Synthetic rope failure: Does it drop or recoil?

You're not gonna just leave it there, are you? What's the scoop?

The short version is that back in the 1950's the El Dorado Jeepherders, one of the first jeep clubs in California and the closest to the Rubicon Trail, used the prospector statues as hood ornaments on their jeeps. Mark Smith (of Jeep Jamboree fame) and Chuck Walker (for whom Walker Hill is named) are reputed to have been Jeepherders. Another club tried to adopt the prospector as its own which started arguments between the clubs, then Jeepers Jamboree which Mark Smith was involved in founding began to sell them to Jeepers Jamboree participants which pissed off a few of the original Jeepherders, and just when the rivalries and arguments over who had the "rights" to the "little prospector" began to die down a car dealer in Sacramento started giving them away as a promotional item. That was pretty much the end of the little prospector as a hood ornament for the jeepers who called the Rubicon Trail home.

My little prospector was on the hood of a CJ-3A purchased from someone in Placerville CA (home of the Jeepherders) that found its way to Jeeps R Us in Laguna Beach the spring before I ran the Rubicon Trail for the very first time. Following my return, Larie Tales, founder of Jeeps R Us, gave me the prospector and told me that I had earned him.

Larie was a very good friend. He passed away in 2018. The little prospector he gave me will be mounted on every jeep I ever own.
 
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The short version is that back in the 1950's the El Dorado Jeepherders, one of the first jeep clubs in California and the closest to the Rubicon Trail, used the prospector statues as hood ornaments on their jeeps. Mark Smith (of Jeep Jamboree fame) and Chuck Walker (for whom Walker Hill is named) are reputed to have been Jeepherders. Another club tried to adopt the prospector as its own which started arguments between the clubs, then Jeepers Jamboree which Mark Smith was involved in founding began to sell them to Jeepers Jamboree participants which pissed off a few of the original Jeepherders, and just when the rivalries and arguments over who had the "rights" to the "little prospector" began to die down a car dealer in Sacramento started giving them away as a promotional item. That was pretty much the end of the little prospector as a hood ornaments for the jeepers who called the Rubicon Trail home.

My little prospector was on the hood of a CJ-3A purchased from someone in Placerville CA (home of the Jeepherders) that found its way to Jeeps R Us in Laguna Beach the spring before I ran the Rubicon Trail for the very first time. Following my return, Larie Tales, founder of Jeeps R Us, gave me the prospector and told me I had earned him.

Larie was a very good friend. He passed away in 2018. The little prospector he gave me will be mounted on every jeep I ever own.
Awesome story! Thank you for the background, as that is something I surely would never have known had you not shared it. Helluva history to it, that's for sure. (y)