Rope grab

A rope grab comprising:

• (a) a housing with a first wall and a second wall parallel to the first wall;
• (b) a brake having a beam with a beam axis, a foot angled from a foot end of the beam, and an eye at an eye end of the beam, the foot having a brake surface with a rounded toe opposite the beam, the brake mounted between the first wall and the second wall to pivot on a brake axis at the beam end and perpendicular to the beam axis;
• (c) a cam having a rocker and a lever extending from the rocker, the rocker having a surface generally opposite the lever that curves about a cam axis to form an operative surface, the cam mounted to pivot between the first wall and the second wall on the cam axis parallel to the brake axis;
• and
• (d) a rope slot between the toe and operative surface having a proximal end and a distal end;
• (e) whereby when a rope extending through the rope slot is pulled toward the distal end of the slot, the rope is pinched and captured between the toe and the operative surface by friction with the toe and operative surface, and when either the lever pivots toward the distal end of the rope slot and/or the housing rotates such that the eye pivots toward the distal end of the rope slot, the friction can be modulated to control how the rope slides through the rope slot.