My tower climbing is modest. Most of my experience comes from rock climbing.
In the rock climbing world, there is a lot of information sharing, accidents,
what works, what doesn't etc.
There's very little macho posturing, I think because there's it's a sport that
accepts risk and wants to manage it, not
brag about it.
But I find I don't trust the opinions of any hams. Like I can't imagine a
conversation about the side loading of pelican
hooks and new standards with a ham. Or the benefits of a webbing wrap for a tie
off, as opposed to a metal hook. Or how
a bad clip can cause a torquing action that opens the gate on a biner/hook.
I think the reality is that safe standard practices for tower climbing are only
really just emerging in the last 10
years or so. (and gear). And people haven't adapted to it widely. As far as I
can tell. Yet there's all these folks
lecturing about "the right way" ?? I don't believe they're doing it "the right
way" ! Maybe they are? (how old is their
gear though?)
How many people would feel comfortable with jumping off the tower after they're
tied off? If not, then that's a problem
right?
If I look at the construction of most towers (25g like), and you want to get a
good connect point to the tower leg,
without just clipping to the bracing, and without side loading of a pelican
hook, (which some of the older ones only
tolerate 350 lbs side loading) ...how do you do it?
Me: I always use webbing loops on the tower and clip in with biners. This is
similar to the tie-back lanyard usage.
But it's an example of why these tower climbing discussions seem like a waste:
People don't want to talk about actual
details, because they're worried about liability. And people don't want to
acknowledge that standards and practices have
changed (and the gear has changed).
As an example: the ANSI Z359.1.2007 upgraded the requirements for side loading
on hooks and carabiners. So this tells me
that if you have gear from before 2007, and you're someone who wants to talk
about "rules" ..well you're using gear that
doesn't follow the rules...right?
* Gate face must withstand a load of 3,600 lbs.---up from 220 lbs.
* Side of gate must withstand a load of 3,600 lbs.---up from 350 lbs.
* Minor Axis of a snap hook or carabiner, except those with captive eyes,
must withstand 3,600 lbs.---new to standard
* Tensile load for the snap hook or carabiner must withstand 5,000
lbs.---same as old standard
-kevin
ad6z
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