Front View	Rear View
Left Side View	Right Side View

Technical Details

I acquired these ascenders used on eBay from Anthony Burdett in 2008.

Each ascender is made from three 7.1 mm. steel rod. The main leg has a 13.1 mm. i.d. horizontal hook at the bottom, ascends 66 mm., dog-legs 21 mm. at about a 30° angle with the horizontal, ascends another 68 mm., and then loops downward to form a 29.5 mm. tall, 14.3 mm. wide, welded eye. A second piece welded to the dog-leg is bent to form two V notches, each about 50 mm. long. The final piece is welded to the top of the eye and forms an 11.1 mm. hook that slopes downward at about 45°. All exposed rod ends are rounded. One of the two is cadmium plated, the other is not.

The eye has "BREVETE+" and "TRICOUNI K8/12" stamped on each side

Comments

Anthony sent me a letter explaining this ascender, and included the following comments:

Here are the Stubai Karabiner K climbing irons, one left and one right but I have forgotten which is which. They are of different colours.

I have virtually forgotten how to use them on a single hanging rope but as a guide to help you work it out, the ends attached to the two short lengths of nylon rope [i.e., the eyes; Anthony had slings tied to the eyes] must be uppermost initially then pulled down through 180° to grip, the two small hooks engaging the rope to be climbed.

They are remarkably effective and efficient, but I presume that climbing devices with a cam are simpler.

When rigging the irons, the standing line goes through the lower hook and then outside the dog-leg (between the prongs), without any wrapping around any pieces of the irons. When applying load, just guide the iron so that it rotates in the direction toward the eye (i.e., the top moves toward the outside in the "front" photo) and so that the standing line engages the two V notches. The standing line will come out of the lower hook as the iron rotates. The upper hook is not needed for normal climbing, but the user can engage it to provide more security if needed (e.g., when stopping to perform some other activity). When releasing load, guide the iron so that the rope engages the lower hook, and then slide the iron upward for the next step. The entire process is simpler than my description suggests, and works better than one might expect.

I'm not sure that I've matched the manufacturer’s intent for which iron is the left and which is the right, but using them this way puts the V notches facing the climber.