SBCI
(ver. A), SBCI(?) (ver. B)[ Top | Kong Bonaiti | SBCI Version A | SBCI Version B | Return to Racks ]
I acquired this rack from John E. Weinel, Inc. in 2003.
My Behto rack is 223 mm. tall, 62 mm. wide, 20 mm. thick, and weighs 376 g. The frame is made from 7.9 mm. steel (not stainless) bent into a U, with an internal width of 26 mm. There are four brake bars. The first and third bars are painted steel tubing, 21 mm. in diameter and 52 mm. long. The second bar is solid aluminum alloy, 20 mm. in diameter and 52 mm. long. The bottom bar is an inverted single hyperbar, 20 mm. in diameter and 62 mm. long. Allowing 35 mm. for the rope gives a 72 mm. range for spreading the bars. Two hex nuts on each side of the frame secure the bars.
There are no markings on this rack.
This is a crude rack. The frame extends above the nuts, leaving sharp threads to damage the rope. The nuts are standard hex nuts, not lock nuts. I don't like painted rappel devices, but at least the paint job on the red bars is so bad that the paint flakes off easily. The inverted hyperbar that is used for tying off, but I would rather see a top hyperbar for increasing friction on rappel - assuming one replaced the nuts with smooth posts.
[ Top | Behto | SBCI Version A | SBCI Version B | Return to Racks ]
I acquired this rack from Speleoshoppe around 1982, but I don't have a definite record of the date.
My Kong-Bonaiti rack is 205 mm. tall, 48 mm. wide, 22 mm. thick, and weighs 287 g. The frame is made from 7 mm. stainless steel bent into a U, with an internal width of 27 mm. There are four solid, 49 mm. long, aluminum alloy brake bars. The top two bars are 22 mm. in diameter and have dimples to keep the rope centered. The lower two bars are 20 mm. in diameter. Threaded and pinned stainless steel posts secure the bars.
There are no markings on this rack.
The Kong Bonaiti is a basic rack with aluminum brake bars. Since the top two bars bars receive more heat, they are larger than the other two.
Allowing 35 mm. for the rope gives a 24 mm. range for spreading the bars.
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I acquired this rack from John E. Weinel, Inc. in 1990.
My SBCI, Version A rack is 207 mm. tall, 50 mm. wide, 22 mm. thick, and weighs 301 g. The frame is made from 7.1 mm. stainless steel bent into a U, with an internal width of 28 mm. There are four solid, 49 mm. long, aluminum alloy brake bars. The top two and bottom two bars are 22 and 19 mm. in diameter, respectively. All four bars have a turned centering groove. Allowing 35 mm. for the rope gives a 51 mm. range for spreading the bars. Threaded and pinned stainless steel posts secure the bars.
There are no markings on this rack.
Peter at SBCI provided the following information on the history of this rack:
The SBCI rack is really an older version of our rack. We were asked to make it because it was to hard for distributors to get the Kong Bonaiti rack here. The new SBCI rack is a different piece of equipment and has a hyperbar rig like a BMS unit, but our racks have a v shape where you clip in rather than an oval area.
I do not have the SBCI rack that Peter refers to in my collection.
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I acquired this rack used on eBay from Jason Brown in 2002.
This rack is 204 mm. tall, 50 mm. wide, 22 mm. thick, and weighs 295 g. The frame is made from 7.1 mm. stainless steel bent into a U, with an internal width of 28 mm. There are four solid, 49 mm. long, aluminum alloy brake bars. The top two and bottom two bars are 22 and 19 mm. in diameter, respectively. Allowing 35 mm. for the rope gives a 50 mm. range for spreading the bars. Threaded and pinned aluminum posts secure the bars.
There are no markings on this rack.
I don't have any proof that it is an SBCI rack, but the marks that the bending jig made on the frame are similar to those on SBCI Version A, and unlike those on the Kong Bonaiti. Careful measurements show that this rack was made out of English, not metric size raw material. For example, I measured the frame diameter as 0.2815 in., which is very close to 9/32 in. (7.14 mm.). Perhaps I could disassemble the rack and check the thread size, but I'm not willing to go that far.
[ Top | Behto | Kong Bonaiti | SBCI Version A | SBCI Version B ]
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©2008, Gary D. Storrick