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The Simmons Roller is probably the most popular and successful chest box design in the United States. The original roller shells were cut from Gibbs ascenders, but Ron soon started making his own shells. This roller is one of the first batch of seven sold to the general caving community, and it looks much like the current versions. The roller is mounted on a quick-release pin, along with a bushing to fit a large cutout in the frame. Simply by depressing the button on the quick-release pin, one can remove the roller from the frame.
Simmons rollers are available with bushing and roller bearings.
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Ron made this compact double-sided box by mounting two asymmetrical Simmons Rollers on a short back plate.
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The more common, and more useful double box mounts two standard Simmons Rollers on a common back plate. The rollers are separated to provide clearance for the quick release pins.
I'm one of the few people that never was sold on the Simmons Roller. Since I had the only skeletonized Gossett box, the Tomer #12, there was no reason for me to switch to the Simmons Roller. On the other hand, since most people had to make the choice between a standard Gossett box and a Simmons Double, the Simmons usually won. Even Jim Gossett and Darrell Tomer thought that the Simmons was better, so they discontinued the Gossett box. Eventually I switched to the Alpine box, which is marginally superior for my needs, but it was too expensive for most people.
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The Simmons Racing Single mounts a Simmons Roller on a long plate. This plate helps hold the roller closer to the chest than a short plate would, and many people (including me) prefer it for caving, feeling that the increased size is more than compensated for by the increased comfort and climbing efficiency.
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©2008, Gary D. Storrick