This sounds right to me. Pete, I don't think the danger of falling with the
positioning lanyard attached to one hip is exaggerated. It's not the same as
falling four feet to a hard floor. In that case the impact is spread over a
much large percentage of your body (even then, you can break bones in an
unrestricted fall of four feet to a hard floor.) With the lanyard tied to
your hip, virtually all of the force is applied to one side of your pelvis.
Without a fall-arrest lanyard, the force could easily fracture your pelvis.
With the entire weight of your upper body going downward against this force,
there's probably a danger of spinal damage and/or hip dislocation as well.
You might swing around wildly, too, potentially hitting your head on the
tower and/or hanging upside down while severely injured.
A fall-arrest lanyard attached to the back D-ring of a harness spreads the
force out over a much larger area, and the fall-arrest lanyard substantially
reduces the force of the fall. However, a note in the tower info file on
N1LO's site points out that if you fall with a fall-arrest lanyard attached
to the D-ring on the back of your harness, the chances are good that your
head will pitch forward and hit the tower. Should we be wearing rock
climbing helmets for tower work?
N1LO's site addresses this subject, but I'm not sure the info is correct. It
says the preferred climbing method is to use "cowtails" (a Y-lanyard)
attached to the front D-ring. By alternating the two hooks on the cowtail,
you're always tied in. The text says another advantage of this is that you
can use the cowtails for positioning while you rest on the way up, and even
for position at your destination (though they recommend a hip lanyard in
addition.) Seems to me that there are several problems with this approach to
climbing. First, the front D-ring isn't designed for fall-arrest lanyards --
it's for use with a lifeline or similar system, where the potential fall
distance is inches, not feet. Second, the text talks about making your own
cowtails from climbing static line, and they really should be fall-arrest
lanyards. Third, is it recommended to use the front D-ring for positioning?
After reviewing all the suggestions, I've decided that my best bet is to get
a second fall-arrest lanyard and attach it to the back D-ring, along with
the existing fall-arrest lanyard. Then I can use the two-hook method for
climbing and always be tied off. Now, to put a fine point on it, three more
questions:
1) Does it make sense to also climb with the positioning lanyard around the
tower? Obviously, it would be slower to climb with the positioning lanyard
because it has to be dragged along in spots and has to be unhooked/rehooked
at each guy station. But the advantage is that I can lean back and rest any
time. However, would climbing with the positioning lanyard in place actually
present more risk of injury? Could the positioning lanyard cause injury if
it catches before the fall-arrest lanyards? If so, then the right procedure
would be to climb by alternating the two fall-arrest lanyards, then put the
positioning lanyard around the tower when I want to rest.
2) Can a pair of fall-arrest lanyards attached to the back D-ring be used
for temporary positioning while resting (i.e., by slinging them under the
arms? If so, then the hip lanyard wouldn't be needed at all while climbing.
3) Fall arrest lanyards come with regular gorilla hooks and rebar hooks. Is
either preferable? It looks like the rebar hook would be easier to hook and
rehook when climbing.
Thanks for all the good info!
73, Dick WC1M
> -----Original Message-----
> From: towertalk-admin@contesting.com
> [mailto:towertalk-admin@contesting.com]On Behalf Of sparks@apk.net
> Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2002 12:39 PM
> To: towertalk@contesting.com
> Subject: [Towertalk] RE: Double protection - climbing
>
>
> If you fall several feet while hooked to a positioning lanyard,
> you will almost
> certainly be seriously injured or killed. If that lanyard is
> hooked to only
> one hip, as in the scenario described by below by Pete, the
> latter possibility
> is greatly increased. Positioning lanyards are for fall
> PREVENTION not fall
> arrest. The arresting forces on a lanyard without a
> shock-absorbing element
> are huge -- thousands of pounds for a 200lb person in 6 foot fall
> -- and if you
> are not killed immediately, you will likely suffocate waiting for
> rescue as you
> dangle from one side of your waist with your diaphragm
> compressed. It will also
> be much more difficult for rescuers to get you positioned for
> descent from that
> position.
>
> In the absence of a fixed fall-arrest system (like a lifeline or
> lad-safe),
> Pete's technique is exactly correct for 100% tie-off, EXCEPT that
> both lanyards
> used while double-hooking up the tower should be shock-absorbing,
> AND they
> should be hooked to the middle of the back. "Y-lanyards" are
> available just
> for this purpose -- they have two tails off the center hook. You
> can also use
> two individual shock-absorbing lanyards both hooked to the back D-ring.
>
> 73 - Jeff, WB2RUZ
>
> > Message: 7
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
> > Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2002 07:05:04 -0500
> > To: dick.green@valley.net, "Chuck Lewis" <clewis@knology.net>,
> > "Mark Beckwith" <mark@concertart.com>, towertalk@contesting.com
> > From: Pete Smith <n4zr@contesting.com>
> > Subject: RE: [Towertalk] Double protection - climbing
> >
> > I find it easy to envision problems climbing with the positioning
> > lanyard
> > around the tower, because it's too easy to imagine sliding down to the
> > next
> > guy station, which could be quite a distance below. At least you don't
> > fall away from the tower, so presumably you can grab something.
> >
> > When I climb, I use a fall-arrest lanyard on the back D-ring and my
> > positioning lanyard hooked to one of the hip D-rings. Going up I hook
> > one
> > on a rung as far above me as I can reach, while looking at it to be
> > sure. Then I unhook the other one (which by this time is between my
> > feet)
> > and just let it hang while I continue clmbing till the first lanyard is
> > between my feet, and repeat the cycle.
> >
> > I figure that if I were to fall while climbing, I'm gonna get bruised
> > whether the current fall-arrest protection is in the middle of my back
> > or
> > on one hip, but it sure beats getting dead.
>
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