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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Apr 21, 2008 - 04:32pm PT
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I didn't have the concept of saving things that might become museum pieces, BITD, so this
lovely Dolt piton got used on a number of A4s. The steel seemed to be tougher than
Chouinard's chrome moly.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Apr 21, 2008 - 06:46pm PT
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There was such a thing as a Holubar piton, at least that's what it says on the top
piece here. The other two say Stubai. I'm not sure what these were designed for, but
I used to think they might work as soft-rock bolts. Apparently I never tried out that theory.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Apr 21, 2008 - 10:34pm PT
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The Fall Arrestor was a Bill Forrest original I am pretty sure. Kevlar back strap and lots of strands of some miracle elastomeric compound. Way overdesigned compared to the sewn technology in the Yates' versions.
I had my one and only test ride during the FA of the Central Scrutinizer. I had exited Tribal Rite and set up a super exposed bolt belay on the very prow of the Nose. Above curved a thin expanding flake for about thirty feet and then a little, swirled crease coughed up a #3 and #4 RP which I set up. Forrest first, Yates Screamer beneath, and bravely worked my way up a series of overlaps culminating in an American Tourister with a long medium Bug neatly driven behind it! Jay Ladin craned his neck and was none too happy to track the dislodged scraps of rock within reach down in the sandchair.
I got into second steps and my entire vacation plans changed to air travel as the suitcase spit me out. I crossed my arms and went into a very slow roll as it all compressed and remember hearing the horrid ripping sound and feeling the rope quiver under load while upside down. Suddenly it all settled down and I righted myself and looked right across at Jay. "Whoa dude! Are you all right?" Yup, I'm okay. "Steve, I think I might be getting a bit old for this sort of thing!"
I looked back up to the awesome Aussie nuggets and fireworks shock absorbers that had stopped my big screamer at fifty rather than over one hundred and factor 2-!
I felt a bit old myself but this was a good route and the same Bug got an extra dose and didn't fail this time long enough to get a decent placement around the top latch and move by. The tattered and tweezed fall arrestors saved my bacon!
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Ed Bannister
Mountain climber
Riverside, CA
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Apr 21, 2008 - 10:55pm PT
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Forrest actually did do screamers. and Bill did put a lot of effort into making them smooth in the process of absorbing energy, many falls duplicated on his tower built for that purpose.
It consisted of three different lengths of web made out a fiber that stretched one time only, backed up by nylon....
But, Chiloe..
the pic of the screamer you supplied above, probably is not a Forrest.
I think you might want to double check,
peel back the Lycra cover and you will find a YATES tag where the webbing is sewn to itself. Yates sewed the clippable loop to hold it open along the axis of the web, so I am pretty confident this is a yates screamer
This is a rip the stitches out design, very dependable to absorb energy, but not real smooth either.
OK maybe this is a little too much gear info.
Ed
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Apr 22, 2008 - 09:19am PT
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But, Chiloe..
the pic of the screamer you supplied above, probably is not a Forrest.
I think you might want to double check, peel back the Lycra cover and you will find a
YATES tag where the webbing is sewn to itself. Yates sewed the clippable loop to hold it
open along the axis of the web, so I am pretty confident this is a yates screamer
I double checked, and Alpspitz is dead right. That is a photo of a Yates device. Sorry folks!
Bill Forrest described his new invention to me back in the 70s, I remember that part well.
Then finding the mystery pro in my attic the other day, I mistakenly guessed that's
what it was.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Apr 22, 2008 - 09:23am PT
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But here's an ID I'm more sure of, one of the original rounded-off MOACs that DR mentions upthread.
Based on a balsa wood prototype, you say? I guess that could explain the smoothed, almost organic shape.
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nutstory
climber
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Apr 25, 2008 - 02:49am PT
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Bonjour,
Steve Grossman, these I-beams were not made by Clog but by Parba. In 1968 Paul Seddon produced what were probably the first nuts for wide cracks, the Big-H, which were cut from an H-section extrusion. In 1970, Paul Seddon teamed up with Tony Howard and Alan Waterhouse at Troll. That is the reason why one can find Big-H stamped either Parba or Troll. It would be very interesting to know which name is stamped on your one-hole Wedges… Parba or Troll…? Parba would probably drive me crazy…
Stephane / Nuts Museum
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Ghoulwe
Trad climber
Spokane, WA
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Apr 25, 2008 - 07:34am PT
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Chiloe:
If that is a Forrest product, I'm guessing it is an early proto of the Fall Arrest. Bill took a bunch of time (and money) developing it, I believe with Rose Manufacturing in Denver. He released it in the early '80's but it wasn't very well recieved - too much money for a one-time use product.
Under the sheath it had a program-stitched stretchy material that absorbed impact. I had the pleasure of testing them with him one day prior to the product release at Castle Rock in Boulder canyon. It was kinda' like falling on a bungee cord. Still got a couple of them in my home collection.
Eric
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Apr 25, 2008 - 10:48am PT
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Ghoulwe, thanks, I recall some of that story from conversations with Forrest. Unfortunately, as
Alpspitz noticed upthread, I mis-identified a Yates device as being the Forrest piece in question.
Does anybody have a photo of a real Forrest Fall Arrest?
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Apr 25, 2008 - 10:50am PT
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No mystery about this venerable old pro.
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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Apr 25, 2008 - 11:22am PT
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Just a teaser for ya... don't get your hopes up.
They're not going anywhere.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Apr 25, 2008 - 12:33pm PT
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Quite a collection, Greg. They don't look very used!
I wish I'd kept all my old stuff, who knew?
Anyway, here's Colorado NutCo's version of I-beam. about 3" x 2".
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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Apr 25, 2008 - 12:40pm PT
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Thanks Larry - they are pretty much scratch free. Actually was sort of surprised to find that MOAC in that pile. I'd forgotten it was in there.
Figure Stephane is over having an anuerism about now. :-)
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Apr 27, 2008 - 01:42pm PT
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Well here's one from the vault for ID The middle nut has no stamp but by the cable girth and rounded corners I bet its the smallest Moac of them all. Stephane?!?
Shown with a #6 aid shorty and #6 1/2 standard Stopper for shape comparison.
So right about the Troll/Parba on the I-beams. Any other nuts released under the name of Parba? The one holers are all Clog stamped.
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nick d
Trad climber
nm
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Apr 27, 2008 - 02:09pm PT
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Prompted by this thread I just dug up my old Forrest catalog. It has a great treatise on nutwork and many illustrations of unique Titon placements.
Unfortunately, it is of 70's vintage so predates the Fall Arrest, as I believe they were called, so no photos.
Looking at it makes me wonder why it is not attained classic status like the 72 Chouinard catalog. I learned a lot from it as a kid. Somehow Bill just never had the cachet that the California boys had.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Apr 27, 2008 - 02:28pm PT
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BITD, Bill told a story about how he tested the Forrest wall hammer, which was the first of
its kind with a fiberglass handle (the middle one in this photo from Cascadeclimbers).
Wanting to be sure that the new hammer was durable, and also to reassure skeptical climbers, Bill
said that he chained a prototype (through its carabiner hole) to a post in his yard, then offered
the neighborhood kids -- he suggested it was a tough neighborhood -- $10 or something if they
could break the hammer simply by swinging it hard against the chain.
The only requirement was they had to keep count of how many swings each kid made, and log
those in a notebook so Bill would know how long it took to break. At the time of this story he
said the kids were working hard, 10,000 swings so far, but the hammer still hadn't broken.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Apr 27, 2008 - 03:23pm PT
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Steve, that middle nut of yours does look like the small wired MOAC. My partner used to carry
one of those things everywhere.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Apr 27, 2008 - 03:32pm PT
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I could never understand the limited size offerings early on from overseas. Gotta love that fat cable even though it put a lot of torque on the placements. I found my trusty Fall Arrestor, blown and resewn. The aidscreamers are my choice for clipping crap these days and much lighter!
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TrundleBum
Trad climber
Las Vegas
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Apr 27, 2008 - 04:35pm PT
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Chiloe:
The last pic you posted (of the three hammers)...
The top one (the alpine hammer) has a sticker with the word 'Mjolnir'
You got me currious and I had to go look at mine.
The sticker is there but all the print is worn off.
Was not 'Mjolnir' the name of a European gear manufacturer as well ?
I was wondering:
Did Forrest work with other (larger) manufacturers in much the same way as Chouinard/InterAlp?
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Raydog
Trad climber
Boulder Colorado
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Apr 27, 2008 - 06:14pm PT
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RE:
"I was wondering:
Did Forrest work with other (larger) manufacturers in much the same way as Chouinard/InterAlp?"
an interesting question...
wish I knew more about the (Bill) Forrest gear legacy
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