Objects Database

Homemade 'sticht' plate

Accession Number

1090.2013.1

Object Name

Homemade 'sticht' plate

Created

29/10/2013

Creator

Hermione Cooper

Accession Date

29/10/2013

Brief Description

Momemade 'sticht plate with seven sides.

Materials

aluminium

Dimensions

7(l) x 4.5(w) x 1(d) cms

Number Of Objects

1

Colour

silver

Maker

homemade

Provenance

For over a hundred years mountaineers had been wrapping ropes around their waists, hitching them over their shoulders and twisting them around their bodies to get some friction in order to hold a fall, until the late 1960's when a German climber called Franz Sticht came along and created the 'Sticht Plate' which was basically a metal or aluminium plate that created the friction when used in conjunction with a karabiner. The following 50 years or so have seen hundreds of 'refinements' of Franz Sticht's original design with the two main objectives being to create a device that can deal with a variety of rope diameters and one that can also be safely used as an abseil device.
The example we have here is a homemade version of a simple 'sticht' plate - the word 'sticht' has become universally used for all belay plates in the same way that we call vacuum cleaners 'hoovers' - cut from a piece of aluminium. It was and still is, perfectly functional, and very similar to production models that appeared in the 1970's.
Mountain Guide Dave(Smiler)Cuthbertson donated it to the collection.

Acquisition Method

Donated by Dave Cuthbertson

Acquisition Date

29/10/2013

Condition Check Date

29/10/2013

Rules

Spectrum : UK Museum documentation standard, V.3.1 2007

Modified

29/10/2013

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