Lov2	Lov3

Overview

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TAZ Lov2
(#2503)

Front	Rear	Right Side

Left Side	Front: Open for Rigging	Rear: Open for Rigging

Technical Details

I acquired my TAZ Lov2 from Omni Pro Gear in 2018. They sold it as part of a kit that also included two Camp locking oval carabiners and a 260 mm. Camp lanyard. My review is only of the TAZ Lov2.

My TAZ Lov2 is 154 mm. tall, 84 mm. wide, 42 mm. thick, and weighs 364 g.

The Lov2 consists of a pivoting cam assembly and anvil mounted between a back plate and a swinging front plate. The two plates are stamped from 4.0 mm. and 3.0 aluminum alloy, respectively, and then anodized. The front plate pivots on the cam axle. It can rotate about 240° clockwise with respect to the rear plate allowing one to open the Lov2 for rigging. The two plates have inward dog-leg bends near the bottom, where 17.3x15.4 mm. attachment holes are punched through the sloping portion of the dog-legs. The top right corners are flared outward, and 10.5 mm holes are punched there. The front plate has a slot for capturing the head of one of the two pins that secures the anvil, and an arch to clear the pin as the plate opens. A spring-loaded plastic cleat is mounted on the back plate below the anvil, where it provides drag to help keep the Lov2 from sliding under its own weight.

The cam and anvil are cast from stainless steel. The cam can rotate about 25° clockwise with respect to the rear plate. When loaded, the cam rotates clockwise, and the flat top surface of the cam squeezes the rope against the anvil. A lever mounted on the top of the cam engages the cam, controlling its motion. A spring-loaded plastic handle on the rear of cam gives the user more leverage to release the cam.

The rear plate is printed with a scanner code, "S04 180315 6640," "TΔZ," "LOV2," three decorative arcs, "UP inside a circle with an arrow extending to the lower right (where the rope exits), "TAZ LOV.ROPE Ø 11 mm EN358:1999," "10<Ø<11mm EN12841 type A/C max 120 kG," a book-with-an-"i" icon, a hand-holding-a-rope icon, "CE0082," "Patented," "made in France," and a harness icon with a hollow arrow pointing to the attachment eye.

Comments

The TAZ Lov2 is a stop bobbin, although it may not appear to be at first. The rope follows the traditional bobbin "S" path, and the lower bobbin, although of an unusual shape for a bobbin, rotates about its center on an axle fixed to the rear plate.

Omni Pro Gear sold this as a "Descender Chest Ascender Backup Device All In One." As a descender, it functions like a normal stop bobbin, although the control handle location may seem unusual to people used to the traditional design. Personally, I prefer the traditional design because I can control the handle by squeezing it and the frame together, rather than trying to pull a lever with no convenient tactile reference feedback. Even worse, the TAZ puts the control handle on the same side of the device as the trailing line, meaning the handle is on the same side as the braking hand. This is not good.

Omni Pro Gear claims the Lov2 can be used as a chest ascender. It can, but TAZ does not give instructions, and I find that it is quite inefficient compared to a normal chest ascender. I cannot recommend the Lov2 as a primary ascender.

The final use is as a rope grab, or as TAZ calls it, a fall arrest. In this case, the Lov2 is rigged as if for rappelling. In the event of a fall, the user finds himself "on rappel" with his hands off the rope. The autostop function should prevent his descent, but that depends on rope conditions. In any case, it should slow the fall considerably.

As with any device that tries to fill multiple roles, its effectiveness in some of those roles must be compromised to some degree. For caving and climbing, I usually prefer simpler devices designed to do their one purpose well.

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TAZ Lov3
(#2597)

Front	Rear	Right Side

Left Side	Front: Open for Rigging	Rear: Open for Rigging

Technical Details

I acquired my TAZ Lov3 from Omni Pro Gear in 2021. They sold it as part of a kit that also included two Camp locking oval carabiners and a 260 mm. Camp lanyard. My review is only of the TAZ Lov2.

My TAZ Lov3 is 152 mm. tall, 83 mm. wide, 44 mm. thick, and weighs 364 g. I acquired my TAZ Lov3 from Omni Pro Gear in 2021. My TAZ Lov3 is 150 mm. tall, 81 mm. wide, 45 mm. thick, and weighs 387 g.

The Lov3 consists of a pivoting cam assembly and anvil mounted between a back plate and a swinging front plate. The two plates are stamped from 4.5 mm. and 3.0 aluminum alloy, respectively, and then anodized. The front plate pivots on the cam axle. It can rotate about 240° clockwise with respect to the rear plate allowing one to open the Lov2 for rigging. The two plates have inward dog-leg bends near the bottom, where a 17.3x15.4 mm. attachment hole is punched through the sloping portion of the rear plate dog-leg and a corresponding slot is cut in the front plate. The top right corners are flared outward, and 10.5 mm holes are punched there. The front plate has a slot for capturing the head of one of the two pins that secures the anvil, and an arch to clear the pin as the plate opens. A spring-loaded button in the anvil engages a second hole in the front plate, locking it in the closed position. A spring-loaded plastic cleat is mounted on the back plate below the anvil, where it provides drag to help keep the Lov2 from sliding under its own weight.

The cam and anvil are cast from stainless steel. The cam can rotate about 25° clockwise with respect to the rear plate. When loaded, the cam rotates clockwise, and the flat top surface of the cam squeezes the rope against the anvil. A lever mounted on the top of the cam engages the cam, controlling its motion. A spring-loaded plastic handle on the rear of cam gives the user more leverage to release the cam.

The front plate is printed with a hand icon and a rigging anchor icon connected by a dashed line, a climber icon, a weight icon labeled "KG," a second anchor icon, and a harness icon. The rear plate is printed with a scanner code, "S01201212 00087," "TΔZ," "LOV3," three decorative arcs, "UP inside a circle with an arrow extending to the lower right (where the rope exits), "• 10≤Ø≤11mm EN12841 type A/B/C max 120 kG," "Ø 10.5mm Cousin 1425.EN341:2011C.30≤Poids≤100kg.Hmax 100ml.1°min-20°C," "TAZ LOV.ROPE Closed Ø 11 mm EN358:2018 Max 120 kg," "10≤Ø≤11mm EN15151-1:2012," "19.5≤Ø≤11mm EN15151-1:2012," hand-holding-a-rope icon, book-with-an-"i" icon, "CE0082," "Patented," "made in France," and a harness icon with a hollow arrow pointing to the attachment eye.

Comments

Although there are several differences, the Lov3 is similar to the Lov2 and the comments made for the Lov2 apply to the Lov3 as well.

The Lov3 has thicker plates, and this accounts for the increased weight. No doubt this change was driven to meet new standards, but I fail to see how changes to the standards could have made the Lov2 suddenly become less acceptable.

The long diatribe printed on the rear plate does more to show how hopelessly uncoordinated the existing CE standards are than it does to provide useful information to the user. For example, what rope size can I use? The markings seem to say 10≤Ø≤11mm for one purpose, 11 mm. only for another, and 9.5≤Ø≤11mm for a third. This is not only confusing to someone who does not specialize in CE standard obfuscation, it is manifestly absurd. I find "Hmax 100ml" to be confusing since height is not measured in milliliters. What does the temperature change rate "1°min" apply to, and how does the user measure it?

The hook on the Lov3 front plate allows opening the Lov3 without removing it from the harness attachment. I like this. The button latch provides a fairly effective means of keeping the plate from opening accidentally, as does the shape of the hook.

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