And here is my shoe tip--
About 20 years ago I bought a pair of
Lineman's boots from Sears. These are
for use on utility poles, with or without
steps. When used on poles without steps
then hooks, climbers, or irons (depending
on your favorite name for pole-climbing spikes)
are used with them.
They were not all that expensive 20 (or more)
years ago--don't know what they cost these
days.
They provide a lot of special features useful
for tower climbing. Of course they have big sole
lugs and won't slip on a tower rung or pole step.
They also have heavy duty steel shanks so that
your arches don't get tired while standing on
a tower rung. They have a double layer
of leather on the sides towards the pole to reduce
the effects of wear. And they are very stiff
to provide excellent ankle support. It looks
pretty funny to see someone wearing them on
the ground, walking with completely unmoveable
ankles. But you stay on the pole or tower without
any problems--and with the proper belt (one with
a butt support) you can reduce the fatigue in your
legs.
It is all about the right equipment. I have used these
for a lot of commercial tower work over the years as
well as for my own station and with proper care
they will continue to serve me for the rest of my
tower-climbing days.
I have sort of a ritual, before every real tower job I
clean them and polish them so they look like
new, I inspect my safety harness, and I make sure
my gloves are in perfect shape.
BTW There are a lot of different kinds of gloves on
the market and most rough leather ones work OK for
climbing. But when using gloves with preforms the
only ones that "wear" well are ones made from
pig skin. The abrasive coating on the inside of the
preforms cuts right through most leather gloves
(I have tried them all) but the pig skin ones seem to be
the most resistant to abrasion.
Your shoes are almost as important as your belt for
safe tower work and when free-climbing (without hooking
up your belt) your shoes are THE most important thing.
--John W0UN
John W. Brosnahan
shr@ricc.net
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