[Towertalk] Double protection - climbing

[Mark Beckwith]

> You'll be safer if
> you have some sort of lanyard (i.e. the fall arrest lanyard on your fall
> arrest harness) that you can attach above you and then you can climb up to
it
> safely since you'll be attached to the tower 100% of the time you're
trying
> to get around your appurtenances. (You do have a FAH, don't you?)

In my older years as I have used up more and more of my 9 lives, I kid you
not, EVERY time I cross from below the guys to above the guys, (or a yagi),
I am really thankful I adopted a "double protection" practice at my new
station.

When I was young and foolish, I would take the gamble every time.  I try to
avoid that nowadays.

On a related subject, which all day Friday as I put up 10M beams, I was
thinking I should share with the world:

I had the good fortune to visit with a retired professional climber in 1994
as I was putting up large DX Engineering yagis out at N6VI/KH6 (now KH7R)
for a contest we were getting ready for.  He was an older guy who quit his
career after a fall, who, seriously, was touristing out there, spotted us at
work, and stopped by to see what we were doing (can't get it out of your
blood, I guess).

We talked for a while.  ALWAYS one to try and learn from other peoples'
mistakes, here was his mistake, which I think of EVERY TIME I cross past
guys or booms:  As we all know, on a tower, you have to disconnect and
reconnect your main lanyard time after time after time.  This fellow was in
a hurry, and when he re-attached, it was mistakenly to the shank of a large
tool, and not the big belt ring as he thought.  He leaned back and they were
calling the ambulance.

We should all be glad he lived to tell this story.  Anyway, whenever I
reattach, before I unattach the above mentioned double protection, I
visually inspect my main lanyard to assure it is attached to my belt on both
ends.

Thank God I got smarter as I got older.

Have a good holiday everyone, I'm off to help a friend with a 4-square which
I will activate in the Stew.  See you on the air.

Mark, N5OT