Objects Database

Homemade Dead-Man

Accession Number

1089.2013.1

Object Name

Homemade Dead-Man

Created

02/07/2013

Creator

Hermione Cooper

Accession Date

02/07/2013

Brief Description

Pentagonal shaped homemade dead-man with wire looped thorough it.The dead man has 50 holes.

Materials

steel

Dimensions

22.5(l) x 18(w) cms

Number Of Objects

1

Provenance

Things of the homemade variety have always been our favourites and when it comes to 'homemade' this dead-man is as good as it gets. Having been used, initially, for anchoring dog sledges down in the Antarctic, dead men were pieces of wood or metal which were adapted in the 1960/70's to be used as anchors in the snow for mountaineering. Scottish mountaineer, John Cunningham, was one of the first to experiment with them and Denny Moorehouse of Clog was the first to produce them on a commercial basis.
99% of dead-men were made of aluminium, but this one is made of steel and even though there are lots of carefully drilled holes, it's still quite heavy. Early versions used rope for connecting dead-men to mountaineers (see related items) though wire soon became the preferred option and whilst production versions would use a friction weld called a swage to seal the wire, our version has been partially spliced, with the splice being held in place with engineer's nuts - fabulous!
Well hammered at the top and displaying the wonderful patina of age and use, this is an excellent addition to our collection.
Mountain guide, Dave 'Smiler' Cuthbertson donated this item to the collection having acquired it from a couple of pals up at the Inverness climbing wall.

Acquisition Method

Donated by Dave Cuthbertson

Acquisition Date

02/07/2013

Condition Check Date

02/07/2013

Rules

Spectrum : UK Museum documentation standard, V.3.1 2007

Modified

02/07/2013

Go Back

Related Items

'Dead man'
Homemade 'dead man'