Abstract: An apparatus for ascending and descending a line with a load, which includes: a base plate having a first end and a second end opposite to the first end; a first guide connected to the base plate at the first end; a rocker arm member pivotally connected to the base plate between the first end and the second end; and a release member pivotally connected to the base plate between the first end and the second end, the release member being opposite the rocker arm member; wherein the line passes through the apparatus between the rocker arm member and the first guide and between the rocker arm member and the release member when the apparatus is in an unloaded configuration and the line is compressed in the apparatus between the rocker arm member and the first guide when the apparatus is in a loaded configuration.

Abstract: A folding grappling hook has a blade and a handle. The blade has a hinge end and a hook at the other end. The handle has two plates sandwiching a long spacer and a short spacer, the spacers forming an aperture bounded by the plates, long spacer, and short spacer. The blade and handle are attached at a hinge so that they freely pivot relative to each other between a closed configuration where the hook is sheathed within the aperture and a deployed configuration where the blade is pivoted out of the handle to a deployed stop. In the deployed stop, a finger on the long spacer engages a circumferential groove in the blade, and as the blade pivots away from the handle, the groove rotates until the finger contacts the end of the groove.