Front View	Rear View	Side View

Technical Details

I acquired my UZPS Petal (УЗПС Лепесток) from John E. Weinel, Inc. in 1990. Harald Müller donated a second one in 2010. I bought a third one from Artyom Babin (Артём Бабин) in 2024.

My Petals are 152 mm. tall, 70 mm. wide, 21 mm. thick, and weighs 96 g. The Petal is cast from aluminum. Six sprues were visible.

My first Petal is stamped "0487" on one side (possibly the date of manufacture) and "OTK" (Russian abbreviation for "Отдел Технического Контроля" - Technical Control Department) on the other. The second is stamped "0987" and "OTK." The third is stamped with a logo and "0487" on one side and "O•K" on the other.

Comments

The Petal was manufactured at the Ural Experimental-Industrial Plant of Precision Alloys (Уральский опытно-промышленный завод прецизионных сплавов) in Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk).

The top of the Petal is wide enough for 11 mm. rope, but it works better on 9 mm. line. Normally one rigs it in the free running configuration shown. This does not provide as much friction as I prefer, especially since the rope does not want to stay in the hook as it is shown in the figure. There are several alternative rigging methods available. The slot can be used to rig the Petal like a Sticht plate. This works, but the rope tends to bind somewhat. Another alternative is to use carabiners as brake bars in the long slot, much like as with the Baechli or Yates Belay Slave. There are three grooves in the Petal that appear to be there for this purpose (except that the top groove is too close to the end of the slot).

I'm not a fan of cast aluminum for making descenders, and these are made from a low-quality alloy. I'm not alone in this opinion. In an Association of Speleologists of the Urals photo album (Ассоциация Спелеологов Урала, 2009. "Спелео Снаряжение Коллекция Секции Вив (1963-1990 Годы) Фотоальбом (Часть 1)." Издательская комиссия АСУ (Ассоциация спелеологов Урала), p. 52.), they wrote,

"In the late 80s of the 20th century, a descender appeared in sporting goods stores called the "Petal." Made from a certain light alloy at relatively small price, it quickly gained popularity in the youth environment.

"However, on closer inspection, doubts about product quality crept in.… I put one down on the table and hit it with my fist (not hard).

"Result confirmed doubts: the "piece of iron," with a light crunch, fell apart in two halves.

"The photo shows the poor quality casting, which caused breakage of the product. This case, alas, is not an isolated one."

The Krok Petal and Fish (Рыба) are similar devices with a more robust milled construction.

I don't see enough advantages of these devices to choose any of them for other than occasional experimental use.