Sad, but worth talking about to prevent more mishaps... After reading about the tower accident and death of W0AIH, I figured it was time to make another post about installing a fall- arrest system on our towers.
There are many ways to die climbing. One is to fall, another is to have a heart attack due to over-exertion, another is to hang too long from a harness cutting off blood to leg arteries = stroke, heavy pipes or antennas or other things falling on us, etc.... and there are more ways to die up there. It really can be a dangerous job -
even climbing a 30' tower! This is about protecting for the FALL aspect of climbing.
I'd like to post the threads of past discussions about installing a simple fall-arrest wire cable that attaches the length of the tower and addresses the falling danger aspect. It works by buckling a sliding device to the vertical cable that slides along as we climb. If the device senses a rapid increase in velocity (fall) it locks and we are safely stopped in mid air within the body harness. The optional shock absorber on the halyard is a great option and you only need one on the harness. (I use one here) It unfolds in a controlled, softer manner in case of a fall. There is also a shock absorber for each tower cable if desired.
It is also important to discard the old fashioned waist harnesses and buy a nylon FULL-BODY harness to give the proper distributed support. Waist harnesses can kill by damaging internal organs during a fall due to the concentration of forces around the waist area.. Use a SHORT 5" diameter gorilla hook at the waist for fast clip-on.
About 15 years ago I installed a fall-arrest cable on each of the five towers and bought a full body harness. I use the SAME body harness and SAME fall arrest device on all towers. Believe me, after climbing with this system I would NEVER consider free-climbing again. You can install the whole system and body harness for under $500 if you fabricate your own cable and bracket system.
I just spent a day putting up the new BCB antenna wire on two of my towers and climbing is as safe as you can get with this system.
Check it out:
http://www.westernsafety.com/products/msaroseproducts/msafallprotec10.htmlhttp://amfone.net/Amforum/index.php?topic=36153.0http://amfone.net/Amforum/index.php?topic=26962.0Best,
Tom, K1JJ