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Axe-8
(#3030)

Front	Rear

Technical Details

I acquired my Canyoning Equipment 4 You Axe-8 from CanyonZone.com - Gertjan van Pelt in 2021.

The Axe-8 is milled from 7075-T6 aluminum alloy plate and then soft anodized. Mine is 147 mm. tall, 82 mm. wide, and 10 mm. thick. The rope hole is 48 mm. high and 63 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 10 mm. The shaft length and width are 42 mm. and 13 mm., respectively. The eye measures 14 mm. by 14 mm. The ears are 27.6 and 22.4 mm. long. My Axe-8 weighs 108 g.

The front of the Axe-8 is printed with "CE4Y."

Comments

The Axe-8 is an unusual T–side eight that resembles the Kailas Canyon, CanyonZone Zone 8, and Kong Oka, but lacks the "belay" slot found on those eights. As with those eights, it has a 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 is a fatal flaw, in my opinion. A tiny eye restricts versatility, and eliminates the option of using two carabiners for redundancy.

The eye has an annoying o-ring insert. In my mind, this is just a bad idea that won't go away.

• The o-ring keeps the Axe-8 from moving freely on the carabiner.
• It makes attaching and removing the Axe-8 more difficult.
• It catches in the notch in some of the carabiners that will fit.

Plan on dedicating a special carabiner if you want to use your Axe-8.

Canyoneering descender designers and users may love o-ring eyes, but I hate them. O-ring eyes increase cost without providing a corresponding benefit. I see too many disadvantages to the small o-ring eye design and no advantages.

• Reducing the chance of dropping the device in one unlikely scenario by adding another item to drop doesn't count as an advantage, proper technique solves the dropping problem.
• I'm told that the tight o-ring guards against cross-loading and rollouts, but proper harness design and proper technique completely eliminate this concern.
• An o-ring eye may keep the orientation of the rappel device more stable when unloaded, which might help speed the process of coming off rope. The one place that I see this being relevant is if you're floating/treading in water over your head, but proper flotation is a much better and safer choice to address this concern.

You may disagree with me about o-ring eyes, I don't mind, but the undersize o-ring eye alone is sufficient for me to eliminate the Axe-8 from serious consideration.

[ Top | Axe-8 | Devil-8, Version B | Devil-8, Mini SS | Return to Figure Eights ]

Devil-8, Version A
(#3031)

Front	Rear

Technical Details

I acquired my Canyoning Equipment 4 You Devil-8, Version A from CanyonZone.com - Gertjan van Pelt in 2021.

Version A is milled from 7075-T6 aluminum alloy plate and then soft anodized. Mine is 135 mm. tall, 80 mm. wide, and 10 mm. thick. The rope hole is 43 mm. high and 50 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 10 mm. The shaft length and width are 31 mm. and 17 mm., respectively. The eye measures 15 mm. by 15 mm. The ears are 27.7 and 27.9 mm. long. My Devil-8, Version A weighs 120 g.

The front of the this Devil-8 is printed with "CE4Y."

Comments

The Devil-8 is a canyoneering descender and it falls into my miscellaneous figure eights with ears category.

The two down-pointing ears below the main rope hole are located out of the way. The top horns provide alternatives for increasing friction. They is probably not necessary on stiff 11 mm. caving ropes, but if one is using thinner, limp ropes, the ability to add some friction while descending is welcome. The lowest horns are less functional, but they don't seem to do any harm. I suspect they were included in response to either the aversion some canyoneers have to rigging eights in the standard manner, or the desire some have to provide a myriad of possible rigging configurations.

The eye is small and there are many normal carabiners and maillons that will not fit through it. This is a fatal flaw, in my opinion. A tiny eye restricts versatility, and eliminates the option of using two carabiners for redundancy.

The eye has an annoying o-ring insert. In my mind, this is just a bad idea that won't go away.

• The o-ring keeps the Devil-8, Version A from moving freely on the carabiner.
• It makes attaching and removing the Devil-8, Version A more difficult.
• It catches in the notch in some of the carabiners that will fit.

Plan on dedicating a special carabiner if you want to use your Devil-8, Version A.

Canyoneering descender designers and users may love o-ring eyes, but I hate them. O-ring eyes increase cost without providing a corresponding benefit. I see too many disadvantages to the small o-ring eye design and no advantages.

• Reducing the chance of dropping the device in one unlikely scenario by adding another item to drop doesn't count as an advantage, proper technique solves the dropping problem.
• I'm told that the tight o-ring guards against cross-loading and rollouts, but proper harness design and proper technique completely eliminate this concern.
• An o-ring eye may keep the orientation of the rappel device more stable when unloaded, which might help speed the process of coming off rope. The one place that I see this being relevant is if you're floating/treading in water over your head, but proper flotation is a much better and safer choice to address this concern.

You may disagree with me about o-ring eyes, I don't mind, but the undersize o-ring eye alone is sufficient for me to eliminate the Devil-8, Version A from serious consideration.

[ Top | Axe-8 | Devil-8, Version A | Devil-8, Mini SS | Return to Figure Eights ]

Devil-8, Version B
(#3201)

Front	Rear

Technical Details

I acquired my Canyoning Equipment 4 You Devil-8, Version B from CanyonZone.com - Gertjan van Pelt in 2021.

Version A is milled from stainless steel. Mine is 135 mm. tall, 80 mm. wide, and 10 mm. thick. The rope hole is 43 mm. high and 50 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 10 mm. The shaft length and width are 31 mm. and 17 mm., respectively. The eye measures 15 mm. by 15 mm. The ears are 28 and 29 mm. long. My Devil-8, Version A weighs 341 g.

The front of this Devil-8 8 is laser-engraved with the CE4Y logo.

Comments

The Devil-8 is a canyoneering descender and it falls into my miscellaneous figure eights with ears category.

The stainless steel version is nearly three times the weight of the aluminum version, as expected, but provides much better wear resistance. This version has a "sandblasted" finish that will provide a bit more friction (and heating), at least until the rope wears it smooth.

The eye is small and there are many normal carabiners and maillons that will not fit through it. This is a fatal flaw, in my opinion. A tiny eye restricts versatility, and eliminates the option of using two carabiners for redundancy.

The eye has an annoying o-ring insert. In my mind, this is just a bad idea that won't go away.

• The o-ring keeps the Devil-8, Version B from moving freely on the carabiner.
• It makes attaching and removing the Devil-8, Version B more difficult.
• It catches in the notch in some of the carabiners that will fit.

Plan on dedicating a special carabiner if you want to use your Devil-8, Version B.

Canyoneering descender designers and users may love o-ring eyes, but I hate them. O-ring eyes increase cost without providing a corresponding benefit. I see too many disadvantages to the small o-ring eye design and no advantages.

• Reducing the chance of dropping the device in one unlikely scenario by adding another item to drop doesn't count as an advantage, proper technique solves the dropping problem.
• I'm told that the tight o-ring guards against cross-loading and rollouts, but proper harness design and proper technique completely eliminate this concern.
• An o-ring eye may keep the orientation of the rappel device more stable when unloaded, which might help speed the process of coming off rope. The one place that I see this being relevant is if you're floating/treading in water over your head, but proper flotation is a much better and safer choice to address this concern.

You may disagree with me about o-ring eyes, I don't mind, but the undersize o-ring eye alone is sufficient for me to eliminate the Devil-8, Version B from serious consideration.

[ Top | Axe-8 | Devil-8, Version A | Devil-8, Version B | Return to Figure Eights ]

Devil-8 Mini Stainless Steel
(#4000)

Front	Rear

Technical Details

I acquired my Canyoning Equipment 4 You Devil-8 Mini Stainless Steel from CanyonZone.com - Gertjan van Pelt in 2024.

This eight is milled from stainless steel. Mine is 119 mm. tall, 71 mm. wide, and 10 mm. thick. The rope hole is 38 mm. high and 47 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 10 mm. The shaft length and width are 26 mm. and 15 mm., respectively. The eye measures 14 mm. by 14 mm. The ears are 22.4 and 24.5 mm. long. My Canyoning Equipment 4 You Devil-8 Mini Stainless Steel weighs 258 g.

The front of the this eight is laser-engraved with the CE4Y logo, "30kN," and "01-24.".

Comments

The Devil-8 Mini Stainless Steel is a canyoneering descender and it falls into my miscellaneous figure eights with ears category.

The small size of the Mini increases the friction provided when rigged in standard figure-8 fashion. This friction may be too much when used on dirty, stiff caving ropes. Limp-roped users probably won't have that problem, and the ears are there if they want even more friction.

Stainless steel is nearly three times the density of aluminum, so this is a heavy eight. Stainless steel provides much better wear resistance, but poorer heat dissipation. Everything in engineering is a compromize.

The eye is small and there are many normal carabiners and maillons that will not fit through it. This is a fatal flaw, in my opinion. A tiny eye restricts versatility, and eliminates the option of using two carabiners for redundancy.

The eye has an annoying o-ring insert. In my mind, this is just a bad idea that won't go away.

• The o-ring keeps the Devil-8 Mini Stainless Steel from moving freely on the carabiner.
• It makes attaching and removing the Devil-8 Mini Stainless Steel more difficult.
• It catches in the notch in some of the carabiners that will fit.

Plan on dedicating a special carabiner if you want to use your Devil-8 Mini Stainless Steel.

Canyoneering descender designers and users may love o-ring eyes, but I hate them. O-ring eyes increase cost without providing a corresponding benefit. I see too many disadvantages to the small o-ring eye design and no advantages.

• Reducing the chance of dropping the device in one unlikely scenario by adding another item to drop doesn't count as an advantage, proper technique solves the dropping problem.
• I'm told that the tight o-ring guards against cross-loading and rollouts, but proper harness design and proper technique completely eliminate this concern.
• An o-ring eye may keep the orientation of the rappel device more stable when unloaded, which might help speed the process of coming off rope. The one place that I see this being relevant is if you're floating/treading in water over your head, but proper flotation is a much better and safer choice to address this concern.

You may disagree with me about o-ring eyes, I don't mind, but the undersize o-ring eye alone is sufficient for me to eliminate the Devil-8 Mini Stainless Steel from serious consideration.