Use a good Kermantal rope. No cheap crap. It needs to stretch some or your
hurting.
This place isn't in the US but they have good pics of rope and such so you
can see
the wrappings.
http://www.heightec.com/equipment/general.html
Dave n4zkf
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim Lux
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 11:23 PM
To: Mike Fatchett W0MU
Cc: 'Pat Barthelow'; Untitled; Doug Renwick
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Tower Falls, After the fall/save
Mike Fatchett W0MU wrote:
> You will not be feeling very good after a fall either. You will
> experience a nasty shock when the arrest lines reach their full
> stretch. You could easily hit your head in the fall etc. You will
> probably be in better shape than if you hit the ground though.
> Chances are pretty good the shock will put you out but I could be
> wrong. I have never talked to anyone that has ever had the opportunity to
test their rigging.
I have taken some pretty gnarly falls rock climbing. Yep, hitting the end
of the rope isn't comfortable, but, if it hadn't been there, I wouldn't be
typing this now. No question that safety gear has saved my life more than
once, rock climbing, doing rigging on sets, and riding horses. No question
that better gear makes the whole process less painful, so I'm a believer, in
general. Whether I've taken a fall using full harnesses and walked away
when something less would have resulted in a poorer outcome, I can't say.
And a statistic based on one trial isn't particularly significant anyway. I
might have been lucky.
Sort of like being in car accidents with seatbelts. Been there, done that,
seatbelt was worth it. I have friends whose lives were saved by wearing
seatbelts (after I had given them grief about their not wearing them), even
though they were severely injured (better to break both legs submarining
into the footwell than flying through the windshield, etc.)
So, in general, I'm a believer. But... I'm also a believer that there's no
such thing as absolute safety, and your best bet is to be well informed, and
make the decision for yourself.
{FWIW, when kids are involved, it's a whole 'nother story as far as my
thoughts on risk acceptance... but that's not really a common scenario in
the tower climbing area}
Jim, W6RMK
>
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