This is the Akimbo

It can be hard to judge the size of things from video and pics of them without a frame of reference... I thought this might help. Perhaps the rope, ZigZag and 'biners might give a better perspective. The ZZ is more compact, but once you have it in your DdRT configuration, the difference isn't as much as I initially thought. They both feel so nice in your hand. Both devices just let the rope fall through them when ascending, and that's very nice. Tending is still a little easier with the ZZ, but the Akimbo is very close, there, too. Marvelous. Nothing beats the ZZ for just throwing it on a rope and it working (within limits) and the Akimbo requires more fiddling to make it work on any given rope, as everybody already knows... but... it's nowhere near as hard as I thought it would be.

This piece of All Gear Cherry Bomb 11.5mm was a joke. My first attempt was close, and I nailed it with only two more adjustments. This is a firm rope that doesn't flatten out much, so I really think it will end up being a real good, fairly cheap rope that will work well with it. Haven't had it out of the house, but works real good in the lousy few feet I have from the ceiling hook in my livingroom. I'll know more by tomorrow night, when I can at least play with it on more ropes, and some quick 20' climbs. I figure I'll be up all night trying different ropes to get the settings as close as I can before morning.

:D

Akimbo-ZigZag-SIZE.webp
 
@JeffGu, Nice mini review of your experience with the Akimbo so far. Thanks also for posting the photos; very nice. It looks like a work of art.

You have me wondering if every serious climber has a hook to hang from in their living room.
 
TimBr said:
@JeffGu, Nice mini review of your experience with the Akimbo so far. Thanks also for posting the photos; very nice. It looks like a work of art.

You have me wondering if every serious climber has a hook to hang from in their living room.
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Mine is a 2" eye screw in the basement. Sometimes I hang down there. :D
 
TimBr said:
It looks like a work of art.
Click to expand...

Oh, you are so right, there, Tim... very first impression as it came out of the box, was that it looks as good as the pics that have been posted, but WOW! do the pics not tell the whole story! It instantly feels like a very high quality piece of gear. I remember feeling that way with the ZZ, but with a slight feeling that it seemed a bit fragile... nothing of that with the Akimbo. It feels heavy duty, probably because of the low parts count. Jaime certainly took care to make sure it will hold up to some weight. This thing could have been made about 25% or so smaller, and I think it would still work alright, but it feels much more rugged with the size that it is. It's also quite a bit lighter than I was expecting.

BTW, New England KM-III 1/2" fits in it... 2T, 6B right now, but I really need to get it onto something sturdier than this ceiling hook. I have a much heftier one in the frame of the garage door, but it's ugly out there, and drizzling. Next up, I want to get some preliminary settings for the KM-III Max 7/16" rope. Not going to mess with the 11.7mm Yale ropes until tomorrow.
 
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