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Orion-Alp
(Орион-Альп)

Hummingbird

Steel Combo

Steel Horned

Two-Horned Steel

Hummingbird Steel Combo Steel Horned Two-Horned Steel
Hummingbird Steel Combo Steel Horned Two-Horned Steel

Overview


Hummingbird
(#3104)

Front Rear
Front Rear

Technical Details

I had Artyom Babin (Артём Бабин) order this eight from Orion-Alp (Орион-Альп) for me in 2021.

The Orion-Alp Hummingbird (Орион-Альп Колибри) is milled from aluminum alloy plate and then painted. Mine is 111 mm. tall, 90 mm. wide, and 10 mm. thick. The rope hole is 47 mm. high and 45 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 10 mm. The shaft length and width are 11 mm. and 34 mm., respectively. The eye measures 23 mm. by 14 mm. The ears are 25.8 and 40.7 mm. long. My Hummingbird weighs 107 g.

One side has a peeling sticker with the Orion-Alp logo.

Comments

The Hummingbird is a miscellaneous figure eight with ears that is shaped like the Petzl Pirana, but is milled rather than forged. It lacks the obnoxious eye liner of the Pirana, so you will not need to dedicate a carabiner to the Hummingbird.

I dislike the painted finish, since this will simply wear off, leaving a mess on the rope.


Steel Combo
(#3107)

Front Rear
Front Rear

Technical Details

I had Artyom Babin (Артём Бабин) order this eight from Orion-Alp (Орион-Альп) for me in 2021.

The Orion-Alp Steel Combo (Орион-Альп Восьмёрка Стальная Комбо) is forged from steel and then painted. Mine is 149 mm. tall, 126 mm. wide, and 10 mm. thick. The rope hole is 80 mm. high and 81 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 10 mm. The shaft length and width are 25 mm. and 29 mm., respectively. The eye measures 20 mm. by 20 mm. The ears are 41.6 and 42.5 mm. long. My Combo weighs 329 g.

One side is printed with "Орион-Альп", "оа 0103 Мах. 10 КN," and "8-12MM."

Comments

This is another example of a T–side eight. I am not sure that "NH" is correct, since the logo could also be read "HN," "HV," or even "ΛH."

I dislike the painted finish, since this will simply wear off, leaving a mess on the rope. The steel construction adds weight that I find unnecessary. The rope hole is quite large, perhaps unnecessarily so, but the eye is too small: it will admit only one standard carabiner. The shaft is long enough to keep the rope from running over the carabiner. The side horns are large enough to allow reliable tie-offs.


Steel Horned
(#3106)

Front Rear
Front Rear

Technical Details

I had Artyom Babin (Артём Бабин) order this eight from Orion-Alp (Орион-Альп) for me in 2021.

The Orion-Alp Steel Horned Eight (Орион-Альп Восьмёрка Стальная Рогатая) is forged from steel and then painted. Mine is 162 mm. tall, 120 mm. wide, and 10 mm. thick. The rope hole is 70 mm. high and 70 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 10 mm. The shaft length and width are 27 mm. and 42 mm., respectively. The eye measures 35 mm. by 35 mm. The ears are 37.8 and 38.5 mm. long. My Steel Horned Eight weighs 427 g.

One side is printed with "Орион-Альп", "оа 0104 Мах. 20 КN," and "Ø 8-12MM."

Comments

This is another example of a T–side eight.

The rope hole is quite large, perhaps unnecessarily so. The shaft is long enough to keep the rope from running over the carabiner. The side horns are large enough to allow reliable tie-offs.

The steel construction adds weight that I find unnecessary. Eights are inexpensive and I'll gladly replace aluminum eights more often to save weight over steel eights of the same size.

I dislike the painted finish, since this will simply wear off, leaving a mess on the rope.


Two-Horned Steel
(#3105)

Front Rear
Front Rear

Technical Details

I had Artyom Babin (Артём Бабин) order this eight from Orion-Alp (Орион-Альп) for me in 2021.

The Orion-Alp Two-Horned Steel Eight (Орион-Альп Восьмёрка Стальная Двурогая) is forged from steel and then painted. Mine is 127 mm. tall, 136 mm. wide, and 10 mm. thick. The rope hole is 61 mm. high and 61 mm. wide. The top center thickness is 10 mm. The shaft length and width are 20 mm. and 35 mm., respectively. The eye measures 20 mm. by 20 mm. The ears are 35.6 and 36.1 mm. long. My Two-Horned Steel Eight weighs 419 g.

One side is printed with "Орион-Альп", "оа 0105 Мах. 20 КN," and "Ø 8-12MM."

Comments

This is another example of a T–side eight, but with double T-sides.

This eight is too heavy for my taste. I dislike the painted finish, since this will simply wear off, leaving a mess on the rope.

The eye is too narrow to accept two full size locking carabiners.

The second horn provides an additional tie-off point, and it also facilitates providing extra friction on double rope rappels.


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