Ropeman 3's

[MSchasch]

Hey folks,



I've got this friend, Luke, who decided he was going to keep his Ropeman 3's after the voluntary recall notice. He used them for plenty of ascending (up to 150 feet at a time) without issues, up until last the weekend.


We were practicing rescues and monkeying around with knot pass efficiency when the Ropeman started to slip when weighted. After playing with the ascender for a while we found that unless you had truly SET the Ropeman, it was almost certain to slip, making the Ropeman 3 no better than a Tibloc, maybe even less trustworthy? No telling why it decided to start slipping this day. He has used it on all manner of ropes (ours that day was an 8.3).



He is no longer a fan.

Note that this is exactly the reason for the recall. So even if you've got some that are "working" and you don't want to give up, you might reconsider.

[summitseeker]

Interesting. Thank you for posting.

[Mountaineer]

All equipment must be used properly. Are you finding, perhaps, that the ropeman 3 is especially prone to error? May be that and a combination of a smaller diameter rope. Good to know.

I wonder if the ropeman 3 engineers bought a micro traxion and gave it a trial comparison.

[deagol]

http://www.rockandice.com/announcements/this-is-the-fourth-announcement

[Iceaxe]

Wild Country Recalls Ropeman
31-Dec-2012

Wild Country recalled their Ropeman 3 ascender which although passing all required CE EN standards has found to be below par in some aspects of fieldwork. Jason Myers, Wild Country's Sales Director explains:

"Whilst the R3 does meet the requirements of the relevant tests and standards, usage has found that there are certain circumstances, particularly on tensioned ropes where the device does not “stick” as well as we would like. It is possible to imagine certain situations where the user could absolutely be relying on the device (eg crevasse rescue) and experience difficulty with it’s function, even to the point of risking death or injury. The chance of this situation arising is extremely difficult to quantify. We feel the probability of an accident is small, but it is non-zero. Therefore we have chosen to voluntarily recall the product."

If you possess a Ropeman 3, then you should stop using it immediately and return it to your retailer, or if this is not possible, to your local distributor. Wild Country will arrange as soon as possible your choice of a replacement Ropeman 1 or Ropeman 2, plus a locking carabiner.

For more detailed information, please refer to the notices www.wildcountry.co.uk (http://www.wildcountry.co.uk)