Harken Ninja Foot Jammer
- Thread starter Rob
- Start date
Mike Hopley
New member
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.
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.
Mike Hopley
New member
MarkS said:
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
Well-known member
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
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.
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
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
Well-known member
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?
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?
Joel Corrigan
New member
Has anyone got any further thoughts on the Ninja? The Harken rep has lent me one to try out but I'm mostly curious to know how it performs on very muddy rope & won't get a chance to put it to the test in grim conditions. I can see what people say about the hook as that's an accident waiting to happen...
pwhole
Well-known member
Sounds like a job for Derbyshire! 
I'm intrigued by this even more though:
https://www.harkenindustrial.com/en/harkenindustrialcom/clutch-multi-purpose-rope-travel-device-61/cmc-clutch-by-harken-industrial/
I'm intrigued by this even more though:
https://www.harkenindustrial.com/en/harkenindustrialcom/clutch-multi-purpose-rope-travel-device-61/cmc-clutch-by-harken-industrial/
Cantclimbtom
Well-known member
Harken ninja sounds interesting if it can reduce kick out. The weight is more than double the pantin, also interesting that there is no right/left due to symmetry of the cams.
Although while checking the specs of pantin in comparison I noticed Petzl sell a catch for the pantin to reduce kick out. Maybe I'll ask father Christmas for the catch if I've been good enough
Although while checking the specs of pantin in comparison I noticed Petzl sell a catch for the pantin to reduce kick out. Maybe I'll ask father Christmas for the catch if I've been good enough
pwhole said:Sounds like a job for Derbyshire!
I'm intrigued by this even more though:
https://www.harkenindustrial.com/en/harkenindustrialcom/clutch-multi-purpose-rope-travel-device-61/cmc-clutch-by-harken-industrial/
But around ?600 and a bit
pwhole
Well-known member
Jeez - well, maybe not 
I was always under the impression that release catches on foot ascenders were a bad idea, in the rare case where you might not be able to physically reach it to disengage it, and end up getting stuck, especially if it keeps getting worse every time you try. I'm sure the Camp Turbo foot ascender initially had the option of a catch-release model, and then they dropped it again really quickly.
I used a Pantin on a rope-access job, that involved prussicking up a very narrow gap betweeen two buildings (exactly the same width as your average lead-mine slot), passing up flashing strips to my colleague and then climbing past him so he could pass them to me. As I went past, rope-walking, he told me to stop as he couldn't work out how I was doing it - he'd never seen one before, and was really struggling to frog it up. My Pantin became some sort of mystical object immediately and he decided to buy one ASAP. Mind you, most people avoid prussicking like the plague in rope-access, so he's still not bought one.
I was always under the impression that release catches on foot ascenders were a bad idea, in the rare case where you might not be able to physically reach it to disengage it, and end up getting stuck, especially if it keeps getting worse every time you try. I'm sure the Camp Turbo foot ascender initially had the option of a catch-release model, and then they dropped it again really quickly.
I used a Pantin on a rope-access job, that involved prussicking up a very narrow gap betweeen two buildings (exactly the same width as your average lead-mine slot), passing up flashing strips to my colleague and then climbing past him so he could pass them to me. As I went past, rope-walking, he told me to stop as he couldn't work out how I was doing it - he'd never seen one before, and was really struggling to frog it up. My Pantin became some sort of mystical object immediately and he decided to buy one ASAP. Mind you, most people avoid prussicking like the plague in rope-access, so he's still not bought one.
andrewmcleod
Well-known member
Ed said:pwhole said:Sounds like a job for Derbyshire!
I'm intrigued by this even more though:
https://www.harkenindustrial.com/en/harkenindustrialcom/clutch-multi-purpose-rope-travel-device-61/cmc-clutch-by-harken-industrial/
But around ?600 and a bit
And around 840g, so sitting somewhere between and I'D and a Maestro in weight (as opposed to ~400g for a Rig or a Stop).
Joel Corrigan
New member
pwhole said:Sounds like a job for Derbyshire!
I'm intrigued by this even more though:
https://www.harkenindustrial.com/en/harkenindustrialcom/clutch-multi-purpose-rope-travel-device-61/cmc-clutch-by-harken-industrial/
I've got a Clutch to play with too as I want to compare it to the Maestro for rescue applications. Don't think it's likely to be much use purely as a descender because I believe it's relatively slow but for raising & lowering it looks like the duck's nuts. Very expensive but it's stainless & according to my rep they haven't had any returns in the UK so the lifespan could be superior to the Petzl tat.
pwhole
Well-known member
It's a bit hard to work out how the Clutch operates, but from the pictures it looks like some sort of ASAP-type device in the sense that everything is controlled via a toothed or ridged (and clutched!) pulley wheel, essentially able to rotate in both directions to allow ascent or descent? It doesn't mention hand-jammers/footloops that's all, which I assume are still required? So you operate it like a Rig or i'D for climbing, but it's much easier than either of those?
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