I would characterize climbing Trylon Titan towers (with L shaped members and
open U shaped legs) as somewhat less easy and comfortable than climbing Rohn
type towers with tubular members, but not unacceptably so. Some thoughts:
1) It is much harder to hold on to the legs and cross braces of a Tryon
tower because your hand is wrapped around a thin (and thus sharp) edge,
rather than around a tube with no sharp edges.
2) It is easier to stand on the "horizontal" members because they have a
flat top, which are wider than the round members of a Rohn type tower.
3) It is harder to stand on the cross braces because there are no truly
horizontal members, as there are on some round member towers - so your foot
is always standing on a slope and can slip.
4) It is easier to work on the Trylon tower because generally speaking, they
move around much less than Rohn type towers do (in wind and such, although
they certainly do sway in the wind).
5) It is harder to attach a safety harness to a Trylon tower, because most
typical clips aren't big enough to clip on to a Trylon's wider members.
6) It is harder to work on a Trylon tower because the face size changes
(gets smaller) as you go up the tower, and so you need a different size
positioning lanyard. I generally use just one size, but I put it around
just two legs when I am lower down, and around all three legs when I am
higher up.
All that said, I climb my Trylon T500-72 all the time. I do it using a
permanently installed safety cable that runs along one face of the tower. I
clip an automatic following rope grab to my safety cable, and thus I don't
have to clip and un-clip when I move around. I also don't have to use a
gorilla clip to fit the Trylon's larger members, because I clip on to the
cable grab instead. I strongly recommend the installation and regular use
of a permanent fall protection system for hams who climb their towers. It
isn't expensive compared to the cost of the project, and it is _much_ safer.
If you are going to build a Trylon in the air, rather than on the ground,
then investing in a good harness with a "Y" safety lanyard with two large
gorilla clips is mandatory. I would also suggest a rope positioning
lanyard, I think I use a 3' one and it works well.
***dan, K6IF
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