Save yourselves!….with with the Rescue Reel

Falling from great heights doesn’t exactly do the human body any real good. Bones, organs, and other body parts are simply to fragile to take such abuse. In the even of an emergency in a skyscraper, people are often left with no way to safely exit the building if one or more stairways/elevators are out of commission. However, a new device called the Rescue Reel aims to give high rise workers a second chance at life by giving them a safe and effective tool that could possibly save their lives. The device is rather straightforward actually, consisting of a simple reel and one-size-fits-all harness. All you have to do to safely lower yourself out of harms way is anchor the device, get inside the harness, and begin your decent. How do you control descent? How difficult is it to control the speed of descent? How much does it cost? If you’re so inclined with interest piqued, take a gander after the click.

The centrifugal braking system eliminates the need for the user to have to worry about such details and physically take their life into their own hands. The braking system works because of the Reel’s lifeline getting wrapped around an internal shaft connected to a brake. As the shaft spins and the lower descends, a set of brake pads applies pressure to the edge of the brake housing causing a natural and controlled descent speed. If you aren’t too keen letting a “machine” control your destiny, or, if by some act of God the centrifugal brake system fails, there is a backup – a nice, familiar manual braking system. As far as how high of a building you can save yourself from as well as how long it takes from that respective story, Kevin designed the Rescue Reel with enough cord to reach from 100 stories up! “Oh Great” you cry out in frustration as you picture taking an entire day to slowly go from 100 stories all the way down to 0. However, rest assured you will get out of danger quickly – the rate of descent is a brisk 2 stories per second. Brisk indeed!

The device has been undergoing extensive and exhaustive testing since 2007 to ensure optimal quality and speed. These are people’s lives we’re talking about here. Kevin expects to have commercially available units ready sometime next year in 2010 with an initial asking price of $1,500. One of his more immediate goals will be bringing the price down as production picks up thereby providing assistance and a means of escape to more users. How much is your life worth?

Source 1:http://www.slipperybrick.com/2009/05/rescue-reel-lets-you-descend-a-skyscraper-like-60s-batman
Source 2:http://www.gizmowatch.com/entry/in-emergency-rescue-reel-lets-you-descent-down-a-skyscraper-safely/
Source 3:http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-05/great-escape

**Source: Slippery Brick, Gizmo Watch, Pop Sci