I believe the problem with sternal attachment is that pulling on the front of
the harness with great force could cause your spine to snap backwards, a
direction in which it's not designed to bend, possibly fracturing vertebrae,
rupturing discs, or worse. Being yanked by the dorsal attachment would likely
cause the spine to bend in the natural forward direction.
You're correct that with dorsal attachment some (not all) falls could result in
your face slamming into the tower. The front edge of a safety helmet could
reduce the chance for injury but probably doesn't eliminate it. But I guess the
experts feel that this possibility is better than breaking one's back.
73, Dick WC1M
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Wilson [mailto:infomet@embarqmail.com]
> Sent: Monday, September 29, 2014 10:46 AM
> To: towertalk
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Climbing
>
> Isn’t this topic about done?
>
> But a new question: I’ve never climbed much and never used a harness at
> all, but I have one now and will use it.
> But isn’t the dorsal attachment of the fall arrest lanyard asking for trouble?
> It seems to me that the usual lanyards are too long and that with the dorsal
> attachment they are very likely to snap tight and slam one’s face into the
> tower when the big stop occurs at the end of the fall?
> It looks like a ventral attachment would be much less likely to produce
> secondary pain/injury, especially if one wore a helmet?
>
> Really, our towers and high work are pretty benign, as far as stress and
> danger go. The Russian kid did fine, but they weren’t even under sail!
> For perspective, ask how many of us could survive this:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUhKBZb7A7c\
> And for some instructive detail and depth, this is worth some time:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7Q_SfMvSMw
> OSHA would have put the sailing ships out of business, if their economics had
> not!
>
> If I ever have a tall tower, it will have the safety cable system, which I
> think is
> far superior to all that hooking and unhooking!
> But I’m likely too old and lazy...
>
> 73,
> Wilson
> W4BOH
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