I took another look at the Black Diamond Y-lanyard with fall arrest. The
model I saw at the show, which has a better lock-and-release mechanism on
the gorilla hooks, isn¹t available yet. Probably won¹t be until Fall at the
earliest, or more likely Spring.
In thinking it through, I think the downside to shorter lanyards is that you
have you clip/unclip more often. With my Petzl industrial Y-lanyard with
fall arrest, the 6¹ lanyards allow me to climb three rungs before
clipping/unclipping. Shorter lanyard would only allow one or two steps,
right?
73, Dick WC1M
On 8/18/10 6:15 PM, "Roger (K8RI)" <K8RI-on-TowerTalk@tm.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> On 8/18/2010 4:18 PM, Dick Green WC1M wrote:
>> > <snip>
> My opinion:
>> > clipping/unclipping take a lot out of me.
> At my age, more than once they've prevented me from making a full climb
> as my forearms were cramping.
>> > I've also got the beginnings of
>> > osteo arthritis, and sometimes my hands get very stiff after several hours
>> > of working on the tower. They also tend to swell and cramp. The added
>> strain
>> > of clipping and unclipping makes this much worse, reducing my ability to
>> > grip the tower when decending. It's a real safety consideration. As best I
>> > can, I minimize time on the tower to compensate.
>> >
>> > Further, as Dave points out, fall-arrest lanyards can let you fall as much
>> > as 6 feet before you stop. While you won't be stopped with a dangerous
>> yank,
> It's still pretty abrupt.
>> > like you would with a standard lanyard, it's still going to hurt. Also,
>> much
>> > has been written here about the dangers of being suspended in a fall-arrest
>> > lanyard after a debilitating fall. That said, I make it a practice to
>> attach
>> > my fall-arrest lanyards as high above my head as I can reach in order to
>> > minimize any drop. Of course, this may not be feasible when moving around
>> > the tower,
> I hook each on different faces of the tower.
>> > but that problem isn't solved by the cable system either, and
>> > short lanyards are worse.
> With the "squeeze lock" using the thumb to release the lock it's much
> faster and far less fatiguing for old hands.
>> > At first I rejected the idea of Dave's short, non-arrest lanyards. I'm not
>> > convinced that a fall of even a couple of feet without a shock absorber
>> > would not result in injury.
> It depends on the individual and each is a group of tradeoffs.
> With the short fall you are less likely to be injured on/from the
> tower. Conversely the long fall arrest lanyards are more likely to cause
> injury from the tower itself. Either way you are playing the odds.
> However how your body handles the stop depends on your physical shape
> and how well the "full body harness" fits. Overweight is not conclusive
> to surviving drops uninjured. I've stopped far quicker than what a 3
> foot fall would present and I was not hurt. OTOH it was not something
> I'd do for fun. As a note, I've never fallen while working on a
> tower...yet. My towers don't have pegs, but you can still chin your
> self on the cross braces, or pick your nose on the leg bolts. Both are
> hard on body parts and messy.
>
> <snip>
>
> My preference would be the short lanyards with fall arrest, but I must
> emphasize that it a personal preference.
>
> 73
>
> Roger (K8RI)
>
>
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