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Berkut, Left
Berkut, Right
Prom-Alp, Left
Prom-Alp, Right
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| Berkut, Left (Беркут) |
Berkut, Right (Беркут) |
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| Prom-Alp, Left (Пром-Альп) |
Prom-Alp, Right (Пром-Альп) |
[ Top | Berkut, R | Prom-Alp, L | Prom-Alp, R | Return to PolyBollards ]
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| Front | Rear | Right Side |
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| Left Side | Front: Open for Rigging | Rear: Open for Rigging |
I had Artyom Babin (Артём Бабин) order this Berkut (Беркут) from Orion-Alp (Орион-Альп) for me in 2021.
This Berkut is 221 mm. tall, 86 mm. wide, 46 mm. thick, and weighs 638 g.
The Berkut adds a swinging front safety plate to the Prom-Alp. This irregularly-shaped steel plate is 81 mm. tall, 54 mm. wide and 4.1 mm. thick. It has a 20 mm. wide, 22 mm. tall eye at the bottom and a 26 mm. long projection at the top right.
The rear of the main plate is stamped with the Russian Conformity Mark, a book-with-an-"i" icon, and the following text between the icons:
Пром-Альп
СУ Беркут П оа 0111
ГОСТ Р 57379-2016/EN341-2011(класс А)
ГОСТ EN 12841-2014 тип C
Ø 10-11 мм; Макс: 200кг
09.2021.
Andrey Pokratov (Андрей Пократов) of Orion-Alp is a frequent visitor to this web site, and he gave me a generous discount on my order. Many of the devices in the order had just been made, and the paint had not fully cured. Even when the package arrived, there was still a strong smell of what Артём called "stinky cheap paint" (вонючая дешевая краска). This was no worse than the smell left by the spray Rustoleum® that I used on some of my own devices, and the fresh paint smell disappeared in a few days. Orion-Alp equipment is artisanal. While somewhat crude, by Western standards, their devices are generally solid and quite inexpensive. Their equipment is especially loved by migrant workers from Central Asia.
Rigging the Berkut is simple in concept: simply push a bight in from the right and loop it over the handle.
As one descends, friction on the rotating bollard will tend to rotate the handle upward, and the off-centered mounting will cause the rotating bollard to squeeze the rope against the rollers. Pulling the handle down relieves this pressure, allowing one to descend. Moving the handle upward slows the descent. If the handle is released, it will be pulled upward as well.
On rappel, the Berkut works reasonably well. The handle is somewhat sensitive (but not overly so) and it requires a strong pull, but I found that I was able to control my descents reasonably well. Still, the handle does not come close to any convenient reference surface, so it takes some getting used to. The stop position held my weight (90 kg.), something that many "stop" devices fail to do.
The additional swinging front plate has two functions. First, it captures the rope below the rotating bollard, lessening the likelihood that it will come off. This would not result in a free-fall since the handle should prevent the rope from coming free, but it would create an inconvenient jam. The second purpose is served by the horn, which prevents pulling the handle down past the 2:00 position, limiting a panicked user’s ability to reduce friction. Whether this increases safety or not is debatable.
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[ Top | Berkut, L | Prom-Alp, L | Prom-Alp, R | Return to PolyBollards ]
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| Front | Rear | Right Side |
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| Left Side | Front: Open for Rigging | Rear: Open for Rigging |
I acquired my Orion-Alp Berkut from Artyom Babin (Артём Бабин) in 2020, although it took 2½ months to clear U.S. customs and did not arrive until February 2021.
This Berkut is 221 mm. tall, 86 mm. wide, 46 mm. thick, and weighs 646 g.
The Berkut adds a swinging front safety plate to the Prom-Alp. This irregularly-shaped steel plate is 81 mm. tall, 54 mm. wide and 4.1 mm. thick. It has a 20 mm. wide, 22 mm. tall eye at the bottom and a 26 mm. long projection at the top right.
The rear of the main plate is stamped with the Russian Conformity Mark and the following text:
Пром-Альп
СУ Беркут П оа 0112.2009
ГОСТ Р 57379-2016/EN341-2011(класс А)
ГОСТ EN 12841-2014 тип C
Ø 10-11 мм; Макс: 200кг
The left and right versions are essentially mirror images. The only significant difference, aside from that and the color, is that the nut on the rear of the handle screw is a lock nut on the left-hand version while the earlier right-hand version uses a hex nut held in place by the Russian equivalent of Loctite®.
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[ Top | Berkut, L | Berkut, R | Prom-Alp, R | Return to PolyBollards ]
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| Front View | Rear View |
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| Left Side View | Right Side View |
I had Artyom Babin (Артём Бабин) order this Prom-Alp (Пром-Альп) from Orion-Alp (Орион-Альп) for me in 2021.
This Prom-Alp is 221 mm. tall, 77 mm. wide, 44 mm. thick, and weighs 549 g.
The Prom-Alp consists of a back plate that supports a rope guide (two roller assemblies and a cover plate) on the upper left and a central rotating bollard with attached handle extending to the right. The back plate is a 142 mm. tall, 59 mm. wide, irregular plate made from 4.1 mm. steel plate. There is a 19.7mm wide, 23 mm.tall clip-in hole punched in the lower portion of the plate. There are two 15.1 mm. wide, 19.1 mm. diameter rollers along the left side, each with a U-shaped groove that reduces the central diameter to 15 mm. The rollers are sandwiched between the main frame and a, 78 mm. long, 26 mm. wide,3.1 mm. thick cover plate. The cover plate is riveted to the rear plate with semitubular shoulder rivets to form a rectangular rope channel. The rollers ride on the rivets. The rollers are separated by 52 mm., center-to-center. The inner separation between the cover and back plates is 16.5 mm.
The rotating bollard pivots on an axle riveted to the back plate. The axle does not rotate with the handle. The pivot is about 47 mm. to the left of the lower rope channel bollard (center to center). The pivoting bollard is a 55.5 mm. diameter, 16 mm. thick steel circle with 48.5 mm. minor diameter U-groove turned on the edge. The pivot hole lies about 15 mm. below the bollard’s center. There is a 153 mm. long (measured from the pivot center)control handle attached to the front of the rotating bollard with two 5 mm. round-head phillips screws. The handle is 2.1 mm. steel plate with a 103 mm.-long plastic handle. The handle has one finger grooves at the distal top.
The left and right versions are essentially mirror images. The only significant difference, aside from that and the color, is that the nut on the rear of the handle screw is a lock nut on the left-hand version while the earlier right-hand version uses a hex nut held in place by the Russian equivalent of Loctite®.
The rear of the main plate is stamped with the Russian Conformity Mark, a book-with-an-"i" icon, and the following text between the icons:
Пром-Альп
СУ Пром-Альп П оа 0109
ГОСТ Р 57379-2016/EN341-2011(класс А)
ГОСТ EN 12841-2014 тип C
Ø 10-11 мм; Макс: 200кг
09.2021
The Prom-Alp is popularly called the Uzbek (Узбечка) or Tashkent (Ташкент, the capital of Uzbekistan). Most often it is called a Frying Pan (Сковородка).
Rigging the Prom-Alp is simple in concept: simply push a bight in from the right and loop it over the handle.
As one descends, friction on the rotating bollard will tend to rotate the handle upward, and the off-centered mounting will cause the rotating bollard to squeeze the rope against the rollers. Pulling the handle down relieves this pressure, allowing one to descend. Moving the handle upward slows the descent. If the handle is released, it will be pulled upward as well.
On rappel, the Prom-Alp works reasonably well. The handle is somewhat sensitive (but not overly so) and it requires a strong pull, but I found that I was able to control my descents reasonably well. Still, the handle does not come close to any convenient reference surface, so it takes some getting used to. The stop position held my weight (90 kg.), something that many "stop" devices fail to do.
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[ Top | Berkut, L | Berkut, R | Prom-Alp, L | Return to PolyBollards ]
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| Front View | Rear View |
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| Left Side View | Right Side View |
I acquired my Orion-Alp Prom-Alp from Artyom Babin (Артём Бабин) in 2020, although it took 2½ months to clear U.S. customs and did not arrive until February 2021.
This Prom-Alp is 221 mm. tall, 77 mm. wide, 44 mm. thick, and weighs 560 g.
The rear of the main plate is stamped with the Russian Conformity Mark and the following text:
Пром-Альп
СУ Пром-Альп П оа 0110.2009
ГОСТ Р 57379-2016/EN341-2011(класс А)
ГОСТ EN 12841-2014 тип C
Ø 10-11 мм; Макс: 200кг
The left and right versions are essentially mirror images. The only significant difference, aside from that and the color, is that the nut on the rear of the handle screw is a lock nut on the left-hand version while the earlier right-hand version uses a hex nut held in place by the Russian equivalent of Loctite®.
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[ Top | Berkut, L | Berkut, R | Prom-Alp, L | Prom-Alp, R ]
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