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Wildken chest ascender:




This is a budget "chest ascender", designed to be installed on a full-body harness as a rope capture / fall
protection / positioning ascender. This is usually used as the climber's primary and continuous connection
to their "life line" rope. The override for allowing the rope to briefly move up the ascender is made to be
easy to frequently use, and the rope capture is also usually very easy to operate, to switch between different
ropes when switching between two separate life lines, negotiating across knots, or repositioning.

The distinctive "ears" on the top and bottom are connected to the harness via straps, which rigidly position
the ascender in the middle of the chest.

This unit has excellent performance. The rope runs very smoothly down the gate, and immediately grabs solidly
with upward force. Pulling the release tab (with no force on the rope) unlocks it and allows descent while
keeping the rope secured. Firmly pulling up and out unlocks the grab and also "parks" it for rope removal
or installation. My only complaint is that the gap for admitting the rope is only just big enough so it can
be a little bit if a nuisance trying to thread the rope back in.



Wildken chest ascender ($30 at Amazon)

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last updated 03/30/2026 at 11:24:41 by make_www_index.command version 2026.03.14.A