the same size as the Kong Big "8" (805.06) in the table, some smaller.
The eyes and ears on these eights are larger than they need to be for most uses. The belay slot is a reasonable size for a Sticht slot, and insetting part of the slot into the useless portion of the upper rope hole reduces the length of the eight.
Like all rescue eights, these are too large and too heavy for an individual-use eight, and I see no reason to choose them in normal caving or climbing applications. I don't interfere with natural selection, not wanting to deal with the politics, but I question whether these are really the best option for rescue applications. They can be used, but there are smaller and lighter devices that will work better for anything I'm likely to do. The bigger-is-better crowd seems to like them, but I don't rappel on battleship mooring hawsers and I have no need for these.
[ Top | 805.04 | 805.05 | 805.06 | Oka | Oka–X | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired this eight from Barry Duncan in 2006.
The Kong is forged from 304 stainless steel. Mine is 140 mm tall, 129 mm. wide, and 16 mm. thick. The rope hole is 49 mm. high and 49 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 13 mm. The shaft length and width are 46 mm. and 26 mm., respectively. The auxiliary hole is 27.2 mm. high and 10 mm wide. The eye measures 25 mm. by 25 mm. The ears are 29.3 mm. long. My Kong eight weighs 446 g.
The front side of the Kong eight is marked with "INOX AISI 304," an icon showing a rigged eight with triangles above and below indicating tension and "KN 40," and the Kong logo.
The Kong is a "Mini" Size Figure Eights with Ears, but it looks more like a small "rescue eight" with the ears sticking out to the side. Why did Kong make this eight out of stainless steel? It will wear well, but it is too heavy for me to consider carrying it. Also, from a heat dissipation perspective, stainless steel is decidedly inferior to aluminum.
The slot in the shaft is 10.5 mm. wide and 27.5 mm long. This is too narrow for belaying with 11 mm. ropes, and I can't imagine anyone carrying the weight of this eight and climbing on single 9 mm. rope at the same time. At least this eight is smaller than the Kong Big "8s" and much lighter than the steel versions of the Big "8s."
[ Top | 805.04 | 805.05 | 805.06 | Small | Oka–X | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired my Kong Oka (805.08.B) on eBay from Kong USA in 2014. I acquired another on eBay from Premiere Consignment, LLC in 2018.
The Oka is forged from aluminum alloy and then soft anodized. Mine is 137 mm. tall, 94 mm. wide, and 11 mm. thick. The rope hole is 52 mm. high and 55 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 11 mm. The shaft length and width are 38 mm. and 17 mm., respectively. The auxiliary hole is 42.5 mm. high and 16.5 mm. wide. The eye measures 21 mm. by 21 mm. but has a rubber insert that reduces its size to 9.4 mm. wide and 10.9 mm. high. The ears are 22.7 and 25.3 mm. long and the bottom spur extends about 29 mm. beyond the side of the shaft. My Kong Oka (805.08.B) weighs 101 g.
One side is printed with the Kong logo, "ITALY," "OKA," and "805080." The other side is printed with a rigging icon, "1 Ø 8.9÷12.7," two overlapping circles, "Ø 7.8÷12.7," a book-with-an-"i" icon, "EN15151-2.12 TYPE 4," and "142749 14 0421."
The Oka is an unusual T–side eight. It is one of the following closely-related designs:
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These vary in size and construction, with the Oka being the lightest and the Canyon the heaviest. The Oka was the progenitor, with the others following,
The unusual shape of the rope hole allows for a taller hole without increasing the height of the eight.
The slot between the T-horns is suitable for belaying.
The lower spur does not appear to serve an essential purpose. Perhaps it is a result of the aversion some canyoneers have to rigging a figure eight in the standard manner. I prefer the location used on the Canyon, as it points away from me and cannot poke me in the stomach.
The eye is small and there are many normal carabiners and maillons that will not fit through it. This restricts versatility, and eliminates the option of using two carabiners for redundancy. The eye has an annoying molded insert that keeps the Oka from moving freely on the carabiner. It makes attaching and removing the Oka more difficult. Removing the rubber insert is not a straight-forward option, as the inside of the hole has two tabs that would also need to be removed with a file or milling machine. Plan on dedicating a carabiner if you want to use your Oka without a lot of hassle. I see too many disadvantages to the small eye design and no advantages (reducing the chance of dropping the device in one unlikely scenario by adding another doesn't count). The eye alone is sufficient for me to eliminate the Oka from serious consideration.
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[ Top | 805.04 | 805.05 | 805.06 | Small | Oka–X | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired this Kong Oka–X on eBay from Karst Sports / Amazon.com in 2024.
The Kong Oka–X is forged from aluminum alloy and then soft anodized. Mine is 137 mm. tall, 93 mm. wide, and 11 mm. thick. The rope hole is 49 mm. high and 54 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 11 mm. The shaft length and width are 38 mm. and 16 mm., respectively. The eye measures 21 mm. by 21 mm. The ears are - mm. long. My Kong Oka–X weighs 98 g.
The front is printed with "OKA–X," and the Kong logo., "ITALY," "OKA," and "805080." The other side is printed with a book-with-an-"i" icon, "EN15151-2.12," "235445," a rigging icon, "1 Ø 8.9÷12.7," two overlapping circles, "1/2," and "Ø 7.8÷12.7."
The Oka-X is an unusual T–side eight. It is one of the following closely-related designs:
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These vary in size and construction, with the Oka being the lightest and the Canyon the heaviest. The Oka was the progenitor, with the others following,
The unusual shape of the rope hole allows for a taller hole without increasing the height of the eight.
The slot between the T-horns is suitable for belaying.
The lower spur does not appear to serve an essential purpose. Perhaps it is a result of the aversion some canyoneers have to rigging a figure eight in the standard manner. I prefer the location used on the Canyon, as it points away from me and cannot poke me in the stomach.
The eye is small and there are many normal carabiners and maillons that will not fit through it. This restricts versatility, and eliminates the option of using two carabiners for redundancy. The eye has an annoying o-ring insert that keeps the Oka-X from moving freely on the carabiner. It makes attaching and removing the Oka-X more difficult. The ring catches in the notch in some of the carabiners that will fit. Removing the o-ring is a straight-forward option, but it still leaves a device with a small eye. Plan on dedicating a carabiner if you want to use your Oka-X without a lot of hassle. I see too many disadvantages to the small eye design and no advantages (reducing the chance of dropping the device in one unlikely scenario by adding another doesn't count). The eye alone is sufficient for me to eliminate the Oka-X from serious consideration.
The Oka-X eliminated the hateful (to me) o-ring eye found on the Oka and so many other canyoneering descenders. Good riddance! The eye is still too narrow to accept two full size locking carabiners, but I can live with that.
The Kong Oka-X is lighter than most figure eights with ears.
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