SamT
Moderator
Received this email recently
Now - I didn't realise this - but Elektron is indeed a brand name for a magnesium alloy .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektron_%28alloy%29
But - were caving ladders ever made from it, sounds like its probably expensive stuff, which doesn't fit well with the caving ethos of the 60s and 70s (and 80s/90s/00s/10s!!)
I was a caver as a kid - my Dad was Hugh Kidd - DCRO Dr of the 60's-70's. One
of my own kids was asking the other day about caving ladders (those were the
days!) - and I referred to it as "Elektron". As she is a scientist, and knew
a fair bit about metallurgy, she took me to task about it. I had no idea
what "Elektron" was - I has just assumed the name from my childhood. I
gather it is/was a specialist magnesium alloy that was notably lighter than
aluminium.
My question is - did we really use it for caving ladders? Or did we just
assume the name? Does anyone know. My Dad's old mate Tony Huntington (AKA
"Wingnut") might; he is an ex-member of Eldon.
Now - I didn't realise this - but Elektron is indeed a brand name for a magnesium alloy .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektron_%28alloy%29
But - were caving ladders ever made from it, sounds like its probably expensive stuff, which doesn't fit well with the caving ethos of the 60s and 70s (and 80s/90s/00s/10s!!)