Front	Rear

Technical Details

I acquired my Lazy 8 from Tom Mayer in 2005.

The Lazy 8 is a homemade eight milled from aluminum alloy. This one is 104 mm. tall, 72 mm. wide, and 10 mm. thick. The rope hole is 66 mm. high and 27 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 10 mm. The shaft length and width are 16 mm. and 39 mm., respectively. The eye measures 36 mm. by 26 mm. The ears are 19.1 and 20.8 mm. long. My Lazy 8 weighs 82 g.

Comments

Tom Mayer sent me this prototype in March 2005. He attached a long letter, and I would like to use his description. Here are some excerpts, along with my comments:

I visited your web site and read through many of the reviews and tried to remember some of the more pertinent things so that I might have some sort of guide. I decided that a streamlined "8" might be nice.

As far as I know, this is the first time anyone credited my site as an information source for a new design. Thanks!

With this test piece, the tensioned load on the line is basically directly above the point of connection to the wearer (this may help reduce turning while descending) The top oval allows up to 13 mm. line to drop in from the top and go around the throat, back up into the top, and then out, like any standard "8."

All eights will cause some spin, for the simple reason that the rope path and associated friction surfaces are not bilaterally symmetrical. In the lazy 8, some of the spin comes from the inclined aspect of the rope path set up by the inclined bottom of the rope hole.

I find that the notches behind the ears are tight for even 12 mm. rope, and suggest that the prototype is best used with 10.5 or 11 mm. as a maximum. Obviously, the notch sizes could be increased.

Grooves are formed on the surface so that in an emergency, anyone should be capable of properly routing the rope. (The grooves are not mandatory….) …[r]outing the rope opposite the grooves may offer higher friction than routing with the grooves (unintended consequence)…

I would have left the grooves out or made them shallower, since they effectively mean that the Lazy 8 is "half worn through" when it is new. I understand the "emergency" argument, but under those conditions, would the inexperienced person know how to control their rappel if they didn't know how to rig a figure 8? Perhaps, but in most cases, probably not.

…The tensioned line will probably never need the ear, but I put it in anyway (since it is unobtrusive, just in case)…The friction side has an ear because I believe that it is needed due to the angle of the top oval combined with the small size.

Agreed on both counts.

The lower oval is large enough to accommodate two carabiners if need be, but you may find it too large to use for belay…

Once again, I agree completely. There is nothing wrong with omitting a belay slot on a figure 8 or any other descender, for that matter. Even when present, many people insist on belaying with the 8 as an 8 (ugh!), rather than using the belay slot.

The test piece was hogged out of 6061 aluminum plate.

Good choice. Tom mentions that this is only for prototype testing; production units might use better materials, manufacture and finishing.

I think Tom did a nice job thinking about his design. One thing to remember about figure eights is that an eight that works well on flexible climbing ropes may not slide on stiff caving rope. The Lazy 8 is too small for muddy cave use, in my opinion, but works fine on climbing rope.