Collection Home
Version A
Version B
|
|
|
| Version A | Version B |
[ Top | Version B | Return to Hooks ]
 |
|
| Front | Rear |
I acquired this descender from Al Haarr in 1976.
The Rappelevator begins as a toroidal steel tie-down ring for an Atlas rocket. The proper ring has an ID of 85.4 mm. and a minor diameter of 22.9 mm. A 17.5 mm. slot is cut though the ring at a nominal 45° angle, and a 13 mm. hole is drilled 45° away from the slot and inset 4 mm. towards the inside of the ring. The result is an 128 mm. diameter, 22.9 mm. thick descender that weighs 955 g.
The rear is stamped "RAPPELEVATOR." Al stamped "A HAARR" on the front.
In the 1950s, when cavers still knew and used the Dülfersitz, John Voigt managed to get a barrel of Atlas tie-down rings. Not having an ICBM of his own, he looked for an alternative use for these nice little rings, and finally decided to cut a hole and a slot in them, turning them into a new, state-of-the-art descender. He named his creation The Rappelevator.
The Rappelevator works on the same principal as the carabiner wrap. The minor diameter of the Rappelevator is much larger than that of a carabiner, so the rope is not strained as much. Many people warn that the rope must wrapped around the Rappelevator so that the wraps cross the slot at a 90° angle rather than lying parallel to it. This is geometrically impossible for a planar slot and helical coils, so the comment should be ignored. In any case, there is essentially no tendency for the coils to migrate towards the slot.
The rappel is quite smooth if the proper number of wraps are used. The proper number depends on the type and state of the rope and the cavers weight. I typically use four or five wraps on clean 11 mm. nylon ropes. It is possible to add or remove wraps while on rappel, but it requires lifting the trailing end of the rope over the head while maintaining a firm grip with the braking hand. The maneuver is probably too risky to employ in practice.
The Rappelevator introduces some spin on free drops, but not nearly as much as the Patten’s Hook or the Tokyo Top.
The Rappelevator has one capability in which it surpasses almost any other rappel device that I am familiar with: it passes knots with ease. In general, one can pass a knot in the main line, be it a simple overhand or a barrel knot joining two ropes, by simply slowing down, braking with the balance hand while moving the braking hand to below the knot, then resuming the rappel. The knot will pass through the device with only a slight initial bump.
Since the retirement of the Atlas ICBM, the Rappelevator has mostly faded from memory.
[ Top | Version A | Return to Hooks ]
 |
|
| Front | Rear |
I acquired this Rappelevator from Daniel Crawford in 2023.
My Rappelevator, Version B is 128 mm. tall, 128 mm. wide, 22 mm. thick, and weighs 969 g.
The rear is stamped "RAPPELEVATOR."
My initial impression was that this one looked different than the one Al Haarr gave to me. I removed some minor surface corrosion and found that this onewas made from a plated ring whereas the other was not.
Closer inspection revealed a second difference. Both Rappelevators had “RAPPELEVATOR” stamped on one side, but the letters on this oneused a sans-serif font instead of the serif font used on the other.
These differences suggest that Joe made at least two batches of Rappelevators. Dimensionally, the two are equivalent.
There is a shallow groove on the side of this Rappelevator that suggests that the ring was made by cutting a steel rod to length with a beveled end, bending it in a circle, and then forge welding it together. There are no traces of such marks on Version A.
Daniel also gave me a copy of a Rappelevator manual, which I share here for your vertical edification and amusement.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
[ Top | Version A | Version B ]
For far more content, use a larger monitor and a full-width window.
Hundreds of cell phone users complained and asked me to for a simpler, mobile friendly site. In particular, they wanted me to limit each page to a small number of pictures and minimize my use of text. This new site provides what they asked for.