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Storrick – Adams Fire Escape Device
(#3254)

 

Front Rear Top
Front Rear Top
 
Left Right Bottom
Left Right Bottom
 
Open for Rigging
Open for Rigging

Technical Details

I made my Storrick – Adams Fire Escape Device in 2023.

This Squeeze Brake is 147 mm. tall, 83 mm. wide, 75 mm. thick, and weighs 670 g.

The squeeze brake consists of two aluminum pressure plates with a threaded rod and oversized wing nut for slow friction adjustment. The pressure plates are each 92 mm. tall, 82 mm. wide, and 12.7 mm. thick. A 2 mm. deep, 11 mm diameter rope groove is milled vertically in the center inside surface of each plate.

The plates are connected by a U-shaped 5 mm. 304 rod that passes through vertical holes in the plates. Stainless-steel spreaders above and below the plates keep the rod from spreading. Jam and lock nuts keep it contained.

The closure mechanism pivots on a free 5 mm. axle held in place by two set screws. Square at its pivot, it was turned and threaded (1/4-20 UNC) for an oversize wing nut. I added a lock nut to help prevent the wing nut coming free.

I stamped my logo on the rear plate.

Comments

I based this copy on the drawings in U.S. Patent 4,448,281,

The Adams Fire Escape Device design gives a large rope contact area that is good for heat dissipation. It does not bend the rope. Mine does not provide adequate control because the friction is quite sensitive to the separation between the plates, and the wing nut does not provide rapid adjustment. Cavers once had considerable interest in squeeze brakes like this one, but following some severe accidents, our interest in squeeze brakes declined dramatically.

The U-rod doubles as both a hinge and an attachment point. Effectively a double hinge, it gives a floppy feel to the Device when open for rigging, but this disappears when it is on rope. The rappeller's weight is supported by the nuts at the top, dictating the minimum safe diameter for the rod. This indirectly dictates the plate thickness, as drilling a long, small-diameter straight hole through the edge of the plate requires care, and thicker plates provide some margin.

Warning:
The Fire Escape's friction can vary quickly, widely,
and unpredictably, leading to COMPLETE loss of control.

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