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deuce4
climber
Pagosa Springs CO
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Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 16, 2005 - 07:23pm PT
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Before I put all this stuff away in my archives, I thought I post some pics of some gear developments I was involved with in the 80's:
Here's the evolution of the hauling pulley:
The left one is an early Metolius model, the first, I believe. Although a great innovation, it slipped a little with high loads as the cam pressed against the rotating pulley wheel. The next three are prototypes I designed with Rock Thomson, of what was then RockExotica (I was part owner of his company as well).
Then we worked on solo devices:
After Rock came out with the Soloist, we co-designed the SoloAid. It was only slightly better than a clove hitch.
Here's the first Hurricane Mountain Works hand drill, and the commercial version:
HMW was a company I started with Tim Martin, an amazing machinist (he designed all the robotic manufacturing equipment for Chums). Still my favorite drill, as it allows for any hardware store bit of any size shank to be used.
Next, the BirdBeak:
The left two are Czech handmade beaks from way back, precursor to all the modern ones. The next five are my prototypes, after Bridwell showed me his sawed off Crack'n'ups that he used on a first ascent on Half Dome. The last one (never produced) had a swinging small wedge for clean placements.
Slider Nuts:
Though Porter reputedly made slider nuts in the 70's I never saw one. The first one on the left in the Metolius. Second two are Don Best's designs. The fourth one is my "Monkey Paw" (precursor to the BallNut). The fifth, the BallNut (an original from the Wired Bliss shop, before Lowe bought the patent), and the last two are other designs that came out later.
Close ups:
Here are some of my prototypes of the Monkey Paw:
More later...
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can't say
Social climber
Pasadena CA
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Mar 16, 2005 - 07:50pm PT
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Damn, who said flashbacks don't happen? Great history there John.
Do you remember a guy named Fig and his role in the ballnut idea by any chance?
So what'cha going to do with all the empty closet space?
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deuce4
climber
Pagosa Springs CO
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 16, 2005 - 07:53pm PT
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More junk:
here's the first climbing gear I ever manufactured, in the college machine shop in 1978:
They were modeled after some nice "Seneca" stoppers I had once seen but which were unavailable at the time: squatter and more taper than the Chouinard/Frost models widely available then.
Some wierd things to smash into rock:
And some Czech knots that were used for clean pro:
But here's my real treasure: junk collected off routes over the years:
Each piece brings back some real memories, like that bolt hanger on the left that pulled under body weight and I took a 50' whip on a Burton/Sutton route (Magic Mushroom) I did with Corbett.
Not to mention the original Shiprock piton hand cleaned off the Ormes rib:
(placed in the javalina skull Walt and I found after a new route in Sedona--the whole edifice is the "Walt Memorial")
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David
Trad climber
San Rafael, CA
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Mar 16, 2005 - 08:09pm PT
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Great post!
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WBraun
climber
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Mar 16, 2005 - 08:53pm PT
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The left one is an early Metolius model, the first, I believe.
So John, I still have the one you gave me. Which one is that? And I filed those notches in it like you originally suggested and it worked like a dream. Somehow this haul-pulley is still the best one I own.
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David Nelson
climber
San Francisco
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Mar 16, 2005 - 08:56pm PT
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Have you considered giving the originals to the Yosemite Climbing Museum? THen they could rest next to the original Stoveleg Pitons, etc.
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deuce4
climber
Pagosa Springs CO
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 16, 2005 - 09:17pm PT
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well, all the stuff in this post I am going to hang onto. Someday some of it may be worthy of a nice spot like the yos museum, but still want to hang onto it for a while.
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golsen
Social climber
kennewick, wa
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Mar 16, 2005 - 09:57pm PT
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John,
Awesome. Thanks for sharing. I still have some of those sliders. Used them in Zion in the 80's and learned how they got their name....they slid! Probably operator error...
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Prod
Trad climber
Dodge Sprinter Dreaming
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PFC
Prod.
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Ray Olson
Trad climber
Imperial Beach, California
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hats off to deuce4,
for paying attention to the hardcore
niche stuff, making it happen, and
for being one heck of a cool guy.
Can you say "research and development"?
awesome!
thanks for posting.
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Nice thread revival. Never seen some of that stuff!
Hey Deuce, can you document the history of the A5 hammer? Wasn't Chouinard already making great forged head hammers? Why did you choose to make your own? Was it that the hole in the head was something you wanted and the Chouinard didn't have it? Weight? Something else? Just curious.....
Thanks
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the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
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Yeah good bump, missed this the first time around.
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noshoesnoshirt
climber
Arkansas, I suppose
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Very groovy, thanks for sharing.
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Pate, thanks for the obscure drag'n'drop!
Deuce deserves it.
John, I still have my old wall hauler!
It got a bit tweeked somehow.
I can still use it though, just make sure it's well backed up, which I did anyway....
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Damn, this sort of thing gives Stephane heart palpitations.
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gaillard
climber
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Oct 20, 2010 - 06:30pm PT
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I know this is an old thread, but does anyone know what that ballnut is that is second from the last? The one with the two rollers it looks like?
Thanks !!!
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The Mayor
Social climber
Billings, Montana USA
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Oct 20, 2010 - 06:44pm PT
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Rock N Rollers
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Oct 20, 2010 - 06:51pm PT
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yeah, Rock 'n roller from go -pro. Not the current gopro, I think.
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Seamstress
Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
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Oct 20, 2010 - 07:13pm PT
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I'm surprised that there is nothing here that looks like the slug ...only saw those in Europe and not in the US.
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karabin museum
Trad climber
phoenix, az
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Oct 21, 2010 - 12:33am PT
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The yellow slider with the rollers is a Go-Pro Rock N Roller.
Nice post Deuce. I remember personally holding many of these items on one of my trips to Flagstaff. I still feel the pain of you locking them back up in your antique trunk and checking my pockets before I left.
I have three slugs made by Fixe but only available in Europe.
Rock on!
Marty
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Oct 21, 2010 - 01:26am PT
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hahaha, Marty that is funny.
"Sir, we need to pat you down before you leave the shop"
This just recaught my eye of those beaks...
"The last one (never produced) had a swinging small wedge for clean placements."
Theron, what do you think? swage a little alummy thing on there? hrm
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nutstory
climber
Ajaccio, Corsica, France.
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Oct 27, 2010 - 08:19am PT
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Marty, the Slugs are not made by Fixe, in Spain, but by Faces Designs On Mountains, in England. (Patent GB 2 191 710 Derek John Ryden 23 December 1987).
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karabin museum
Trad climber
phoenix, az
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Stephane,
The slugs by Fixe that I am referring to are three different size cylinder shaped lead blobs attached to a short wire loop. They are used for aid climbing by shoving them into limestone holes. I believe they are called Fixe Plumbos? Deuce shows one in a photo on the first post photo caption "things to smash into the rock."
Rock on! Marty
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Great History! Thanks Dudes!
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nutstory
climber
Ajaccio, Corsica, France.
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originalpmac
Mountain climber
Anywhere I like
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love that javelina skull "Walt Memorial" Very raw. very real. thanks for the sharing of that. Sedona is a great spot, even after the LA Direct the Mace is still my favorite spire.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Lead, eh? Now that will cost you technique over time...
Very nice shots of a poor idea! What is in the bottle?
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nutstory
climber
Ajaccio, Corsica, France.
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To gf: Another solution to obtain a holding power on the sides of a crack is to introduce two “head to foot” pyramidal wedges in it. Developed by John Stannard and his friends in the Gunks, the system was renewed in the Chouinard catalogue (1977) which showed two inverted Stoppers. For a year and a half, Doug Phillips tried many a combination of opposed wedging chocks before creating his Slider. The first prototypes systematically dropped out, and then Doug Phillips realized that if in theory the system should work, in practise both wedges do not generate the same coefficient of friction on either side of the crack. He compensated this by pouring some solder, a softer material, on only one of the faces, that in contact with the rock. Doug Phillips took out a patent on the 17th of October 1983 and marketed the Sliders the same year by setting up Metolius Mountain Products. Composed of two inverted wedges made of brass, sliding one against the other, held by a dovetail, the Sliders performed well in parallel cracks of granite. Built in five different sizes, the set covered a range of 0,25 to 0,65 inches (0,63 to 1,65 cm).
Stephane / Nuts Museum
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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I thought Charlie Porter invented the slider around '74? His didn't have the nice
dovetailed ways or spring loading so you had to make like an arthroscopist
when using the little ones. I didn't realize they are so rare so I guess I
should take some shots of mine?
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karabin museum
Trad climber
phoenix, az
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Thanks Stephane! Plomos are them.
In the bottle is probably lead schalak, to prevent lead poisoning :)
The #2 Metolius slider is an awesome piece to use in bolt holes. In Phoenix AZ in the late 1980s there was a lot of bolt wars where new self drive bolt casings were being placed on the old historic routes adding new bolts. Of course the local hardmen removed the bolts leaving the runout. Thank goodness for these sliders. I watched my friend on Pinnacle Peak on the Wedge fall twice from the top to the ground since the third bolt was continually removed. 30' fall which stops the climber two feet from the ground. Once I discovered I could use these sliders in the bolt holes they became standard gear for my rack. Not for the cracks, but for the bolt holes that were missing the bolts.
Rock on! Marty
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jan 11, 2019 - 10:52am PT
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Bumped into this while looking for some other stuff.
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