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Version A
Version B
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[ Top | Version A | Return to L.C. Ascenders ]
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This one has a longer story than most: In 2015, I acquired six ascender bodies from Joseph M. Zambelli. He then offered me three more, along with seven cams, and some other parts for other ascenders, so I acquired these as well. In 2016, I acquired a complete ascender from ATN Inc.
The ATN is 88 mm. tall, 90 mm. wide, 44 mm. thick, and weighs 219 g. The rope channel is 18 mm. wide. There is a diagonal slot below the cam and main rope channel, and a reversed rope channel below this.
The cam is hard anodized aluminum alloy with a pivoting attachment stirrup pinned to the end, with the pin held in place with a small split ring. There are seven rounded teeth ont the cam. The cam radius increases from 16 to 32 mm. over an angle of 70°, giving a 29° cam angle. The cam axle is a 7.8 mm. pin with a spring-loaded latch and a split ring on the head. The cam, axle, and shell are held together by a 3.1 mm. stainless steel cable attached to the cam by a set screw, to the shell by a plate and two round-head hex screws, and crimped into a loop around the split ring.
Each side is stamped with "ATN" inside an ellipse. One side is also stamped "Made in the USA."
ATN Inc. makes equipment for sailing, and the ATN ascender was designed to be part of a system (basically a two-leg Texas) to get to the masthead safely. The ascender itself is "obviously" made by CMI, as a look at the CMI Ropewalker will show.
The unusual shell appears to be designed to limit rotation leading to lost motion, but this will only work effectively if the rope below the ascender is taut. It would have been more effective to extend the rope channel above the cam rather than adding a reversed channel below.
The cam axle is NOT a quick-release pin, nor is it a pull pin with a retaining ball. It has a positive latch that is rather difficult to release - cavers would not like it in heavy mud.
As I mentioned, I acquired nine additional ascender bodies. These were of two types. Neither version was stamped with "Made in the USA." but one version had "Made in the USA." printed. Here is a picture showing the three body marking variations:
[ Top | Version B | Return to L.C. Ascenders ]
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| Front | Rear |
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| Open for Rigging |
I acquired my ATN, Version B in 2017 as part of Bob Thrun’s collection.
The ATN, Version B is 88 mm. tall, 90 mm. wide, 44 mm. thick, and weighs 239 g.
Each side is stamped with "ATN" inside an ellipse. One side is also stamped "Made in the USA."
At first I was tempted to replace the shell with one of the variations mentioned earlier, but then I noticed that the clevis on this one was different than on Version A, so I decided to leave it alone.
[ Top | Version A | Version B ]
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