Revo rope solo- spring modification for faster lockup

I bought a revo to try out for rope soloing as it feeds well and can lock during an inverted fall but I didnt like how fast you needed to fall to get it to lock (think slabs).

Last night I was toying with the revo and noticed that this spring is what causes the tension that the centrifical force is fighting to engage the lock.

After much contemplation I decided I would try and weaken it. I used a small pick tool to grab the spring and rotated the wheel to stretch it (much further than shown).giving the spring less travel

This is how it sits after I bent it.

I noticed an immediate difference in how quickly it locked.

After work today, I set up a small drop test to see how much of a difference it made.
I just used a ropebag with a 60 as my weight. I would pull the bag up to the device and let go of the brake. After each drop I measured the distance of rope between the knot and the revo.

Starting position

Drop from the modified spring side

Drop from the unmodified spring side


Results from 5 drops

I dropped it probably 20 times on each side and decided the drops were consistant enough that I would only measure 5.
I only modified the one side because I know which end needs to be my live rope for soloing and I can still have normally functioning revo with the other side.

I am not responsible for anything you do. This is something I decided to try and these are my results. Anything you try is at your own risk.

I shall break out the clichéd popcorn and await the shitstorm...

Andrew Rational wrote: I shall break out the clichéd popcorn and await the shitstorm...

I thought the same thing. But he did make it lock up more often so.... Extra safety?

Hello Revo test 2.0. Where's Jim Titt?

I'd like to know how this modification affects how smooth the rope feeds when climbing.  I wonder if a quick move could cause the device to lock with the weakened spring...

Caleb Schwarz wrote:

I thought the same thing. But he did make it lock up more often so.... Extra safety?

Crunch... crunch... crunch...

Justice Holloway wrote: I bought a revo to try out for rope soloing as it feeds well and can lock during an inverted fall but I didnt like how fast you needed to fall to get it to lock (think slabs).

Last night I was toying with the revo and noticed that this spring is what causes the tension that the centrifical force is fighting to engage the lock.

After much contemplation I decided I would try and weaken it. I used a small pick tool to grab the spring and rotated the wheel to stretch it (much further than shown).giving the spring less travel

This is how it sits after I bent it.

I noticed an immediate difference in how quickly it locked.

After work today, I set up a small drop test to see how much of a difference it made.
I just used a ropebag with a 60 as my weight. I would pull the bag up to the device and let go of the brake. After each drop I measured the distance of rope between the knot and the revo.

Starting position

Drop from the modified spring side

Drop from the unmodified spring side

Results from 5 drops

Jesus man, you NEED a partner.

Blake Neville wrote: I'd like to know how this modification affects how smooth the rope feeds when climbing.  I wonder if a quick move could cause the device to lock with the weakened spring...

The feeding is still really nice just from pulling the rope. It feels like you would still need to fall to lock it but I'll hook it up and make some dynamic moves with it this evening and report back

Fed super smooth, no issues with locking. Did a few deadpoints from full squat and a few short dynos.

I might do this to mine. With it stock I don't mind the extra fall length as much as I don't trust it on slab. Do you think it will be more of a pain when rappelling? I get at least 2 lock ups just on raps. 

I'm sure it will but I only did it to one side so I think if got to the anchor and and fixed the rope (using rope from the cache loop), I could rappel directly and because the rope would pass through the opposite direction (using the other spring), it should act like normal.

Try throwing another carabiner on the brake side of your belay loop and routing the rope through it. Seems so smooth out the extra lockup’s and makes pausing to clean gear very easy.

Justice, yer not the only geek here!  You inspired me to replicate your experiment and compare to a Silent Partner.  I’ve used an SP for many years btw, figured the Revo was superior for solo leading.  After my experiment I’m not so sure!

I used a 25 pound barbell btw.  I got pretty consistent measurements with both devices, +/- 1-2 inches.  

Revo averaged 34 inches
SP averaged 10 inches

Ouch

seems smart.

It works for me as the sp is out of my budget and I'm pretty content so far. I fixed a line last weekend and did 30 tr laps with it and had no problems. Took a few test falls just on tr on low-ish angle terrian and it locked within a foot or 2. I think if you took an actual lead fall you'd lock the thing pretty immediately just from the ammount of momentum you'd pick up in a lead fall

You Sir are doing God's work. 

So next question, how much did you weaken the spring? Finally got to test out my Revo today and really did not enjoy the long fall. It was basically over before I realize it but when I climbed up to some slab I began to start thinking that this mod sounds like an amazing idea. How longb did it take you to weaken it? How much force?

Blake Neville wrote: So next question, how much did you weaken the spring? Finally got to test out my Revo today and really did not enjoy the long fall. It was basically over before I realize it but when I climbed up to some slab I began to start thinking that this mod sounds like an amazing idea. How longb did it take you to weaken it? How much force?

OMG don't mess with modifying the device, it's not worth it.

So this is pretty much what I did. I just wrapped it around the post as if I was trying to add a coil. (Bending and giving it less travel)It worked out for me first try but I think everyones mileage will vary just because theres no real way for everyone to have the same amount of bend. I wrapped it almost all the way around but it may be wise to go a little at a time. Its easy to bend that way but I dont know how easy it would be to bend  it back if you made it too soft.