I dunno, Dan. There are thousands of things in life it makes sense to save a
few dollars on, but I don't think fall protection should be one of them. If
you aren't willing to use a double lanyard or two gorilla hooks to keep
yourself clipped to the tower at ALL times (actually, a very inexpensive way
to go), then the commercial cable FPS with a one-way sliding ratchet
mechanism, clipped CLOSE to your fall harness, seems to me to be the right
way. Besides, a dead fall (no pun intended) of 10' plus lanyard length will
accelerate your bod to a very unforgiving stop, likely slapping you upside
the head or body with several thousand pounds of tower. Recovering from a
fall and climbing back down with a broken arm or shoulder might not be much
fun, either. Having to unclip/reclip every 10' would give me the willies,
but then I'm basically old and chicken where towers are concerned. Being
unattached at ANY time is something I just won't do, it momentarily reduces
my mental comfort level to near zero. I seem to recall something about there
being no old, bold pilots... :-) I wish you brave young fellers out there
the best of luck.
73, Jerry W5KP
----- Original Message -----
From: Dan Levin <djl@andlev.com>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2001 11:53 PM
Subject: [TowerTalk] Safety Device for Trylon Tower?
> I am putting up a T400-80 Trylon 80 foot freestanding
> tower in a few weeks. I'd like to be as safe as
> possible when climbing it, but I am also a cheap
> SOB. So I am thinking about installing a very simple
> fall protection system.
>
> My idea is to take 6 pieces of 1/4"x2"x2" or so angle
> iron, and drill a 1/2" hole about 2" from one end. I
> would bolt these pieces horizontally onto 2 legs of
> the tower about every 10 feet, with the end with the
> hole sticking out from the tower 6" or so and with
> the hole facing up and down. Then I would attach one
> end of an 80 foot long piece of 1/4" wire rope to the
> top of the tower, and thread it down through the
> holes in the pieces of angle iron and then attach it
> to the bottom of the tower. So I would have a wire
> rope running up the tower, spaced off the tower 6" by
> these pieces of angle iron every 10 feet.
>
> The idea is that I would clip my fall arrest lanyard
> to the wire rope as I climb up or down. Every 10
> feet, I would come to one of the pieces of angle
> iron, and I would have to unclip from the wire rope
> on one side of the iron and re-clip to the wire rope
> on the other side. Other than that, while I am
> climbing the lanyard clasp would just slide on the
> wire rope.
>
> If I fall, the lanyard clasp would slide down the
> wire rope until it got to the nearest piece of angle
> iron where it would stop. The angle iron would catch
> the lanyard, and the lanyard would arrest my fall.
> In essence, I would be clipped in to the next lowest
> angle iron. My fall would never be more than 10 feet
> plus the length of my lanyard.
>
> Does this make any sense at all? It would be cheap
> (1/4" stainless cable is pretty cheap, and so is the
> angle) and doesn't require any special 'trolley' or
> ratchet to work. It seems like it would be
> effective, and I am much more likely to use it than I
> am to clip on to the tower itself every 4'.
>
> Thoughts? Suggestions? Am I crazy? Is every 10'
> too often - can I get away with every 20'?
>
> Thanks much as always,
>
> ***dan, K6IF
>
> List Sponsor: Are you thinking about installing a tower this summer? Call
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> 96-feet for less than $2000! at 888-833-3104 <A
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>
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>
List Sponsor: Are you thinking about installing a tower this summer? Call us
for information on our fabulous Trylon Titan self-supporting towers - up to
96-feet for less than $2000! at 888-833-3104 <A
HREF="http://www.ChampionRadio.com";>
www.ChampionRadio.com</A>
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