Préventica is the French trade fair dedicated to Personal Protection Equipment. Each year prizes are awarded to new innovative, high-technology products that are designed to improve safety for people working in situations of extreme risk.

Congratulation to Sparrow 200!

The new autoblocking descender,produced in Italy by Aludesign S.p.A. for its Climbing Technology brand, has been awarded the prestigious “Prix de l’Innovation 2014” as the best device in the category Rope Access Work.

Sparrow 200 was recognised as the best product not only for its performance, safety and ease of use but also because it is an example of innovation to improve rope access work. All this has been made possible by the dedication and passionof the Climbing Technology team. Sparrow 200 is a descender for high loads, designed not just for rope access but also for technical rescue.

The main functionality allows the operator to reach the desired position by abseiling down the rope, position themselves and then climb back up the rope. Sparrow 200 can safely manage high loads, up to 210 kg which is equivalent to lowering two people at the same time or an operator can lower themselves and another person, allowing rapid intervention in case of accidents or illness. EN12841:2006-C

In rescue at height, Sparrow 200 is certified for the evacuation of two people at a time. Maximum certified load 200 kg. This allows the rescue operator to reduce evacuation times significantly in all conditions and environments. EN341:2011-2°

Sparrow 200 had all thee qualities.

Innovative.

Sparrow 200 has an additional braking point  which avoids having to pass the rope through an additional connector. This allows you to control the descent using just the Sparrow and easily release the rope when the extra braking is no longer needed.

Safety.

The moveable side plate can be opened, allowing the rope to be inserted without disconnecting the device from the harness. The braking cam “grabs” straight away onto the rope, avoiding dangerous slide back when you are working on very sloping surfaces.

Sparrow 200 has been designed to avoid inserting the rope the wrong way round. When the rope is loaded, the descender adopts a position so that the lever, if struck by a falling object, is moved to the arrest position.

Ease of use.

Ease of control, EBS system (EN 341:2011-2A). Thanks to the EBS (Extraordinary Braking System), if you hang with all your weight from the control lever, the descender slows and arrests the descent. If you release the lever, the descender arrests the descent. It’s almost impossible to lose control. A panic-induced action results in the arresting of the descent. To continue the descent, you just have to return the lever to the descent position.

Sparrow 200, main characteristics.

Manually-controlled descender certified for lowering two people at the same time:

EN 12841:2006-C / WLL 210 kg. Device for regulating rope length, descender. Certified for a load of up to 210 kg. Use with any rope certified EN 1891 type A Ø 11 mm.

Manual descnder for technical rescue:

EN 341:2011-2A / WLL 200 kg. Maximum descent height 180 m. Energy class  7.500.000 Joule. For use with Tec Static Pro 11 mm rope certified EN 1891 type A.

Weight: 520 g.

The tests successfully passed for EN 341:2011-2° certification:

• Static load – 20 kN (approx 2000 kg circa) for 3 minutes.
• Static load with the end of the rope locked-off by the cam – 10 kN (approx 1000 kg circa) for 3 minutes.
• Functional tests – descent with a 250 kg weight (25% more than the rated maximum working load) from a height of 180 m and repeated under the following conditions: dry rope; wet rope; cold – 4°C; extremely cold – 40°C.
• Dynamic test – free-fall of a 200 kg weight successfully arrested.