The predecessor of the Wild Country Ropeman MK 2, the MK 1, is a highly successful ascender. It is a small and lightweight device that was intended to replace prusiks for emergency rescue, but climbers started using it for other purposes as well. It began to be used with ropes that were thinner than intended thus severely straining the device. This situation planted the seeds for the development of the Wild Country Ropeman MK 2. It was designed precisely to address this problem.
The horizontal, serrated teeth of the MK 1’s alloy cam tended to damage the sheath of thinner ropes in the event of a shock load or fall. Thus, in the MK 2, the cam is replaced with a stainless steel version with more aggressive-looking conical teeth but are actually kinder on the ropes, even those with smaller diameters. The MK 1 is still produced alongside the MK 2, with the former used for ropes with diameters of 10 – 11 mm, while the latter works with 8.5 – 11 mm ropes.
The weight of the Wild Country Ropeman MK 2 is kept low through the use of compact investment casting. With a weight of only 85 grams and the size of a silver dollar, the Wild Country Ropeman MK 2 is arguably the lightest and smallest functioning ascender. In spite of this, it still packs an axle strength of 15 kiloNewtons.