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Hugh Banner
Safety "8" v. A
Safety "8" v. B
Safety "8" v. B copy
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| Hugh Banner | Safety "8" Version A |
Safety "8" Version B |
Safety "8" Version B copy |
[ Top | Safety "8" v. A | Safety "8" v. B | Safety "8" v. B copy | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired this eight from Koen Viaene in 2006.
The Hugh Banner is forged from aluminum alloy. Mine is 123 mm tall, 116 mm. wide, and 13 mm. thick. The rope hole is 44 mm. high and 44 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 12 mm. The shaft length and width are 43 mm. and 33 mm., respectively. The auxiliary hole is 17.7 mm. high and 17.7 mm. wide. The eye measures 16 mm. by 16 mm. The ears are 25.9 and 29.4 mm. long. My Hugh Banner eight weighs 149 g.
This eight is stamped with the "HB" ligature, "WALES," and "M8497."
The Hugh Banner is an unusual T–side eight. This eight has prominent T-shaped ears on each side, similar to the ears on the SBCI Sidewinder or on some of the Russian figure eights with ears, only the HB ears are much larger and there are two of them. Although they makes tying off easier, they get in the way for everything else. I don't like large ears on eights, and this takes the idea to an extreme.
The eight is forged, not cut from plate. The ears taper in thickness from 12.5 mm. below the rope hole to 10.3 mm at the sides. The lower portion also tapers, being 10.3 mm below the eye. The eye and auxiliary hole are not rounded or beveled, but the main rope hole is. The eye is too narrow to accept two full size locking carabiners.
The Mizo eights have a similar design.
[ Top | Hugh Banner | Safety "8" v. B | Safety "8" v. B copy | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired this eight from Cormier Mountaineering in 2001.
The Hugh Banner Safety "8," Version A is forged from aluminum alloy. Mine is 145 mm. tall, 108 mm. wide, and 13 mm. thick. The rope hole is 48 mm. high and 48 mm wide. The top center thickness is 12 mm. The shaft length and width are 68 mm. and 28 mm., respectively. The eye measures 6 mm. by 21 mm. There is a 68 mm. long loop of 19 mm. webbing sewn into the eye with five rows of bar-tack stitching. The ears are 19.5 mm. long. My Hugh Banner Safety "8," Version A weighs 156 g.
The front of this eight is stamped with "HB Wales"
(the HB is a ligature), an image of a turtle, and "241000."
The Hugh Banner Safety "8," Version A is a unique variation of the typical "midi"size figure eight with ears. Instead of the traditional eye, the HB Safety "8" has a webbing loop for attaching to one’s harness. I've seen people destroy a locked seat carabiner by mis-rigging an eight and having it twist down over the gate. Although the webbing loop on the HB prevents this scenario, I don't particularly care for it, since metal wears better than a sewn sling.
The
ears on the HB Safety 8 are relatively narrow so the eight is
much more compact than the typical - and absurd - "rescue
8’s" on the market.
The back side of the shank is more rounded than the front.
This is intended to allow rigging for two different frictions;
however, I don't notice much of a difference. I noticed that the
two figures in the instruction sheet show the same rigging for
"fast" as for "slow." The one for "fast"
is in error, so I corrected it here:
[ Top | Hugh Banner | Safety "8" v. A | Safety "8" v. B copy | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired my Hugh Banner Safety "8," Version B from Tom Furey in 2012.
The Hugh Banner Safety "8," Version B is forged from aluminum alloy. Mine is 141 mm. tall, 108 mm. wide, and 13 mm. thick. The rope hole is 48 mm. high and 49 mm wide. The top center thickness is 12 mm. The shaft length and width are 49 mm. and 28 mm., respectively. The eye measures 25 mm. by 22 mm. The ears are 18.5 mm. long. My Hugh Banner Safety "8," Version B weighs 141 g.
The front of this eight is stamped with "HB Wales" (the HB is a ligature), an image of a turtle, and "241000."
The Hugh Banner Safety "8," Version B is a variation of the typical "midi"size figure eight with ears. In both the original and my copy, the eye is too narrow to accept two full size locking carabiners.
[ Top | Hugh Banner | Safety "8" v. A | Safety "8" v. B | Return to Figure Eights ]
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I acquired a Version A eight from Christopher Wanless in 2007, and turned it into this copy of Version B.
The Hugh Banner Safety "8," Version B is forged from aluminum alloy. Mine is 141 mm. tall, 109 mm. wide, and 13 mm. thick. The rope hole is 48 mm. high and 48 mm wide. The top center thickness is 12 mm. The shaft length and width are 68 mm. and 28 mm., respectively. The eye measures 16 mm. by 21 mm. The ears are 19.5 mm. long. My Hugh Banner Safety "8," Version B weighs 140 g.
The front of this eight is stamped with "HB Wales" (the HB is a ligature), an image of a turtle, and "M8490A."
So what
is this? I cheated. I couldn't find a real Version B, so I took another Hugh Banner Safety "8"
(one just like Version A), cut off the sling, clamped it
to a rotary cross slide table, and used my milling machine to
cut the eye larger. I had an image of a Safety "8"
Version B to use as a guide, so I believed that this one is
a reasonably faithful copy. When I finally got a real Version B in 2012, it was obvious that I had not milled the hole high enough - but if I had done so, I would have removed part of the stamped "HB Wales" on the front.
[ Top | Hugh Banner | Safety "8" v. A | Safety "8" v. B | Safety "8" v. B copy ]
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