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Proclimb USR-840-AU
USR-850-S
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| Proclimb USR-840-AU | USR-850-S |
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I acquired my U. S. Rigging Supply Proclimb USR-840-AU on eBay from American Forestry in 2021.
The U. S. Rigging Supply Proclimb USR-840-AU is forged from aluminum alloy and then soft anodized. Mine is 170 mm. tall, 170 mm. wide, and 174 mm. thick. The rope hole is 62 mm. high and 71 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 14 mm. The shaft length and width are 47 mm. and 40 mm., respectively. The auxiliary hole is 32.5 mm. high and 16.8 mm. wide. The eye measures 38 mm. by 41 mm. The ears are 34.5 mm. long. My U. S. Rigging Supply Proclimb USR-840-AU weighs 277 g.
One side is printed with "Proclimb USR–840–AU," " ⇧ ," "•ø9-16mm," "S2208 20N4," a rigging icon, "UIAA," "Ø7.7-11," "EN15151-2," and a book-with-an-"i" icon.
The U.S. Rigging Supply Proclimb USR-840-AU 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.
What’s the deal with the rope size markings? The left side is marked for 9-16 mm. rope and the right side is marked for 7.7-11 mm. This is utter nonsense, and is a poor a reflection on the state of vertical device standards and certification as it does on the manufacturer taking care to test within the eights’ apparent design limits.
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I acquired my U.S. Rigging Supply USR-850-S on eBay from Jim Goodall Equipment in 2014.
The U.S. Rigging Supply USR-850-S is forged from 304 stainless steel. Mine is 169 mm. tall, 168 mm. wide, and 17 mm. thick. The rope hole is 61 mm. high and 71 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 13 mm. The shaft length and width are 48 mm. and 40 mm., respectively. The auxiliary hole is 32.1 mm. high and 16.3 mm. wide. The eye measures 36 mm. by 39 mm. The ears are 35.1 mm. long. My U.S. Rigging Supply USR-850-S weighs 730 g.
One side is stamped with a strength (not rigging) icon labeled "KN 50," "INOX," "AISI," "304," an icon consisting of four overlapping five-point stars, and "USER-850-S."
The U.S. Rigging Supply USR-850-S is a typical forged steel rescue eight. The USR-850-S is far to heavy for normal use.
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