What is this? A carabiner with a rope cutter?

My mountaineering experience is limited to hiking to the top, no ropes necessary. I ran across this unusual item and wondered if it is a carabiner of some kind with a cutter, or simply industrial.

Can anyone identify this?  It is unmarked. Thanks.

Marv

Certainly would be the quickest way to lower off a sport climb

And people think open cold shuts are dangerous? 

Climbers back in the 80's would use these to prevent hangdogging. Non-locking versions were sold but weren't nearly as successful due to safety concerns

That was an early version of the Beal Escaper. You rig it so the weighted rap line is on the non-sharp end. Then when you're done, you give the rope a strong upwards flip, and it cuts itself free of the anchor. Field testing revealed that the rap rope gets a bit shorter on each rappel, so the design was shelved in favor of the device that's being sold nowadays.

Could be an electrical wire stripper to remove the plastic sheath from the copper or aluminum core.

An early “rope frayer “ pre- RopeX.

Just looking at that thing gives me the chills.

Marvin Binder wrote:

 I ran across this unusual item 

Exactly where did you run across this item?

Teton Climber wrote:

Exactly where did you run across this item?

It's an item on ebay

Marv

That’s one hell of a nut cracker! 

Marvin, since you're new here and your climbing experience is limited, I'll translate everyone's comments for you:

"I have no idea what that is, but it sure would be a fucked up piece of climbing equipment!"

I'm pretty curious as to what this really is. So it looks like something to do cutting that you can easily clip onto a rope, perhaps. Maybe some way to cut your dad loose if you and your brother are about to fall on a route with one cam in? 

Gunkiemike wrote:

That was an early version of the Beal Escaper. You rig it so the weighted rap line is on the non-sharp end. Then when you're done, you give the rope a strong upwards flip, and it cuts itself free of the anchor. Field testing revealed that the rap rope gets a bit shorter on each rappel, so the design was shelved in favor of the device that's being sold nowadays.

Wildly dangerous to speculate like this. It's clearly a rope shaver. Turns your fuzzy 10.2 into a sleek, modern 9.6. Just remember to use rope soap and shave with the grain to avoid bumps.

Medieval castration device ...

Short Fall Sean wrote:

Marvin, since you're new here and your climbing experience is limited, I'll translate everyone's comments for you:

"I have no idea what that is, but it sure would be a fucked up piece of climbing equipment!"

Yes, it took a couple of posts for me to realize that.  I thought it might be a canopy line cutter to use if the jumper is caught hanging around. However, there are plenty of tools for that purpose.  Thanks for all the responses though. I must admit, I loved all the "climbing jargon".  

Marv

Someone’s attempt at a wood spoke carver / bark stripper?  

Marvin Binder wrote:

My mountaineering experience is limited to hiking to the top, no ropes necessary. I ran across this unusual item and wondered if it is a carabiner of some kind with a cutter, or simply industrial.

Can anyone identify this?  It is unmarked. Thanks.

Marv

Why not ask here? reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/

Clearly none of you are circumcised 

Tim Stich wrote:

I'm pretty curious as to what this really is.

Google can't answer everything but it was on ebay as a WWII-era paratroopers/mountaineering tool if you do a reverse image search. The OP intentionally left that out his post. Unknown if it is actually a paratroopers tool. It doesn't show up as a standard part of a paratroopers kit if you look at WWII images.

Teton Climber wrote:

Google can't answer everything but it was on ebay as a WWII-era paratroopers/mountaineering tool if you do a reverse image search. The OP intentionally left that out his post. Unknown if it is actually a paratroopers tool. It doesn't show up as a standard part of a paratroopers kit if you look at WWII images.

Interesting. If this is the case, then perhaps it was a cutting tool for paratroopers to cut their lines in the event they got caught up in trees or powerlines.