All one needs to do to be completely safe when climbing any type tower of
any height is to be young. The young are immortal. I must have been, since
in my teens I climbed lots of 100+ foot towers without even a belt, let
alone a harness....
Can't believe I'm still here. -WB2WIK/6
"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough." -
Mario Andretti
> -----Original Message-----
> From: n4kg@juno.com [SMTP:n4kg@juno.com]
> Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2002 8:46 AM
> To: TOWERTALK@CONTESTING.COM; n4zr@CONTESTING.COM
> Subject: Re: [Towertalk] Double protection - climbing
>
> I'd hate to fall with only ONE side of a lanyard connected
> on one side at the hip. Sounds like a good way to break
> one's back.
>
> A climbing safety rule I recall is to "Always maintain 3 points
> of contact with the tower", i.e. only move ONE limb at a time.
> When I climb, there is ALWAYS at least one strap AROUND
> the tower.
>
> In 35 years of climbing, I've NEVER had my feet slip off a
> rung and therefore NEVER slid down a tower. Many years
> ago, I switched to using TWO Lanyards, one short one to
> hold me close to the tower and one longer one, primarily
> for ascending and descending. The straps are alternated
> when going around guy attachments or side mounted antennas.
> When I arrive at the work position, I loop one strap around
> the far leg which also serves as a Fall Arrest. The short
> lanyard can also be placed around just the closest 2 legs,
> allowing more range of motion but still serving as a Fall Arrest.
>
> My waist belt is Nylon Web and I long ago gave up on
> Heavy Stiff Straps. I much prefer Half Inch Braided Nylon
> Rope because it is so much lighter and more flexible.
>
> I use a single 8-10 ft rope, folded over in a U looped
> through my Left D ring with Miller spring loaded Snap Hooks
> rated at 5000 lbs. The Snaps are attached with Bowline Knots
> because I don't know how to make eye loops. Yes, they are
> somewhat bulky. The Loop can be adjusted to accomodate
> different size tower from R25 to R55.
>
> Not too long ago, I purchased a Fall Arrest Harness and strap
> from Champion Radio. I will add my usual double rope lanyard
> to this assembly. It would be nice to find a source of fixed length
> braided nylon lanyards with 30, 36, 42, and 48 inch options and
> safety rated snaps.
>
> Tom N4KG
>
> On Tue, 17 Dec 2002 Pete Smith <n4zr@contesting.com> writes:
> > At 08:15 PM 12/16/02 -0500, Dick Green wrote:
> > >Once the positioning
> > >lanyard was above the guys, he unhooked and stowed the free end of
> > the fall
> > >arrest lanyard until the next obstruction. Once at his destination,
> > both
> > >lanyards were used for maximum safety. Again, I wondered whether
> > it's really
> > >safe to climb with just the positioning lanyard attached.
> > Obviously, it's
> > >better than free-climbing, but is it safe?
> >
> > 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.
> >
> >
> > 73, Pete N4ZR
> > Sometimes a tower is just a tower
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
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> >
>
>
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> _______________________________________________
> AN Wireless Self Supporting Towers at discounted prices,
> See http://www.mscomputer.com
>
> Wireless Weather Stations now $349.95. Call Toll Free,
> 888-333-9041 for additional information.
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