[TowerTalk] Fall Harness-My Choice

[D Calder]

As Jim said below.....

Buy and install a safety climb. Maybe from Tuf-tug.

http://www.tuf-tug.com/sc.htm

I try to make sure every one of my towers has one on it.


73 Dave n4zkf
n4zkf at n4zkf.com
www.n4zkf.com




-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim Thomson
Sent: Saturday, August 14, 2010 3:33 AM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] Fall Harness-My Choice

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:38:54 -0700
From: David Gilbert <xdavid at cis-broadband.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Fall Harness-My Choice

I have an AN Wireless HD-70 freestanding tower with the foot pegs ... 
slippery enough to require caution when wet, but not treacherous.  I climb
with a full body harness with two relatively short safety straps, neither of
which are fall arrest lanyards.  Each safety strap has a self-locking
gorilla hook on the end (required because of the large steel cross braces on
the tower), and one or the other hook is ALWAYS attached to a cross brace as
I climb.  I even have a third strap and gorilla hook coming from a separate
belt around my waist that I affix to the tower while I am working.

The hooks I use are made from a high strength aluminum alloy ... very light
and extremely strong. *http://tinyurl.com/25dns9a*

In general, I'm afraid of heights but don't feel ill at ease on the tower
with this system.  If I die falling from it, it will be because I was
stupid.

##  That method will work... but makes foe slow climbing up/down the tower.
Plus you are continually  having to  hook/unhook the L/R gorilla hooks...
which means you have one hand off the pegs 99% of the time.  

## That  3/8" safety winch cable scheme that both Trylon and  AN Wireless
have for  those types of towers works superb.   The safety cable  sits a few
inch's
from the tower leg... in between the  foot pegs.    You hook onto the
cable.. and now you
never have your hands off the foot pegs..while climing UP.    When coming
down, you have to
hit the sprinloaded rls... and slide the safety device /grabber  down a
couple of feet.. then climb down some more... slide it down again etc.  

##  IF you slipped and fell, the grabber will lock onto the 3/8"  cable, and
ur going no where. IMO, you are much safer this way, not having to
constantly hook/unhook  alternating L/R gorilla hooks.
However, if gorilla hooks used, TWO of them, like you have, is much safer
than just one.  At least with 2 of em, you are assured that you ar tethered
to the tower at all times by at least one hook. 

##  all the safety cable amounts to is  3/8"   winch cable with
single/double nicropress crimps at top
end... and a  spring loaded tensioning device at the bottom end... to keep
the cable taut.  Nobody ever broke 3/8" winch/aircraft cable, when falling
6".. b4 it grabs. 

Later... Jim  VE7RF       





73,
Dave   AB7E
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