Harken Ninja Foot Jammer

[Rob]

Has anyone used one of these?

https://www.harkenindustrial.com/en/harkenindustrialcom/ninja-foot-ascender/ninja-foot-ascender/

[Mike Hopley]

I borrowed one from a friend, to try it out.

It's very good at grabbing the rope from the start of the pitch -- so less need for trapping rope with your feet, or pulling it through by hand, or waiting until you're a few metres up before putting on the jammer. It self-feeds better than any other foot jammer I've used.

The "rope guide" hook seemed quite snaggy. It easily catches tacklesack cords and (thin) footloops. Walking back to the car with my SRT kit on, I nearly fell flat on my face when it grabbed my footloop!

Although nominally ambidextrous, using it on the left foot reverses the direction of the hook. That should make it less snaggy, but also less convenient to use.

I had hoped the webbing design would make it more stable on the ankle, but it didn't seem much different from any other foot jammer in that respect. It's also noticeably heavier / bulkier than the Pantin.

Overall: interesting design, self-feeds very well, but snaggy hook is awful so I won't use it.

[MarkS]

Interesting piece of kit. Mike, do you think it would work without the hook, or did the hook seem to be needed for holding the rope in?

[Mike Hopley]

Interesting piece of kit. Mike, do you think it would work without the hook, or did the hook seem to be needed for holding the rope in?

I don't have much experience using it, but my impression was that the hook was needed to prevent excessive kick-out. The cams are very loose, which is why it feeds so well.

That being said, I am now used to a Pantin with a locking catch, so it's possible I'm exaggerating the issue?

I feel the dual-cam design is pretty nice, it could just use a better way to hold the rope in place.

[alastairgott]

I have not really used foot jammers of any kind, but can vouch for the parent company of Harken Industrial- Harken INC.

Harken Inc have been a stalwart of the Sailing industry, making block's and cleats for dinghys and also the winches used on racing Yachts. They are no lightweight "newbie" when it comes to making things where ropes are concerned.

 (I would add that they make their own rope, but I know Mark W will correct me :D and say that it's actually made by a rope manufacturer I've never heard of but have used their rebranded rope... sneaky!)

I could also attribute the reinvigoration of the Laser Olympic dinghy class to their production of the XD kit, but that story's for another day.

Needless to say, if they need to put extra dosh into R&D, i'm sure they will be able to.

[alastairgott]

Having said that, I think they got the price wrong when petzl are selling the pantin at approx. £40

Though the only website that's selling both Abaris.co.uk has the petzl at £54 and the harken at £80.

So normalising the price of the Harken (from inflated Abaris land) it might get to approx. £59.25 when it gets into the mainstream.

 Is is worth the ~~£20 extra from the Pantin though?

[Rob]

Agree, £80 is too much for a foot jammer!