Front View	Rear View	Side View

Technical Details

Artyom Babin (Артём Бабин) helped me acquire my Vertical (Вертикаль) Sport-Tourism Eight (Спусковое устройство восьмерка с креплением "Спорт-туризм" ) from Vertical in 2022.

This eight is 133 mm. tall, 96 mm. wide, 30 mm. thick, and weighs 153 g., excluding the carabiner.

This eight consists of a large main body made from 5 mm. steel plate, two 3 mm. flat carabiner retaining plates (one to beused as a spacer), and four 30 mm. M4x0.7 countersunk machine screws with matching lock bolts. The eight is designed to be permanently mounted on a user-supplied carabiner.

The rope hole is 82 mm. in diameter. It is rounded on the inside. The pear-shaped carabiner opening is 5 mm. wide and 18 mm. high.

One side is printed with the Vertical logo, "VERTICAL," and "21.12" (the date of manufacture).

Comments

The Russians invented "sports tourism" competitions that include, among other things, what amount to rope work obstacle courses. This eight is designed for those competitions, and so its focus is on speed. The large hole facilitates fast rigging. The eight provides minimal friction, allowing for rapid descents with free-fall acceleration. Lighter users might be able to stop without relying on the ground as backup. Don't try this while caving.

The eight is made of steel, but there is minimal margin for wear.

The Orion-Alp Sports Eight is a similar, but larger device.

The carabiner that I chose for mounting my eight is Chinese, but matches the design shown in the Вертикаль literature.