Hi JosiahSpurr,
As for your original post, when I look at it I admire the level of thought, detail, and creativity. At the same time, I think I would just buy and use a lightweight modern harness, rap device, and rappell rope. Adding autoblock generally increases safety. Of course, if you create something truly safe that works for you, rap your own rap (hike your own hike).
WD is known for wisdom and experience. I too would add that a helmet can be very wise to wear in case of falling rock, loose rock, unexpected falls, accidentally bonking into stuff scrambling, and imperfect rappelling. Yes, rappelling can usually be done safely, but all it takes is messing it up a bit one time for a serious problem to happen. As alluded to, rocks can get pulled down, ropes can get stuck, ropes can get cut, anchors can break, route/rap can be awkward, and user error can happen besides any of that. Doing anything where you think you may need to rappel (or where you may be able to downclimb, but feel the downclimb is hazardous), is on the adventurous end of the spectrum and taking on risk.
I have descended both sides of University Pass multiple times that was referenced as potentially a place with a difficult or dangerous downclimb and cannot recall anything remotely of that nature. There is loose rock to be wary of though. If with further experience it still seems sketchy or a place to rappel, perhaps consider sticking to easier places. On the other hand, seeking such places to gain experience with routefinding and scrambling ought to build skill and confidence.
As far as my Evolution report, thanks for the thoughtful reading and analysis! I wrote it to provoke thought and self-analysis by readers. You indeed identified many of the questionable decisions by myself and the group that were described in the report and that one may need to consider on a trip of that nature. I don't have any one answer to what went wrong and one could even pick additional elements to question beyond your observations. I didn't feel an awareness of feeling exceptionally out of sorts, but clearly was a bit out of sorts at time of accident. I definitely did not feel perfect, but that's not uncommon on a trip like that. It's dang physically and mentally taxing! That can sneak up on someone, especially in hard terrain at altitude, and lead to impaired judgement that can be hard to sense in the moment. Bailing anywhere near the accident site was not a wise option, but resting or pausing a bit could have been good. I do look at such trips with additional skepticism now, beyond skepticism that already existed. I also am now more prone to be disciplined in backing off on agenda and pace. On the other hand, ideally one would do that particular traverse lighter and faster than we did. It is a delicate balance and some trips enter known hazardous territory that deserves sober questioning. I would find the whole traverse technically pretty easy now, but conditioning for it would always be a challenge and it is on the hazardous end of the spectrum any way you slice it. I suspect I will tend to choose easier and less risky objectives. I have found that with experience, assessment of risk and consistent awareness of what hazards to be most wary of increases.
There are many solid online resources available for climbing gear nuances. This site/HST is not where I would go first, second, or third for that matter. Freedom of the Hills is excellent and useful, but probably getting a tad antiquated. For discussion you could try mountainproject.com, but reputable and authoritative gear usage resources are plentiful online. Here's one I happened to have open already--
https://rockandice.com/climb-safe/climb ... -business/
Anyway, alpine rappelling is a useful skill, but not something I advise relying on unless truly necessary. Then again, some people rap purely for the fun of it or canyoneer.