| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston, Larry | Not recorded | Male | Not recorded | Not recorded |
On Saturday, March 6, Larry Houston and Joe Spitzmiller were preparing to descend a pit in Lost Hollow Cave, Izard County, Arkansas. A rope was rigged on a 90 foot drop. To hold the rope clear of the lip, to facilitate ascent and descent, a chock was placed in a crack and attached to the rope, with "500 pound test" parachute cord, above the lip. Houston descended.
As Spitzmiller put his weight on the rope in going over the lip on rappel, the chock cord broke, abruptly dropping Spitzmiller about two feet. His hard hat and lamp were dislodged and fell down the pit. No injury resulted.
Nylon cord, webbing and rope come in a variety of diameters or sizes and one should be wary of that which is of insufficient strength. Just because it is nylon doesn't mean it is strong enough to use indiscriminately. Moreover, strength will deteriorate with use - inspection before use should show this.
A knot usually reduces strength by half - thus a sling made of 500 pound test cord with a knot would be only 250 pounds in breaking strength when new. A rappel can be expected to produce stress of up to several times body weight. Thus it should have been expected that the cord would break.
Paracord holding chockstone broke. The Underground Leader 6(1) Mar76 p11.
This record was last updated on 27th Apr 2024 at 23:11 UTC.