In the news today, it was announced that the chemist credited with the discovery of Kevlar, has passed away. Stephanie Kwolek was her name.
Sometime around 1986 or 87, I was taking a materials science course at A&M and had access to a tensile-test machine. I asked the professor if I could test a piece of 5mm Kevlar cord. I put a figure 8 knot in each end. and tied each end to the steel bar connectors. I think I had about 15 inches between the knots. It broke in the middle of the upper knot at around 10,000 pounds. The professor was quite surprised. I used the cord in my Mitchell System, from my foot to an upper Jumar, several times over a 2 year period, on some pits that were under 200 feet. At the foot attachment, I tied the Kevlar cord into a chicken-loop rig, described by James Jasek ( I think ) in a Texas Caver in the late 70's or early 80's. So that the Kevlar cord was the only thing holding my foot to the Jumar. I did not tie the cord to the Jumar eye-hole, but wrapped it around the handle and tied it off. While I would not recommend doing that now, I would say the cord is light enough to throw in the cave-pack for an emergency or as a back-up. David Locklear --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
