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Snail
(#3028)

Front	Rear

Technical Details

I acquired my Eroica Snail from CanyonZone.com - Gertjan van Pelt in 2021.

My Eroica Snail is 145 mm. tall, 96 mm. wide, 10 mm. thick, and weighs 148 g.

The Snail is milled from aluminum alloy plate and then soft anodized. The upper hole is 45 mm. wide and 36 mm. high, the middle hole is 32 mm. high and 29 mm. wide, and the slot is 39 mm. high and 16 mm. wide. The eye is 14.2 mm. in diameter with an o-ring insert.

Each side is printed with a ring anchor icon, "SNAIL," "Made in IRAN," "45 KN," "EROICA," a book-with-an-"i" icon, "ROPE 5≤Ø≤11," and "PATENTED."

Comments

The Eroica (not Erotica!) Snail looks like a cross between the ATK and the CanyonZone Zone 8. I classify it as a Rappel Plate, but once chose to group it with the T–side eights. Like many canyoneering descenders, the Snail can be rigged in numerous configurations to give various amounts of friction, although it is not always possible to convert between specific friction pairs while on rappel.

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 Snail from moving freely on the carabiner.
• It makes attaching and removing the Snail 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 Snail.

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 Snail from serious consideration.

The Snail is similar in size and weight to standard figure eights, and would make a reasonable alternative if the eye were not so small.

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Snail Pro
(#4001)

Front	Rear

Technical Details

I acquired my Eroica Snail Pro from CanyonZone.com - Gertjan van Pelt in 2024.

My Eroica Snail is 153 mm. tall, 100 mm. wide, 10 mm. thick, and weighs 169 g.

The Snail Pro is milled from aluminum alloy plate and then soft anodized. The upper rope hole is 45 mm. wide and 38 mm. high, the middle hole is 34 mm. high and 29 mm. wide, and the slot is 39 mm. high and 16 mm. wide. The upper eye is 13.7 mm. in diameter. The lower eye is 14.2 mm. in diameter with an o-ring insert.

Each side is printed with "SNAILPRO," "Made in IRAN," "45 KN," "EROICA," a book-with-an-"i" icon, "ROPE 5≤Ø≤11," "PATENTED." The front is also printed with "24/5" and a QR code.

Comments

I classify the Eroica Snail Pro as a Rappel Plate, It is similar to the Snail, but adds an upper eye (thankfully without the o-ring insert). The lower horns have been reshaped, with the one beneath the side horns now turned downward, and the other turned upward.

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 Snail Pro from moving freely on the carabiner.
• It makes attaching and removing the Snail Pro 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 Snail Pro.

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 Snail Pro from serious consideration.