[TowerTalk] Old safety belt

[Roger (K8RI)]

K7LXC at aol.com wrote:
>  
> In a message dated 2/2/2009 9:02:22 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
> towertalk-request at contesting.com writes:
>
>   
>>  I was climbing yesterday and it occurred to me that I was  using quite an  
>>     
> old 
> belt. Its a W2ONV belt which I think was  purchased in the seventies. It  
> still looks like new but its not. Any  comments from the list on wheather 
> this  
> belt is still safe ? The  belt is a waist belt with the one lanyard. Oh, just 
>  
> found the date,  its 3-81, model is 246.
>
>
>     Well, as long as it and the lanyard are not  leather and they don't have 
>   

I have two set ups. One a Kline Free floating belt is made of leather, 
BUT the working parts are Neoprene impregnated nylon and at 40 years 
it's still strong. Of course it has to pass an inspection, but it's 
still passing, or did about 6 years ago so it's past time.  Typically I 
use this only when working close to the ground and more interested in 
convenience and freedom.  Normally I use a full body harness with two 
fall arrest lanyards off a single pack.

One thing I'd like to see them do is something other than carabiners 
(which require a pull and twist to open) on the fall arrest lanyards or 
at least on the tag lines.. I much prefer the squeeze  (on both sides) 
to release hooks on the Kline system.  They are much easier to use with 
one hand, but can not be released by leaning against them. 
> any obvious damage, then they're probably  fine but a 27 year old piece of 
> safety equipment might be worth replacing.  
>   
If it's certified which I doubt the W2ONV was, you can have them 
checked.  OTOH that doesn't come for free.
Depending on the job and environment a lot of climbing gear gets pitched 
at the end of it's useful life. Never, ever use this stuff. They throw 
it away for a reason.

However the less expensive equipment is not worth the cost of 
recertifying even if it is capable of such.  Often t he cost is so close 
or even less that replacing it just makes sense. 

As I used to work in areas with relatively high concentrations of HCL 
and "other good stuff" we used Nylon gear and disposed of it yearly.  As 
I'm...OK... was only 5'7" and 140# * back* *then* they didn't have any 
equipment that fit me properly. I finally gave up trying to convince the 
bosses that improperly fitting equipment was dangerous.  So the next day 
I brought in my own which was better than theirs (as well as more 
expensive)  Two days later I was presented with my own belt and harness. 
<:-))    Technically what I did was against the rules, but I wasn't at 
all worried about being fired.  Had the State and Feds taken one look at 
what they were having me wear, what my own equipment consisted of, and 
their reluctance to provide me with the proper gear my fortune would 
have been made and the company would have been in deep doggie do because 
of the actions of a few bosses that were contrary to company policy.
> Almost everyone nowadays has abandoned safety  belts for fall arrest 
> harnesses (FAH) that'll catch you much safer than a  safety belt will. 
>  
>   
I would add that non climbers or the occasional climber still should use 
good gear, but be aware of the harnesses that let you set down.  Some of 
them are likely to reduce circulation in your legs and the temptation is 
to take the most comfortable position when working "up there". Should 
you sit too long and then stand up, about the time all that "old blood" 
that had pooled in your legs makes it to your lungs it's not uncommon to 
get very light headed. Some even pass out. Like long trips in an 
airplane, it's not good to stay in one position for long, particularly 
when a band it squeezing the circulation off in each leg.  It's a great 
way to pass out or even worse, develop clots in the legs.  Although 
rare, this has been a serious safety issue with climbers.  Having been 
out of climbing except my own towers I've lost track of how OSHA views 
this at present.

Casual and non climbers going up towers scare me. I've mentioned before 
that one of the most time consuming and hard work jobs I ever had was to 
get a fairly young guy down off a tower and he wasn't all that far up.  
The previous week I'd been working on the repeater antenna using my 
harness for support while standing on the tower which put my body 
horizontal. That put me into position with my face directly under the 
base of the side mounted antenna and made the job much easier.  It was a 
nice calm day and I remember hearing a conversation from below where 
some one make the remark "I gotta go home, I can't watch this". Had I 
slipped it would have hurt, but I was well secured to the tower complete 
with safety gear.  I think it was about one or two weeks later some one 
got the idea if the "old guy" could do that they could certainly just go 
up and secure coax.  That was until they looked down. (I wish he'd have 
looked sooner <G>) I wouldn't have had to do so much work to get him down.

I view it this way.  If a ham is not a climber, don't start! Or if you 
must, get some training and good gear.
If you are a casual climber, make sure you have good gear, AND 
*exercise* enough to be in good shape.  Plan on being in good enough 
shape to spend between 4 to 8 hours up there. You may not plan on 
staying up there any where near that, but if in good enough shape to do 
that, then a couple of hours should be fine. Typically the most 
dangerous part is staying up too long and becoming fatigued to the point 
of having problems climbing down. This can be a dangerous problem even 
on 50 or 60' towers let alone the taller ones.  It's much like shoveling 
snow.  Most of us seldom do it so we over do the first couple of times.

73

Roger (K8RI)
> Cheers,
> Steve    K7LXC
> Champion Radio Products
> Purveyor of OSHA approved safety equipment
> Cell: 206-890-4188
>
>
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