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Version A
Version B
Version C
Version D
Prototype
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Carroll Bassett gave me this prototype in 2013.
This Prototype is 191 mm. wide, 69 mm. high, 44 mm. thick, and weighs 217 g. It is a single channel chest box consisting of an aluminum back plate with a single nylon roller and a button-activated gate mounted on a block bolted to the back plate. The gate locking mechanism is made from a modified quick-release pin used in a clever manner. The pin is held in place by an external retaining ring in a groove cut in the pin, and the pin balls engage slots cut in the support block. The swinging gate opens by pushing a button on the QR pin, then pivoting the gate out of the way. The gate locks in the full-closed and full-open positions.
The back plate has 51 mm. tall vertical slots for attaching the box to a chest strap and 28 mm. wide horizontal slots for attaching shoulder straps.
The QR pin is stamped with "AVIBANK PUSH" and "BLS5B13S."
This box is nicely made, but somewhat massive. With only one roller, it is unsuitable for the Mitchell system, but works well for double-bungee rigs.
Under cavng conditions, nylon rollers will eventualy stick and then wear quickly. While nylon may be fine for a prototype, the production verrsions used metal rollers.
The gate button is on the right side of the box, making right-handed operation marginally more convenient than left-handed operation.
The holes at the bottom are for attaching a small pulley for
double-bungee rigs as shown on the Vertical
Supply box.
[ Top | Prototype | Version B | Version C | Version D | Return to Chest Boxes ]
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I acquired my Bassett Metal Studios, Version A from Inner Mountain Outfitters
at the 1997 NSS Convention. I acquired another in 2017 as part of Bob Thrun’s collection.
Version A is 70 mm. long, 190 mm. wide, 49 mm. high, and weighs 273 g. It is a single channel chest box consisting of an aluminum back plate with a single roller and a button-activated gate mounted on a block bolted to the back plate. The swinging gate opens by pushing a button on the gate side of the roller, then pivoting the gate out of the way. The knob on the opposite side turns with the gate.
The back plate is made from 5 gauge (4.6 mm.) aluminum alloy. It 50 mm. tall vertical slots for attaching the box to a chest strap and 28 mm. wide horizontal slots for attaching shoulder straps. There are two 5 mm. holes near the bottom of the back plate.
The back plate has "BMS" milled into it.
This box is nicely made, but somewhat massive. With only one roller, it is unsuitable for the Mitchell system, but works well for double-bungee rigs.
The gate button is on the right side of the box, making right-handed operation marginally more convenient than left-handed operation. If you prefer the bottom on the left, it is easy to unscrew the roller assembly and remount it on the back of the plate.
The holes at the bottom are for attaching a small pulley for
double-bungee rigs as shown on the Vertical
Supply box.
[ Top | Prototype | Version A | Version C | Version D | Return to Chest Boxes ]
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| Front View: Closed |
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| Open for Rigging |
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| Top View |
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| Top View, Open for Rigging |
William Shrewsbury of On Rope 1 gave me two new-old-stock old-style back plates in 2021, and I mounted a roller assembly on one of them to create this box.
Version B is 190 mm. wide, 70 mm. high, 48 mm. thick, and weighs 224 g. The back plate is made from 9 gauge (2.9 mm.) aluminum alloy and has one more auxiliary hole at the bottom; otherwise, this box is equivalent to Version A.
There are no markings on this box.
The thinner back plate reduces the box’s weight by about 50 g.
I chose to set this up as a right-handed box, but could have easily mounted the roller assembly on the other side of the back plate to make a left-handed box.
[ Top | Prototype | Version A | Version B | Version D | Return to Chest Boxes ]
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| Top View, Open for Rigging |
I acquired my Bassett Metal Studios, Version C box from On Rope 1 in 2021.
My Bassett Metal Studios, Version C is 70 mm. wide, 190 mm. high, 49 mm. thick, and weighs 276 g. The back plate is made from 5 gauge (4.6 mm.) (like Version A), and has four additional holes for mounting roller assemblies to make a double-roller box (see Version D). The auxiliary holes are now the same size as the block-mounting holes, and so slightly larger than those on Version A.
The back plate has "BMS" milled into it.
Functionally, this box is identical to Version A. Increasing the auxiliary hole size improves manufacturing efficiency (no drill bit change) but has no practical effect.
The return to 5 gauge plate is hard err to justify. The thinner and lighter 9 gauge plate used on Version B is perfectly adequate and presumably less expensive.
[ Top | Prototype | Version A | Version B | Version C | Return to Chest Boxes ]
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| Top View, Open for Rigging |
I acquired my Bassett Metal Studios, Version D box from On Rope 1 in 2021.
Version D is 70 mm. long, 190 mm. wide, 49 mm. high, and weighs 395 g. It uses the same back plate as Version C but mounts two rollers.
The back plate has "BMS" milled into it.
This version is suitable for use in the Mitchell system, my preferred system for all but the shortest free-hanging drops.
[ Top | Prototype | Version A | Version B | Version C | Version D ]
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