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Technical Details

Stanley Sides gave me this Missouri School of Mines descender in 2009.

The Missouri School of Mines descender is made from steel. This one is 103 mm. tall, 80 mm. wide, 21 mm. thick, and weighs 216 g.

Comments

Stanley wrote me an email with the following historical information:

The brake bar maker, Larry Tidd, lives in Jackson, Missouri, near Cape, and I called Larry on the phone today.

Larry made these in 1962-1963 in the metals shop at Rolla, Missouri at what was then called Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy, and today University of Missouri, Rolla. Larry was a member of the MSM Cavers, a grotto that still exists today. He made these for club members, at a time they were caving in Fitton’s Cave, Arkansas, and many Missouri caves. Several MSM Cavers got in trouble using these brake bar devices practicing descents off the Interstate-44 overpass at Rolla! They would use two or more of these descenders for long drops. Larry remembered them demonstrating the device on a 100’ bluff near Columbia, Missouri.

Larry lived in Jackson, Missouri, and would cave with me in Perry County, Missouri, when home from school. He gave me this one, and it has remained in my vertical cave gear box since that time. It is actually made quite well, given that it was made 47 years ago by a sophomore college student.

It is our pleasure to add it to your collection.

Later he added the following:

An afterthought… In the early 1960’s we used a "diaper seat" style of seat harness of 1" webbing to rappel with the MSM Caver brake bar, and ascended with cable ladder or prusik knots. When the Jumar became available, and we stopped using manila or spinning Goldline, and we had enough "coin" to afford Jumars, we moved on to the mechanical ascender.

Finally:

Larry thinks he made about a dozen of these for grotto members at Rolla, and also gave me one for local caving.