What is the difference? I always thought a gag had holes for a small cord to be used as a separate rein, but I’ve been seeing what I would have called elevators being called gags lately.
Example: the top two bits here look similar to me but are named differently. https://www.smartpakequine.com/elevatorgag-bits-1067pc
Thanks for the info!
Gags and elevators lboth ift the head, acting on the bars and lips, but also having curb effect (poll and curb groove if a curb chain is used)
However, an old school elevator had a significant cannon (cheek) above the fulcrum of the mouthpiece as well as below it.
Traditional gags (Cheltenham, Duncan etc) have the cord, but Dutch gags (now also called elevators, bubble bits etc) achieve the gag action / raising effect of a pulley by having a mouthpiece that’s not fixed to the cheeks of the bit.
To add to the confusion there are plenty of companies making bits they call gags which have fixed mouthpieces. These would really be called elevators in the past, but hey semantics.
Thank you! Just what I was trying to figure out!
Don’t worry, I was raised with the same school of thought and was confused as well when I was recently bit shopping. I questioned if I had it wrong my entire life!
They can be fix to be different (the one on the end). Why not call Smart Pmartpak and ask them. Then come back and tell us all. 
Turthfully, I hadn’t thought of that 
I just used their page for a reference…
Gag - hole through which the cord goes through
Elevator - fixed connections, nothing going through anything.
SP is likely only labeling them what the manufacture labels them as. All the ones on that page are elevators IMHO
None of those are technically elevators. Elevators are fixed and have a 1:1 leverage ratio which allows for pseudo-gag action without any sliding mechanism so it’s technically not a true gag. There’s even some variation here since while you do have the larger elevator bits, other bits can qualify as an elevator. The Myler D-ring with hooks is an example because it has your 1:1 leverage ratio but no sliding.
Gags act via having a mouthpiece or cheekpiece that slides but basically something has to slide to give you the gag action. Ex: Dutch gags have the sliding mouthpiece but then there are also the common ones with the holes where you need the additional cord to give you the gag action.
TLDR: So basically all gags & elevators give some variation of gag action (upwards pressure on the mouth, simultaneous downwards on poll). The differentiation is just whether the bit has any sliding action or if it’s fixed and uses the 1:1 for the length of the purchase and shank!
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