AlexR
Active member
This has reminded me that (before I became completely set in my ways) I used to enjoy gear reviews, so maybe someone could benefit from my experience with the Skylotec Spark, a Petzl RIG-like descender. I have various other esoteric bits and bobs I'll probably post in the near future, too.
tl; dr: I'm a fan and it will likely become my descender of choice. Bear in mind I've never caved on a RIG or I'D, so can't really compare it. My Spark has only seen around 300m of action so far, none of it in a cave, so take all this with a pinch of salt.
My standard descender of choice for the last 17 years has been the old style Stop, with a BMS microrack for dig commuting (because after going through 3 top bobbins, a bottom bobbin and a face plate I wanted something more financially efficient).
The elephant in the room: Cost. This thing will set you back in the region of £190. Is it £75 better than a Stop? I would say yes. Also I hate the new Stop and can't get on with it. I'm also sat on a stack of 6 old style Stops which I've hoarded like some kind of Luddite dragon, so it's not like the Spark is my only way out.
I paid my own hard earned cash at full retail for this thing after a test run in a brick and mortar store.
Why not a RIG or I'D? I looked at both of those, but disliked the sloppy face plate (analogous to say panel gaps on a car, a device that rattles like hell just doesn't scream quality). Also the pin which is clearly a wear problem. In contrast the Spark feels like a much better built product - obviously at a price. One chunk of metal, no slop, no plastic in sight. As you can see on the second picture, there is no pin; the rope runs over the entire stainless steel cam. This will hopefully wear more uniformly. Time will tell. I also tried the Edelrid Megawatt and did not like it one bit.
I'm in no way suggesting anyone should do this, but you can also descend 5mm Beal pure Dyneema by wrapping the cord over the cam three times. Control is surprisingly good.
Even though I really didn't get on with the handle on the new style Stop, the one on the Spark doesn't bother me. I still prefer the Stop squeeze one, but I'll get used to the Spark pulling lever I think.
Here is where the Spark becomes £75 better than the Stop in my eyes: Threading it is very intuitive and more importantly fast. I did 10 full thread-unthread cycles with my Stop (not even including the Raumer) and the Spark, and the results were pretty telling - 6s for a full open-thread-close-open-unthread-close cycle on the spark, 11s on the Stop - a device I've used for 17 years.
Also, you can take the rope out of the Spark even if it's under a tiny bit of tension, where for the Stop it needs to be completely slack. I appreciate this won't be of any interest if your caves feature 20 rebelays or so, but for deep alpine caving I consider this a significant time saving. In reality I think the advantage is much higher than the math would suggest, I only have to think how often I've sworn at too-tight rope loops which have made getting the Stop off a pain in the backside.
Like the RIG/ I'D it's way easier to take in slack, which is quite nice. You could actually use it as an emergency chest ascender (won't be winning any speed records, but it's not awful), which is only technically possible with the Stop but completely unfeasible in practice.
Here comes the big surprise for me: Weight. It's big and clunky, after all the entire thing is made out of metal - not a piece of plastic in sight. So I thought it'll be a lot worse than the Stop. Not true, my Stop + Raumer weigh in at 540g and the Spark at 518g.
It's also considerably easier to give out slack with the Spark than the Stop, which is a nice boon for bolt climbing. Alex (not me) from The Rope Access Chanel has a nice long term review video on youtube, though this is from a rope access perspective. Be aware that cross-loading can be a real issue with this device.
So there you go, if you've got £200 or so burning a hole in your pocket I think you could do worse things with that than buy a Spark.
