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Sam (a.k.a. Larry) Howell produced a number of J-frame, O-frame, and U-frame racks from 6Al4V titanium. These had a wide variety of sizes and shapes. I show a few of them here, but there are many more to be seen on the rack pages.

The Howell-N-Mann brake bars are made of lightweight 6Al4V titanium tubing with an internal 6061-T6 aluminum lining. This titanium alloy wears well but has terrible thermal properties, hence the aluminum lining. the result is a strong, lightweight bar with acceptable heating.

The titanium alloy used resists wear much better than aluminum alloys. In abrasive conditions the titanium tubing will eventually wear through, but overall the mixed-metal bar is superior to a solid 6Al4V bar because the latter overheats badly.

• The first two bars in the top row fit standard-frame racks. the first bar has a dimple to help retain the aluminum sleeve, while second bar does not.


• The remaining three bars in the top row fit narrow-frame racks. The two right-hand bars have straight slots that fail to keep the bars from swinging open while carrying the rack. The slots were designed by and for people who do not know the way to attach a rack to a rope while eliminating the possibility of running the rope across the wrong side of the bar. They are a bad solution and a poor substitute for proper technique.


• The first two bars in the bottom row are the floppy-slot version of the first two bars in the top row.


• The middle bar in the bottom row is a large-diameter bar. Putting a large bar in the second-to-top position helps keep the temperature of that bar down (The second bar receives the greatest heat input).


• The remaining bars in the bottom row are "finger control bars." This is an unnecessary, awkward, and potentially unsafe technique that Sam developed.

These photos do not show Sam's hyperbars, but you can find them on the J-frame, O-frame, and U-frame rack pages. Sam invented the hyperbar in October, 1992. Others "borrowed” (Sam used a stronger word) and popularized the idea a year later. In 2010, Sam sent me the Titan prototype rack with the first hyperbar. This helped confirm who invented the hyperbar. I accept Sam’s priority. I also recognize a similarity with the Buddy Rogers spooled bars from the early 1970s. Hyperbars are nice and they have their place. They can be quite beneficial on short closed-frame racks (which are essentially constant friction devices). They are unnecessary for standard-length open-frame racks used for personal descent, as evidenced by a quarter century of standard rack use prior to the hyperbar’s invention.