[TowerTalk] Climbing Alone

dave@egh.com dave@egh.com
Thu, 11 Dec 1997 13:20:07 EST


Hi,

	Well, Ed's (K4SB) accident certainly has brought out quite a few
comments.  N8JF wondered how many of us climb alone - my bet is probably
an awful lot of us do.  I certainly have done many hours of climbing alone
on my towers.  I just don't have enough ham friends to impose upon for the 
amount of work I've done in the last few years.  My terrific daughter will
help from time to time, but she's married and lives a few miles away, so 
her availability is limited.  My terrific wife would, except she has a great
many physical problems with her fibromyalgia.  I can count on my next door
neighbor in a pinch, but I don't like to bother him too often because he has
spent more than his share of time helping me with many things over the years.

	If you're in the same situation as I am, then I guess the best thing
to do is come up with a plan for safety.  The 2 meter ht or cellular phone
is a good idea, but I don't have either of those.  I do have a set of
common sense rules that I try to follow, perhaps these might be good to
remember (even though they probably seem obvious):

	1. Never climb a wet tower (after a rain storm).  If you
	   are foolish enough to break this rule (as I occasionally have
	   been), remember that doing so will be like walking on ice.
	   Your feet can easily slip on a wet rung, so climb VERY SLOWLY.
	   Move VERY SLOWLY.  If the temperature is below 50 degrees, wear
	   gloves.  The gloves will help keep your hands dry so they won't
	   get cold.  Cold hands tend not to respond quickly when you need
	   then most.  If you find yourself starting to lose the feeling in
	   your fingers, it's past time to head back down.  Don't let the
	   fact that the temperature is above freezing obscure the fact that
	   you may be getting a minor case of frostbite.  Cold wet steel
	   will take the heat out of your fingers very quickly, even at
	   above freezing temperatures.

	2. Never climb an icy tower.  NEVER, NO EXCEPTIONS.

	3. Never climb when the temperature is below 32 degrees.  (Yeah, 
	   I've done that too.)  If you really must, remember that the air
	   never stops moving above the tree levels.  Constant air motion
	   plus cold temperatures very quickly adds up to hypothermia - a
	   truly bad thing to have happen to you while you are on a tower.
	   You must wear very good gloves, and even these will probably not
	   keep your hands terribly warm while constantly gripping cold 
	   steel.  You must be ever so concious of how cold you are getting,
	   and how long it will take you to get down the tower.  Be willing
	   to leave your work partially done and go down the tower if you
	   are geting too cold.  If you wait too long, you may find yourself
	   in a very bad situation.

	4. Never use a come-a-long to lift anything on a tower.  No, I am
	   not making light of Ed's accident.  I have used them on the 
	   ground for pulling/tensioning things, but I could tell that the
	   one I owned was not terribly trustworthy.

	5. Never get yourself in a position where you can't stop what 
	   you're doing if you are overmatched by the job.  We would all
	   prefer not to feel obligated to drop an expensive antenna in 
	   such a situation, so don't get in to a position where you have
	   to choose between the antenna or an injury.  (If you're like
	   many of us, you might be tempted to make the wrong choice!)

	6. When you have a heavy weight hanging on the tower (i.e., an
	   antenna or tower section hanging from a gin pole), make sure
	   you climb the tower on a different side than the one the object
	   is hanging from.  Keeping an eye on it also is good, but if
	   something goes wrong, it will probably come down quicker than
	   you can react.  

	7. When raising a heavy object via gin pole (presumably you are on
	   the ground more or less below the object), spend as much time 
	   looking at the gin pole as you do the object.  A problem 
	   developing at the gin pole is more likely to happen than the 
	   rope coming untied at the object.  Keep an exit route uncluttered
	   and in the back of your mind.  If you have to run quickly, you 
	   don't want to have to stop and think where you are going to run.

I hope I haven't bored too many of you with the obvious.  I have learned to
review these ideas myself before working alone.  Maybe they can be helpful
to others in preventing injuries or death.

73, Dave Clemons K1VUT

--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com
Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search