What's the story?

Long, long ago I developed an interest in rappelling and ascending devices. At that time, I made the decision to collect one of each device so that I could compare how well they worked. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. I've spend a fair amount of time and money collecting things that really have no real monetary value, and have decided to show some of what I have here. Click here for a quick glance at my collection.

This site is a hobby, not a business. I don't sell anything listed in this site, so please don't send me catalog requests or equipment orders.

Please
check
out:

My Ten Most Wanted List

I'm always looking for additions.
If you have something that I'm missing and are willing to donate or deal,
please email me.

Ascenders

This site is a hobby and a service to the vertical community, not a business. Each of the devices on these pages is part of my personal collection. I've used these in a variety of situations caving and climbing, and have formed some opinions of how well each device works for me. I hope that some of the information here is useful to others, but please remember, your needs may be different than mine. I don't run into burning buildings to jump out the windows, I don't play Tarzan of the jungle, and I don't interfere with natural selection. I have no objection to anyone doing these things, but I don't have those forms of experience. If you do any of these, you should form your own opinions.

I do not sell anything listed in this site.
Please don't send me catalog requests or equipment orders.

Descenders

Belay Devices

Miscellaneous Devices

Yahoo!

I had a discussion area, but some people couldn't act like adults. I put up with personal ads, solicitations, and some indecent comments. Finally, one subhuman started running a "denial of service" attack against my site, so I closed my site discussion area, and set up a monitored Yahoo! newsgroup where we can provide access to the majority who are decent people and curb access for the rare few who are not. It's running now, check it out:

Discussion Area

Cueva del Altar, Mexico

Don't Die!

I'm not writing an instruction manual, and it's your responsibility to get proper training before using any rappelling, ascending, belaying or other climbing device. Vertical work is dangerous and nothing short of complete abstinence can make it completely safe. I'm still alive after 40 years of a vertical lifestyle, but far too many former friends are not. Don't even think about learning anything from an internet web site. Remember, natural selection works, and it's forever.

Special Thanks

To Jeff Thomas at the Mazamas Library and Archives for sending me copies of old REI catalog pages that show the Pierre Allain descender.
To everyone who is helping me get my collection ready for display this coming July at the 2009 International Congress of Speleology and NSS Convention in Kerrville, Texas

What's New?

I moved my web site from an old Macintosh running the old Adobe Pagemill® to a new PC running the latest Adobe Dreamweaver® . I expect to have some problems during the transition that will delay making all the updates that I would like to, so please bear with me.

I am currently rearranging the equipment boards for display at the 2009 International Congress of Speleology to be held in Kerrville, Texas, USA. The Collection at a Glance Area shows my equipment display at the 2007 NSS Convention, expect the one in Kerrville to be 20% larger. Thanks in advance to everyone who helps me with this, whether by donating gear or by helping set up, attend, and break down afterward.

The collection is now past the 1300 item mark, counting a few duplicates, and continues to grow. Go to the Changes: Past and Future page to see what's new.

Just the FAQs

Many people around the world send me email about this site. I love receiving these, and encourage anyone who has questions or comments to do so, but first, if it is a general comment that should be shared, consider using the Discussion Area instead.
Collecting all this stuff is expensive and I welcome donations. In general I don't trade devices out of the collection unless I have accidentally acquired duplicates - if I traded my collection away, then I wouldn't be able to share everything with all my readers. Sometimes I can work a deal where I trade new equipment obtained through a third party.
Many things on this site are no longer available. If you can't easily find something from your local suppliers or through an internet search, the odds are that I can't either. If you ask, I'll try, but please make the effort yourself before you ask me.
I hold and maintain a copyright for the contents of this site. If you have your own site, you may provide a link from your site to mine. If you want to quote short excerpts (online or elsewhere), that is fine with me, provided you credit this site as the source. Some people use my site information to describe things that they list on eBay. If you do, (1) please verify that everything you say is true, since I describe the one in my hands, not the one in yours (I've seen errors), and (2) please credit my site as the source of your information. If you want to use this information for any commercial purpose whatsoever, you must ask me first.
I run this site at my own expense as a service to others. Sometimes I make mistakes. If you spot a factual mistake, please tell me and I will try to fix it. If it is merely a difference of opinion, then I will consider your views, and I might even put them on this site. You might change my views, but you might not. If you don't and continue to disagree, you can put your opinion on your own web site with no hard feelings from me.

You are visitor 141606 since August 17, 1999

[ Home ]

What's the story?

Please check out: