Hi Phil,
I don't disagree with anyhthing you say. It's all a matter of degrees.
If we're after the ultimate in safety, it's safer still not to climb at all,
and to pay a professional outfit to do it for you. After all, professional
tower help costs less than most funerals, no?
We all make the decision as to where the correct safety operating point is
whether that be the decision to belt or harness, to drive 40 MPH
or 70 MPH, or to chain saw with chain saw pants, or without chain saw pants...
etc etc etc.
Life is risky!
73 and say thanks to a Vet this weekend!
John
K5MO
kb9cry@comcast.n
et To:
john.brewer@us.schneider-electric.com
cc:
towertalk@contesting.com
05/27/2004 03:20 Subject: Re: [TowerTalk]
Belts/Harness legality
PM
You are correct. Spending a couple of hundred dollars on the "proper" safety
equipment when
you only climb once a year may not make sense. Most funerals do cost less than
most tower
installations, so why add to the cost! To me, the second sentence pointedly
indicates why you
do need to spend the money, you only climb the tower once a year and therefore
are not as much
of an expert as one who does it for a living. As one poster mentioned, you
should see the
effects to the human body when only a belt is worn and it arrests a fall. Up
to 5,000 pounds
of force is applied to the body (300 lb. person) when the fall is abruptly
stopped. Shock
absorbing lanyards (the prescursors to bungee jumping) reduce that force to
around 500 pounds
and a properly fitted full body harness distributes that force to the strongest
bones in the
body, i.e. the hips. Hang on and good luck. My full body harness with side
mounted D-rings
only cost me around $75 which is cheap insurance in my book!
. Be safe, Phil KB9CRY
> I don't think there's any law whatsoever (even here in the east!) that
> mandates
> what
> kind of belt to use, or to use one at all on your own property. It may be
> an
> Federal OSHA
> rule
> for commercial outfits, but certainly not for homeowner/hams repairing their
> own
> towers.
> Give the government enough time and they'll find a way to tax and regulate it
> however! :-)
>
> While I agree that a properly outfitted harness/fall arrest system is the way
> to
> go, I'd
> suspect
> that the vast majority of hams use a belt sytem only. This may or may not
> make
> sense if
> you're climbing a tower once in a blue moon.... the risk/reward depends on
> the
> individual
> situation.
>
> As in many situations, how safe you are can depend a lot on how much you can
> afford
> to spend (all other things being equal).
>
> John
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
> Weather
> Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
> and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
> _______________________________________________
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> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
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and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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