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Post by Josh Babcock on Sept 26, 2006 19:48:48 GMT -5
As far as I know, Bomber Gear has been out of buisiness. I think this is a shame, but there is hope. At VAR last weekend I ran into someone selling an improved version of the Bomber Gear shin pad. I'm afraid I can't remember who it was, but either way, the design is not dead or gone.
Josh
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Post by Josh Babcock on Sept 26, 2006 18:56:02 GMT -5
JOSH.........is the reason you feel you have more control over your rap based partly on the use of one fewer brake bar?........ eyecave, I doubt it, I pretty much use the same number of bars as when I used spacers. I think the difference is that I pay a lot more attention to upper bar spacing than most people do. I have noticed that most cavers only move the bottom bar. I have found that I get the best results by putting the bottom bar all the way down to the nut and controlling the rappel with the second to last bar. If you watch me rappel on a long drop you will see me adjusting every bar below the #2 bar at one point or another. I think that this helps lessen the forces that push the #2 bar up into the #1 bar. I wouldn't be surprised if my rack pinched the rope if I were to stop paying attention, but in my book, that's a good thing. Inattention (for any reason, but especially loss of consciousness) should cause you to slow down, not speed up. And that bottom bar? It comes up when I need to slow down fast, and it works real well too. Josh
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Post by Josh Babcock on Sept 11, 2006 8:29:48 GMT -5
I am a 145# caver, and I am not a huge fan of spacers. They seem to work very well for other people, but not me. I still use a 1 1/4" spacer on my 16" rack for drops up to about 1200'. I am currently training for longer drops and tandem rappels and have found that I have much more control and braking power on my 24" rack without spacers. I don't yet have a theory as to why this is, but after a lot of trial and error I am sure that it is the right thing for me.
Josh
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Post by Josh Babcock on Nov 10, 2006 9:52:54 GMT -5
Thanks Brian.
I was also introduced recently to a technique that really improves how easily bars slide and equalize under tension. One of my grotto members regularly polishes her frame with emory cloth. You have to do this regularly, since even the smallest imperfections seem to create resistance to bar movement. Blindingly simple, but I had never seen or thought of it before.
Josh
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Post by Josh Babcock on Sept 26, 2006 19:09:35 GMT -5
I use normal BMS bars in all positions except #2, which gets a thick BMS bar. The reason is simply to avoid burning my hands on short drops. The #2 bar has been proven to absorb more energy than any other bar. Since change in temperature is proportional to change in heat and inversely proportional to mass, the easy way to lower temperature for a given amount of energy is to increase the size of your heat sink.
You can do other things to increase the capacity of your heat sink, like use a material with a higher specific heat (e.g. Al at 900 J/kg*K vs stainless at 500J/kg*K). Of course, that option leaves you with a much larger bar due to the low density of Al, and it also leaves you with an Al plated rope.
The other factor, which comes into play on long drops where the temp gets high enough that the heat radiated by the bar allows it to reach an equilibrium temp, is to increase radiative surface area and surface exposed to convection. In other words, use a U bar instead of a round one.
Josh
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