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Version A
Version B
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| Version A | Version B |
[ Top | Version B | Return to Chest Boxes ]
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| Front View: Closed |
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| Top View |
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| Open for Rigging |
I acquired my first Version A BlueWater box from David Jones in 2014, and another in 2017 as part of Bob Thrun’s collection.
This BlueWater box is 127 mm. wide, 76 mm. high, 74 mm. thick, and weighs 316 g. It is a double channel chest box consisting of a 6.3 mm. aluminum back plate, a 2.9 mm. extruded aluminum channel, and two 19 mm. cylindrical rollers mounted on a common bolt through the channel. Two bolts with wing nuts hold the channel against the back plate. The back plate has two 50 mm. vertical slots for attaching the box to a chest harness.
There are no markings on the BlueWater box beyond those on the bolt heads.
The BlueWater box was one of the earliest chest boxes on the market. It is a double-sided box designed for the Mitchell System and suitable for others as well. The box opens by unscrewing two wing nuts, which allows the channel to move away from the back plate, making room for the rope or sling to escape. I've always found this to be rather cumbersome. The bolt heads on the back of the box tend to dig into one’s chest, but since the box is pulled away from the chest while on rope, the pain not as bad as one might expect.
[ Top | Version A | Return to Chest Boxes ]
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| Front View: Closed |
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| Top View |
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| Open for Rigging |
I acquired my BlueWater box around 1976, but do not have a record of exactly when or from whom I acquired it (possibly Bob & Bob at the NSS Convention). I acquired a second from Barbara Anne Am Ende at the 2012 NSS Convention, and gave it to Artyom Babin (Артём Бабин) in 2021. Emily Davis gave me a third one in 2022.
The BlueWater box is 76 mm. long, 131 mm. wide, 74 mm. high, and weighs 330 g. It is a double channel chest box consisting of a 6.3 mm. aluminum back plate, a 2.9 mm. extruded aluminum channel, and two 19 mm. cylindrical rollers mounted on a common bolt through the channel. Two bolts with wing nuts hold the channel against the back plate. The back plate has two 52 mm. vertical slots for attaching the box to a chest harness.
There are no markings on the BlueWater box beyond those on the bolt heads.
Version B is slightly wider and heavier than Version A, but the differences are insignificant in practice.
[ Top | Version A | Version B ]
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