Front View: Closed	Rear View: Closed
Front View: Open for Rigging	Rear View: Open for Rigging

Technical Details

I acquired my Swiss Rescue Jumar from Bob Thrun in 2014. Bob bought these from PEWATEC Safety Systems in Germany. I acquired another in 2017 as part of Bob Thrun’s collection.

The Swiss Rescue Jumar is 182 mm. tall, 98 mm. wide, 30 mm. thick, and weighs 249 g.

Swiss Rescue Jumar ascender frames are milled from aluminum alloy. The frame contains two opposing channels, but the channels are not parallel as they are in typical extruded frame ascenders. One channel is rounded and becomes the rope channel, the other is square and holds the cam. The rope channel is 16 mm. wide. A hole drilled through both sides of the cam channel accepts a 6 mm. rivet. The cam and cam spring are mounted on this rivet, along with two washers on each side to help center the cam. The handle below the cam has a soft "rubbery" hand grip molded into place. The hand grip has four finger grooves. A 17.1 mm. sling attachment hole is drilled below the handle opening, and an 11.1 mm. hole is drilled below and outside the first. A subtriangular hole above the cam provides a convenient top grip and potential attachment point.

The cam is a plated skeletonized steel casting. The cam radius increases from 38 to 57 mm. over an angle of 42°, giving a 29° cam angle. The cam has number of small conical teeth. The teeth are parallel to the top of the cam. The tooth pattern is (4.H)^2(3.H)^2(3.2.2). A spring-loaded manual safety bar is riveted to the cam. The normal action of the spring holds the safety against the cam. When the cam is opened, the shell interferes with the safety bar, thus preventing opening the cam. If the safety bar is moved away from the cam (opposing the spring), it will clear the shell and the cam will open. At full open the safety can be released and the spring will hold the safety against the back of the shell. This provides a means of locking the cam open.

The front side of the rope channel is printed with "JUMAR," "CE 2008," EN597," and "USE ROPE ø9-13mm."

Comments

After waiting for the new Jumar, I must say that I was disappointed. Let’s start with the obvious - why no right-hand model? While the PEWATEC Safety Systems site showed one, Bob’s correspondence received the reply, "that`s correct and at the same time a miracle because, the left version are used for right-handed people and the right version are used for left-handed people. We just only have the left version available."

The frame is acceptable, but heavy, and I don't mind the hand grip. The extrusion matches the one used for the Proverti 211 & 212. The lower portion (beneath the handgrip and below the bend in the front strap) appears to be identical to the Proverti’s shape, but the upper portion is shorter, with a lower cam channel, a shorter rope channel, and a smaller upper hole. This makes the Jumar 25 mm. shorter and 43 g. lighter.

The cam appears to be copied from the cam on the Kong Cam-Clean, but the implementation is sloppy. There is a sharp serrated ridge above the top teeth. The teeth are rounded; I would actually call them dull. The cam flops around on its axle, but you may not notice this because the cam safety flops around far more. The hold-open action barely works. Opening the ascender with one had is very difficult. The tab on the safety is rather small, allowing one’s thumb to slip off rather easily.