Self-locking device
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Self-locking devices are devices intended to arrest the fall of climbers who climb alone (known as solo climbing). To date two types of such self-locking devices exist.
Most devices (including solo-aid and soloist) use a cam that locks the rope feeding through the device when a sudden and large force pulls on the rope (such as a climber falling). The main drawback to this system is in its moving parts (the cam). In the dynamics of a fall it can not be guaranteed that the cam can move freely, as is required to hold a fall. Most devices need only a very small force blocking the movement of the cam to prevent them from operating as intended.
For this reason the Silent Partner device was developed. This system has no moving parts and is basically is a pulley with a clove hitch. As long as the clove hitch can rotate on the pulley, the device will feed through the rope. If the rotating pulley exceeds a certain speed it locks off, which causes the clove hitch to arrest the fall.