Hold on to your seats

[ka1bwo]

Just wait for the cartoon intro to finish, then hold on to your seat!

 

                            http://www.liveleak.com/e/07b_1284580365

[K6JEK]

I couldn't watch the thing to the end.  Maybe I need a smaller screen.  Is he really  doing most of the climbing un-clipped?

[W1ATR]

I couldn't watch the thing to the end.  Maybe I need a smaller screen.  Is he really  doing most of the climbing un-clipped?

Yeah I popped it up on my 37" LCD. Rumor around the interwebs say that vid raised a stink with tower companies because he free climbs all his jobs. The video was supposed to be pulled, but not soon enough and it got copied and posted all over the place. His reasoning is/was that it takes too long to hook/unhook all the way up. My reasoning says he either has a death wish or a base jumpers chute on his back.

[Opcom]

I'm seeing if I can save a copy and watch offline. The PC does not work right for watching anything online, it is too slow. That climb is amazing.

[WBear2GCR]

That's nothing... there is a guy, French iirc, I was just reading about him in a 2009 New Yorker mag at the doc's office this afternoon - he has climbed the exteriors of a dozen or more of the tallest buildings in the world!! Free climbing.

Holy Cheet Batman!!

                    _-_-bear

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alain_Robert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B1jOlSnoKQ

[WBear2GCR]

...and, while we're at it... on top of that tower is a mast. The mast looks like it is free standing at the top. The video shows a flange with bolts. THAT is going to hold that thing in place?? Are there any guys up the mast section??

And another thing... how the heck did they get the mast UP on top of the tower in the first place?? No way did they use a crane along side?? Geez!

                        _-_-bear

[K1JJ]

...and, while we're at it... on top of that tower is a mast. The mast looks like it is free standing at the top. The video shows a flange with bolts. THAT is going to hold that thing in place?? Are there any guys up the mast section??

Look at the cross sectional area of the flange bolt pattern at the mast base vs: the diameter of the mast. It's just like a continuation of the mast into the platform. Free-standing towers do the same thing for each leg, though they may be bigger and use multiple legs.

And another thing... how the heck did they get the mast UP on top of the tower in the first place?? No way did they use a crane along side?? Geez!

Using a LONG steel cable and winch at the base  - and a pulley at the top, anything can be hauled up. At the top they use a very strapping gin pole, much like a tower section that bolts to the side of the tower and extends up and above the tower to hold the pulley. This lets them swing the mast in place and then bolt it on with little man-handling or trouble.


Yep, that free climbing thing - as we discussed once before, every tower should have a climbing cable going up the side that lets a climber clip on and arrest his fall just like an elevator brake. I use one on all of my towers here. Don't leave the ground without it. Nowadays I refuse to climb anyone else's tower if they don't have one. Free climbing is for geikos.
T

[WBear2GCR]

VuVu,

That climbing cable, is it stainless?
Regular climbing rope I am told does not want to be left outside??

Got any links to that system??

Think I looked at it some years back, but I can't quite recall if it was bandied about here or not...? 

As far as the flange, I am thinking more about the forces on the welded area, the embrittlement due to the weld and "yeah, so?" why doesn't that section bend like a noodle up there??

Kool beans on the winch and gin pole bit, glad someone else got that job!!

                   _-_-bear

[k4kyv]

Tom, do you actually keep a special climbing cable permanently attached to the tower, running all the way from top to bottom?  It was always my understanding that the fall arrest cable was something that you clipped to the rungs of the tower above your head, and that you moved it up as you advanced up the tower, so that you were always attached to the tower either with the fall arrest cable or with one or more lanyards. I would be afraid of the climbing cable or its hardware deteriorating over time and something failing at the top, unbeknownst to me as I climbed up the tower. I could see the advantage of installing a permanent cable if you plan to frequently climb the tower, or installing a semi-permanent one in the case of doing a job that required repeated trips up the tower but taking it down as the last step after the job was completed. I don't think I would trust my life with one that had been rusting away unused in the weather for 8 years since the last time I had climbed the tower.

When I put up my tower, I had never heard of a fall arrest cable, but I used two separate lanyards so that whenever I had to disconnect the main one I had the other one firmly in place keeping me attached 100% of the time.  IMO, it is far too dangerous to disconnect the lanyard and free climb around a set of guys.

[WD8BIL]

And another thing... how the heck did they get the mast UP on top of the tower in the first place?? No way did they use a crane along side?? Geez!

Using a LONG steel cable and winch at the base  - and a pulley at the top, anything can be hauled up. At the top they use a very strapping gin pole, much like a tower section that bolts to the side of the tower and extends up and above the tower to hold the pulley. This lets them swing the mast in place and then bolt it on with little man-handling or trouble.

On towers of that height they use a helicopter!


http://www.ericksonaircrane.com/videos.php

[K1JJ]

Yep, you're right, Budley, they Do use a helicopter nowadays. I'm still thinking old school where we once installed a feedline all the way up a 600'er. The guy used his rear truck rim as the winch. We got the job done though...

Don, the fall cable I used is galvanized 5/16" stranded aircraft-type cable. I have a STRONG steel bracket 6" sticking out at the top and bottom with a turnbuckle to stretch it permanently on the tower, top to bottom. Has not gotten rusted in any way after 5 years now. You need to match the cable diameter to the fall arrest buckle that attaches to the climbing harness to work properly. When acending, the buckle slides smoothly. When decending slowly it slides - but if you have an abrupt acceleration or jog of the buckle, it locks onto the cable. Works VERY FB.

There is a company in Canada that makes the buckle in stainless steel for about $125. I posted the details here years go - will see if I can look it up and repost.

So bottom line, buy the cheapest 5/16" aircraft cable you can find and get the fall buckle and you're golden. You can quickly disconect and connect the buckle to whatever tower you wish to climb.

Make sure the buckle sits at about your belly button when you climb for easiest operation. You can usually climb a guyed Rohn 45 without unbuckling for the guys if you position the cable correctly between guys in the first place.


Use a "gorilla " clip at your belt buckle to clip on once at the desired level. The fall arrest device clips on to the "X" at the center of your chest and has a 24" leader that uses a "controlled" fall sling belt. If you fall, you have additional cushion after the arrest snaps on.

Let me look for the link and I'll repost it...

T

Here it is:

http://amfone.net/Amforum/index.php?topic=7011.0

http://www.westernsafety.com/msaroseproducts/msafallprotec10.html

[Ed/KB1HYS]

Well, I'm not a pro, but I could see using the same system we do in rock climbing. hook in at ground level, your belay man runs your line, and you snap in every so many feet with a carabiner.  I've tested that system on some fairly high cliffs, works FB.  At the most you fall the distance to you last placed carabiner, which shouldn't be to far. If you stop, you clip in right there. 

The downside is it requires a person on the ground to handle the line.

[K1JJ]

Yep, I'll bet it would work FB for rock climbing.

Don, I should mention that I did not use any additional supports along the tower legs for the cable. My cable runs up 190' on two towers without them, just secured at the top and bottom. They show in some pics a bracket every 30' or so. This is supposedly for wind and stability, but I just bolted the cable at the top and bottom and tightened it up wid a big turnbuckle.  This way there is no need to fuss with the thing every 30'.

Besides, what's the difference if the cable sways ever so slightly in the wind? You could actually leave the bottom of the cable free and let it swing and if you fell it would do the same job. The heavy cable keeps itself pretty straight anyway.  Just a way to save some more $.

T

[WBear2GCR]

Do you use a "springie thingie" with it?

I can see using one inline with ur belt - I think I have a belt or two with the attachments that have "springy" weaves for shock absorption...

They show a bracket on top that is supposed to be springy, that makes me nervous - if I had that, I'd at minimum have a deadman safety shunting that...

                   _-_-bear

[K1JJ]

Yes, in line with my fall arrest clip-on is a controlled fall strap that will unravel about 4' to slow the descent more easily.   A sudden stop can break ribs, backs or hurt organs, even with a full body harness.

Yep, that top spring they show should have a hard shunt just in case...

Y

[steve_qix]

I don't know --- death wish --- maybe not.  My brother in law is a high steel worker (retired now at 60), and he walked (or did walk) narrow beams at 50 stories, ride up on a beam being hoisted by a crane, etc. - all freehand.  I don't remember him ever talking about guys falling.  Some people can just do that sort of thing. 

Apparently a big danger is from falling objects - other steel workers dropping tools, bolts, etc.  He does tell one story about dropping a tool which fell about 3 stories down onto another worker.  He didn't yell a warning because he knew the guy below would look up and take the tool right in the face.  The tool hit the hardhat and the guy's collarbone - which broke - and my brother in law helped the fellow down off the building.

Interestingly, my brother in law cannot fly in any sort of aircraft - he gets very sick to his stomach.  Probably due to his accute sense of balance developed over a lifetime of high steel work.

He has a lot of good steel worker stories - and apparently there's a lot of drinking amongst the workers after hours, but never any stories about anyone falling.

[4cx250]

Hello All!

     I think that you would hurt more falling 20 feet, vs 2000 feet. At 2000, you wouldn't feel a thing when you hit bottom!

     With my luck, I would get all the way up there, and find out that I forgot a screwdriver or something!

Tnx,

[W2PFY]

I think that you would hurt more falling 20 feet, vs 2000 feet. At 2000, you wouldn't feel a thing when you hit bottom!

I wonder why people scream on the way down? Your going to die anyway so if your given ten seconds to live, why not take up poetry?

[W2VW]

Or at least do the net preamble.

I think that you would hurt more falling 20 feet, vs 2000 feet. At 2000, you wouldn't feel a thing when you hit bottom!

I wonder why people scream on the way down? Your going to die anyway so if your given ten seconds to live, why not take up poetry?

[K1JJ]

I wonder why people scream on the way down?

They probably figure time's a-flying so might as well go out having an orgasm.


T

[4cx250]

Hello All!

     If you yell on the way down, and run of lung capacity, do you take another deep breath, and yell all the way down?


Tnx,