Rescuers use the strength of rope system components to determine the static system safety factors (SSSF). This calculation is dependent upon how components interact with one another. The problem was that devices used in haul systems, acting as progress capture devices (PCDs) or ratchets, did not have consistent published rates of failure. There was no widely proliferated information outlining how these PCDs interact with the host rope at the point of failure. As a consequence of this information-gap, field practitioners could not accurately calculate the SSSF in their systems. The purpose of this research was to identify the failure strengths and conditions of common PCDs and publish the information detailing high, low, and average rates of failure as well as the conditions in which this occurs. This project used evaluative research, but placing such in a historical perspective of fire and rescue service's best practices. The primary research was performed using empirical observations of the breaking strengths, behavior, mode of failure, and consequence of eight different progress capture devices on three types of rope. This research answered the following research questions: a) what is the strength of a single Prusik, tandem Prusik, Rescuescender, Grip, Munter Hitch, I'D, and MPD when used on both new and old 12.5mm PMI EZ-Bend kernmantle rope? b) what is the strength of a single Prusik, tandem Prusik, Rescuescender, Grip, Munter Hitch, I'D, Basic, and MPD when used on both new and old 11mm PMI EZ-Bend kernmantle rope? c) what constitutes a failure of a PCD? d) what constitutes a loss of confidence of a PCD?The research learned the failure rates of various PCDs ranged in SSSF from 2:1 to 25:1 depending on the device and rope. The research also discovered force-limiting conditions deemed the System Operation Limit of haul systems. These SSSFs ranged from 1.2:1 to 10.6:1.