"buy a lanyard with fall arrest, but the last time I priced them they cost as
much as my whole harness did 10 years ago."
I'm always amazed at some folks who don't understand the bigger picture and the
risks they take.
So for less than $200, you're willing to risk your life?
The reason OSHA specifies that a fall arrest attachment point must be capable
of supporting a 5000 lb load
is that a 300 pound body, when abruptly stopped at the end of a simple lanyard,
will generate 5000 lbs of force.
Even if you're wearing a full body harness (and worse if only a belt) that 5000
lbs of force will most likely kill you.
The shock absorbing lanyard (like a bungee cord) is designed to convert that
force to about 500 lbs felt by the
human.
Coupled with a full body harness, which is designed to transmit those fall
forces down onto the strongest bones in your
body, your hip bones, gives you the best chance to survive a fall arrest.
So being clipped on at all times is just part of the safety equation. If you
fall and are not wearing the proper equipment,
you may not touch the ground but you may just as well end up buried beneath it.
And, free climbing because you are strong and fit and run many miles is just
fine, until........
the wasp bites you and you let go.......or....
until your leg cramps bad.....or
until something else totally unexpected happens.
Most folks don't fall because they wanted to nor did they expect to.
--
Phil Camera, KB9CRY
Lockport, IL
http://nidxa.org/memberWWW/kb9cry_home.htm
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