[TowerTalk] Safe Climbing was Re: Roswell Tower Accident

[Pete Smith]

I understand, Dick, but my fall-arrest -- sold as such by Klein -- doesn't 
have a shock absorber either.  At some point I may bite the bullet and buy 
a y-lanyard with fall arrest, but the last time I priced them they cost as 
much as my whole harness did 10 years ago.

I only started climbing a decade ago, and one of the things my mentor 
stressed, even over hardware specifics, was to think through every step in 
the project before you set foot on the tower, and then approach the actual 
work in the same deliberate fashion (looking at the hook after you snap it 
on, testing it with your weight while looking at it before you release your 
hand-hold, etc.

73, Pete N4ZR



At 01:06 AM 10/25/2007, you wrote:
>Pete,
>
>A positioning lanyard shouldn't be used for fall-arrest. It has no shock
>absorber. If you fall and get pulled up short by the positioning lanyard,
>you could get seriously injured. Better to use two fall-arrest lanyards or a
>Y-lanyard.
>
>73, Dick WC1M
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Pete Smith [mailto:n4zr at contesting.com]
> > Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 8:42 PM
> > To: Kelly Johnson; TowerTalk
> > Subject: [TowerTalk] Safe Climbing was Re: Roswell Tower Accident
> >
> > I use two lanyards attached to my full harness at the fall-arrest D-
> > ring in
> > the middle of the back.  I attach one above my head, climb up to the
> > point
> > where I can just barely reach down to it, and then attach the other one
> > above my head.  I then detach the bottom one, climb, and repeat the
> > process.  In my case, I use my positioning lanyard as one of the two.
> > When
> > I get where I need to work, I make sure the fall-arrest lanyard is
> > firmly
> > attached - look at it and yank on it - and then move the positioning
> > lanyard to my hip D-rings.
> >
> > To my mind, though, what you specifically do is a lot less important
> > than
> > your mind-set -- never forgetting that, whether at 30 feet or 200, a
> > fall
> > will probably be fatal, so always double-check everything.
> >
> > 73, Pete N4ZR
> >
> > At 08:25 PM 10/24/2007, Kelly Johnson wrote:
> > >My climbing experience is limited to heights of about 30 feet or so,
> > >but regardless I'd like to understand the proper way of climbing up a
> > >tower while remaining connected at all times.  When people start their
> > >climb at the ground, how do they attach to the tower while climbing?
> > >Do they have a safety cable permanently mounted to the tower or do
> > >they clip a cable as high as they can reach, climb beyond it, clip
> > >another as high as they can reach, and so forth or what?
> > >
> > >On 10/24/07, Bill Turner <dezrat at copper.net> wrote:
> > > > ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
> > > >
> > > > On Wed, 24 Oct 2007 04:08:48 +0000, n7ka at comcast.net wrote:
> > > >
> > > > >AT NO TIME SHOULD WE NOT BE ATTACHED SECURELY TO THE TOWER.
> > > >
> > > > ------------ REPLY FOLLOWS ------------
> > > >
> > > > I know you are right, but I have seen tower climbing professionals
> > who
> > > > climb a tower with no safety line connected at all, and only hook
> > up
> > > > when they are in place ready to work.
> > > >
> > > > If the professionals are so lacking in concern, what hope is there
> > for
> > > > us amateurs? I guess after you climb a few hundred towers with no
> > > > accidents, you become immortal.
> > > >
> > > > My rule is to always have two connections to the tower: Either my
> > > > safety line plus one hand, or two safety lines. I never trust only
> > one
> > > > safety connection, ever.
> > > >
> > > > 73, Bill W6WRT
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
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> > > >
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