Many people have noticed that rappelling can be dangerous. If the rappeller loses control, the resulting splat may be non habit forming. For this reason, some people have attempted to develop a safety device that will stop the rappeller. Personally, I don't think anyone has succeeded in developing a truly safe alternative, and a few years ago I posted an internet comment outlining a number of objections. Since then, I've added more, e.g., hanging unconcious in a harnes can be fatal as well. There are a lot of people, however, that still use rappel safeties of some form or another. I've listed two mechanical ones here.
| ID | Device | Description | Acquired | Weight | Height | Width | Thickness | Std. volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 671 | Safety Rappel Cam | Modified Gibbs Ascender per Don Davison design, rappel safety, noncommercial | Dr. Gary D. Storrick | 409 | 103 | 78 | 57 | 458 |
| --- | Spelean Shunt | Field improvised from carabiner and Gibbs Ascender | --- | 245 | 105 | 78 | 57 | 467 |
RappelSafety.html/070204