[TowerTalk] Sad day - W9ZUC tower accident

[David Gilbert]

I regularly climb my 70 foot tower, and I have more than once been to 
the 120 foot level of K9RX's tower when he still lived in Arizona 
(verifying pictures supplied upon request).

I don't care what you think you can do with your free hand ... it isn't 
going to be as reliable as a hook/lanyard that has already been tied 
off.  I'm assuming that your feet aren't prehensile, and if something 
happens beyond your control that rotates your free hand away from the 
tower you become a statistic in exactly SQRT(H/16) seconds after you 
lose your grip, where H equals your height above ground in feet.

Your final question is pretty silly, since such instances typically 
don't get reported any more than the number of lives that have been 
saved by safety belts in vehicle collisions.  I can tell you this, 
though ... every single ham who fell while NOT using a harness suffered 
considerable harm, and there is a not insignificant list of those.

Dave  AB7E




On 9/18/2014 9:29 AM, Doug Renwick wrote:
> Are you talking from experience or just speculating?  When climbing,
> remember I said climbing, my 'free' hand is in close proximity to the tower
> and if anything should happen to my other hand or feet, I can INSTANTLY grab
> the tower with my free hand.  When moving a Gorilla hook your mental focus
> has changed and you only have one hand on the tower.
>
> Also remember I said 'if you can't free climb, you shouldn't be climbing'.
> However you climb, free or assisted, you need to be in physical shape,
> rested, and mentally focused.
>
> Ask 'how many hams have fallen while climbing and have their fall aborted
> with a Gorilla hook and fall arrest harness'?
> Doug
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> Yes, you have indeed said that several times here before, and it was
> just as ignorant a comment then as it is now.  Every time you unhook or
> hook to the tower you only have one hand on the tower ... just exactly
> as you only have one hand on the tower when you reach up while climbing
> ... the difference being whether or not you are hooked in while that
> second hand isn't on the tower.  How you can possibly believe that one
> hand on the tower is safer than one hand on the tower PLUS one hook on
> the tower, or that a free hand not on the tower is more reliable than a
> hook already on the tower, is totally beyond me.
>
> Dave   AB7E
>
>
>
> On 9/17/2014 8:42 PM, Doug Renwick wrote:
>> I have said this many times before.  If you can't 'free climb' then you
>> SHOULD NOT be climbing at all.  The use of a gorilla hook has it's place -
>> for resting or at the work station.  But IMO it should not be used to
> assist
>> the climb!  Every time you have to hook and unhook the gorilla hook it
> means
>> you only have one hand left on the tower.  That to me is unsafe.  With
> free
>> climbing, both hands are available to grab the tower.  If you can't free
>> climb - don't climb.
>> Doug
>>
>
>
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