[TowerTalk] Fall Arrest Harness arrest experience

[Roger (K8RI)]

jimlux wrote:
> Drax Felton wrote:
>   
>> As I was working on my tower today I was thinking these questions:
>>
>> Has anyone ever fallen and been "arrested" by their harness?
>> If so, what was the outcome?  
>>
>> This is a serious question:
>> Did the harness crush your male anatomy? Or did it grab around your thighs?
>>
>> Did you smack into the side of the tower?
>> How painful was it?
>>
>>
>>     
> While not on a tower, I've fallen in a variety of situations wearing a 
> variety of fall restraints, ranging from a 70s era "swami belt" to a 
> modern harness.
>
> No, the harness does not castrate you. (I did take a leader fall when 
> rock climbing and landed straddling the exceedingly taut  rope from my 
> belayer, and that was mighty painful)
>
> Yes, you smack into stuff, and depending on how far you fall, this can 
> be inconvenient, to a pretty good whack.
>
> Unless  you're on one of those nifty spring loaded/hydraulic things like 
> they use on climbing walls, falling any distance and then stopping is 
> going to either pendulum you into something, or bring you up short.
>
> The idea of fall protection isn't to make it totally painless and hassle 
> free, but to avoid you being killed or injured.
>   
I'd phrase that a bit differently but agree in principal.  The goal is 
to avoid being killed and to minimize the potential for serious injury.
There are no absolute guarantees.  If the climber is over weight or out 
of shape they are more likely to be injured even wearing the safety 
equipment. The more over weight and the more out of shape the more 
likely they are to be injured and more seriously even with the safety 
equipment bending the odds in their favor. Also the safety equipment has 
to be properly rigged while wearing in addition to being properly 
maintained.

If the week end climber falls even with the best of gear they probably 
aren't going to call it a fun experience.
Never treat that safety equipment as a safety net that allows you to 
take chances you wouldn't without it.

Then there is that adrenalin rush. <:-))

Roger (K8RI)

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