Version A	Version B

Overview

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Version A
(#954)

Front	Rear

Side	Open for Rigging

Technical Details

I made my Version A in 2004.

Version A is 94 mm. tall, 63 mm. wide, 19 mm. thick, and weighs 197 g. I made this out of 11 mm. mild steel rod and an SMC brake bar.

Comments

In the mid-1970s, I would occasionally visit Edward G. Francis Outfitters, a climbing shop in Sewickley, PA. One thing I saw there was a variation on the carabiner brake bar scheme, where a bent metal rod substituted for the carabiner. There were two versions: one open and one welded. The shop closed before I bought any, to my lasting regret. Finally, after three decades of kicking myself, I finally made my own version.

I don't have much temptation to make this my primary rappel device, but it is an interesting historical curiosity. It has one major advantage over using brake bars on aluminum carabiners - the steel oval in the Francis descender does not wear as fast as aluminum carabiners do.

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Version B
(#974)

Front	Rear

Side	Open for Rigging

Technical Details

I made Version B in 2005.

Version B is 96 mm. tall, 63 mm. wide, 19 mm. thick, and weighs 197 g. I made this out of 11 mm. mild steel rod and an SMC brake bar.

Comments

Version A was particularly rough, so I eventually made a second. Version B has a small gap where the two frame ends close. One of the original descenders had this as well, and there was enough flex in the frame to allow the brake bar to "snap" shut. Mine does not have very much flex, but I was able to tap the notch in the brake bar closed enough to get a good "snap." In use, the bar rides up to cover the slot.

Ed Francis' descenders obviously resemble the short-bar Coe Descender, but as far as I am aware, they were developed independently.

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