[TowerTalk] Sad day - W9ZUC tower accident

[Doug Renwick]

I have been climbing, free climbing, for 40 years.  I never kept track; I
probably have easily made at least 1000 climbs or more as a ham operator in
that period.

If you can't free climb, you shouldn't climb at all.  Read what I said.
However you climb, if you can't free climb, you shouldn't be climbing.  I am
not suggesting that you should free climb (that is a personal choice) ... I
am saying that if you are incapable of free climbing, stay on the ground.

Doug

I wasn't born in Saskatchewan, but I got here as soon as I could.

-----Original Message-----


On Thu,9/18/2014 9:46 AM, Doug Renwick wrote:
> One of my short lanyards had locking mechanisms on the hook.  What I found
> with experience is the locking mechanisms were more of a hazard than
> without.  I found them so difficult to unhook with one hand.
> My practice is to pay attention to your hooks to make sure you are locked
in
> and always, always test your belt to make sure it is going to hold before
> you let your hands go.

Note what Doug is saying -- he DOES climb with safety gear. What he said 
about free climbing was for shock value (I hope). :)

None of us is Superman, we're all getting older, our bodies fail us. A 
few years ago, I was standing in my kitchen, felt faint, and collapsed 
onto the floor. K4XS has described a similar event when he was on a 
tower. He was hooked up, so he's alive to tell the tail, and I was too 
close to the floor to get hurt.

Free climbing is for fools.

73, Jim K9YC


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