Front View: Closed	Rear View: Closed
Front View: Open for Rigging	Rear View: Open for Rigging

Technical Details

I acquired my Rappel Master 11A from Steven M. Mattson in 2015.

The Rappel Master 11A is 268 mm. tall, 100 mm. wide, 32 mm. thick, and weighs 613 g.

The Rappel Master is made from three pieces of milled anodized aluminum - body, control lever, and front plate - and several minor stainless steel components. The body is made from 19 mm. aluminum milled to a tall irregular shape. The lower portion of the body has a subtriangular eye that can accept a single carabiner. The edges of the eye are rounded with a 3.5 mm. radius. This small radius leaves one with the impression that the eye is somewhat "blocky," but not to the extent as the eye on the SALS Rappeller. The main portion of the body has a 15.7 mm. deep milled cutout for the rope path and lever assembly. The upper "chimney" portion has four milled bollards on 27.8 mm. centers, with a 15 mm. rope channel around each. The bollards are 12.9 mm. in diameter. The top two bollards are circular so the rope can pass on either side of each (four possible combinations), but the lower two have fences that force one to run the rope around the lower bollards. Below the lowest bollard, the rope follows an "S" shaped path around a non-circular projection on the control lever and a 13 mm. diameter corner milled into the frame. The rope then leaves the left side of the Rappel Master at a 90° angle.

The control lever and front plate pivot on an 8(?) mm. stainless steel bolt. The control end extends upward along the right side of the chimney. This end has a rounded-square cross section with five wide, shallow finger-grooves on the outer side. A small hole near the top end probably served as an alignment hole for machining. The working end of the lever has two projections. The rope runs around the upper one as mentioned in the preceding paragraph. Squeezing the lever against the handle causes this projection to force the rope against a curved cutout milled in the frame. During use, the rope friction against the upper projection will cause the lever to open. When this happens, a concave surface in the lower projection forces the rope against the 13 mm. corner. The inside surface of the cover plate is milled to a depth of 2.1 mm. to match the milling on the body. The edges of the cover milling are beveled.

The front plate covers the rope channel and working end of the lever. Four slots in the cover and four more in the back of the frame allow mud to escape. There is a small slot at the top left-hand corner of the cover that engages a hex socket-head cap set in the frame. This screw was missing at the time I took the photos, so I needed to replace it. Three holes drilled through cover plate align with holes centered in the top three bollards, and a fourth hole aligns with a hole at the center of the 12 mm corner. Any of these could accept a 4.8 mm. diameter push pin to keep the front plate closed during use. A fifth hole near the left-hand base of the chimney aligns with a spring-loaded round-tipped pin in the frame. A hex-head cap screw in the back of the frame holds the pin and spring in place. The pin automatically engages when the cover is closed. To release it, one needs a small sharp object to depress the pin.

The front cover is milled with "Rappel Master" and "model 11A."

Comments

The Rappel Master 11A is a nicely-made but unusual device. It provides the ability to vary friction by changing the number of top bollards in use; however, the decision must be made before starting the descent. In use, the rope is completely enclosed. Squeezing the lever toward the top of the frame squeezes the rope between the cam and the frame in one place, and opening the lever squeezes it in another. To rappel, the lever must be held in an intermediate position. Some people might like this, I think it is a nuisance. Lock off is positive on the ropes that I tried, and the long control lever makes controlling rather easy. The Rappel Master 11A works best on smaller ropes (say, 9 mm.), and on more flexible ropes.

Be careful not to let the cover try to close from the wrong side. When this happens, the spring-loaded pin engages the milled cutouts on the inside of the cover, where it can be difficult to release.

The Rappel Master 11A is obviously copied from the Omer 1 (which came first) and Tactical & Rescue Gear descenders.