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Ice Rock Gnome
(#3040)

 

Front Rear Right
Front Rear Right
 
Left Front: Open for Rigging Rear: Open for Rigging
Left Front: Open for Rigging Rear: Open for Rigging

Technical details:

I acquired my Ice Rock Gnome IR0318SE from the Russian company Vertical-USA in 2021.

My Ice Rock Gnome is 109 mm. tall, 60 mm. wide, 39 mm. thick, and weighs 303 g.

The Gnome consists of a central bollard assembly sandwiched between forged front and rear plates and a control handle mounted on the front plate. Each plate is 3.9 mm. thick, with a thinner section on the main face. Both plates are bent The front plate has a notch on its left side that provides means to latch the bollard closed and to allow the bollard to interact with the handle assembly. The rear plate has a semicircular indentation on its inside face that has no apparent function other than to reduce weight. Both plates have inward dog-leg bends at the bottom, where they are riveted together. A cast steel anvil held by these rivets serves as the lower bollard. It has a 7 mm. wide, 1 mm. deep rope groove on its top surface. Each plate has a 15 mm. hole between the rivets to provide a clip-in point. A semitubular rivet connects the plates at the top, and also serves as an axle for the central bollard assembly.

The bollard assembly consists of a cast stainless steel housing,two nested rotating elements, and a plastic cover that doubles as a thumb grip. The top of the bollard assembly forms a second, upper bollard with an 8.5 mm. wide, 1 mm. deep rope groove on its bottom and right surface. The main (central) bollard is roughly circular, about 40 mm. in diameter (it varies due to cutaways) with a 9 mm. wide rope grove giving a 30.4 mm. minor diameter. The outer rotating element is flush with the front face of the central bollard. This element has a 6 mm. diameter, 8 mm. long pin that engages a cam on the handle. A hole above the pin allows a smaller pin on the inner rotating element to project. That pin serves to lock the bollard assembly closed. Both elements are spring-loaded to rotate counter-clockwise as viewed from the front.

The handle assembly consists of a plastic handle and steel-shrouded spring assembly screwed to a steel plate riveted to the front plate. The spring housing is not circular; instead, it forms a cam that presses against the pin on the central bollard outer rotating element. Moving the handle downward forces the pin outward, reducing friction during a descent. It also unlocks the bollard when not on a loaded rope.

The front plate is printed with a rigging illustration that also shows the "DESCENT SPEED CONTROL" and "STOP" handle positions, as well as the "UP" direction. The rear is printed with the Ice Rock logo ("IR" between two triangles), "ICE ROCK," "GNOME," "EN 12841-C," " Ø 10-11 mm.," "200 kg 100 m," "EN15151-1," "18.9-10.2 mm," a book-with-an-"i" icon, "MADE IN RUSSIA," "PATENTED", and "21.01 303."

Comments:

The Gnome is an attractive descender with excellent workmanship.

To rig the Gnome, open it by moving the control lever counter-clockwise to release the central bollard latch. Pass a bight of rope in from the right, and loop it over the central bollard. Close the bollard assembly before descending. The control lever functions as one would expect. Thankfully, there is no anti-panic function to provide unexpected braking or to make the Gnome excessively sensitive to rope diameter.

The Gnome is rated for 10-11 mm. rope when used as a rope adjustment device (including descending) and for 8.9-10.2 when used as a descender. There is almost no overlap in these limits, which I consider to be more of a sign of problems with the standards and testing than realistic limitations on the Gnome. Your American lawyer, who probably did not have a course on rope techniques in law school, would probably disagree with me in an American court, so don't trust my opinion, just follow the manual.

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