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Technical Details

Carroll Bassett gave me this device in 2023.

My Bassett Metal Studios Snubbing Post is 152 mm. long, 312 mm. wide, 139 mm. high, and weighs 4590 g.

This device has a 140 mm. length of 80 mm. square, 7 mm wall steel tube welded to a 9 mm. base plate. Several 16 mm. rods guide the rope and keep the coils from crossing themselves. The top one is 280 mm. long, the second protrudes 72 mm., the third 53 mm., and the hook on the plate has internal length and depth of 110 and 25 mm., respectively. One end of the base bends upward to provide clearance for a carabiner. The carabiner hole is 24 mm. in diameter.

There are no markings on this device.

Comments

When Carroll Bassett described this device to me, I had the image of a bird blender trebuchet hurling Ford F150s into the outer reaches of the cosmos. While my mental image was visually appealing and suggested an appropriate use for both, the truth is a little less entertaining.

A wind turbine installer needed a means to attach a rope to a pickup but allow him to release it quickly if he forgot basic high school physics and found the load lifting the truck. He asked Carroll for a prototype, Carroll made two of these, and sent one off for testing. Crickets. No word from the installer. Maybe I was right, and the installer rode the truck to wherever….

Carroll made this device for as specific construction role. It is too large and heavy for me to carry caving, and most climbers would dismiss it immediately for similar reasons. Some folks doing long open-air rappels (the 1 km kind) have made vaguely similar devices to bolt to the rock as their primary anchor. Arborists use port-a-wraps and other large blocks for lowering tree limbs, but I am not Tarzan so I will not pretend to try to provide details. Bigger-is-better INS folks use some huge gear, but even they usually go smaller than this one.

Carroll could have placed the second in a modern art gallery, but instead donated it to my Vertical Museum collection. Thank you, Carroll!