A rugged, versatile and economical hoist for lifting, lowering and positioning of personnel and materials. Designed for a maximum workload of 310 pounds for personnel (10:1 design factor) and 620 pounds for materials (5:1 design factor), the Lynx personnel/material hoist provides an all steel construction with an internal shock absorber that operates even when usable length of line is fully extracted. A load-limiting clutch prevents loading hoist in excess of 620 pounds and an emergency drive allows manual bypass of load-limiting clutch for extra lifting capacity. A load indicator is displayed once the clutch is activated. The primary gear is backed up by two independent secondary brakes. The crank is anti-backlash and has a 5:1 gear ratio and a lifting/lowering speed of 25 feet per minute. Side, boom and socket mount hoists have integral brackets for attachment to the Lynx tripod, davit systems and qualified anchorage connectors. Each unit has a galvanized or stainless steel wire rope line with a self-locking swivel snaphook. An optional air drive adapter enables powered lifting and lowering with separate air-powered drive assembly.