color coding slings for standard lenghts

[Frans]

Just got this e-mail from a friend.
Any ideas?


To All, I just became the proud owner of a Consew 199R-2A Industrial 3 step zig-zag and universal straight stitch sewing machine. She's a real beauty.

By the subject heading it's very easy figure out what I'm going to do with it.

A color code standard for the common 1" and 2" nylon web slings would greatly simplify my life on the job. As I think it would for a lot of people. It happens nearly every day when I'm hollering down for light rigging slings. I have a petite duffel in the truck with about 40 such slings in it. All different colors and lengths. Red will go anywhere from 1 foot to 4 feet in length. As for all the colors. The person on the ground has to sort through them all to find the lengths I'm calling for.

It all comes out in the end, but it's a detail I've been scratching my head over for some time and thinking why a color code hasn't come to be?

I don't know,,, is their one?

I'm not talking PPE web slings for climbers. Preferential lengths vary too much upon the persons exact gearing and their reach to ever become a standard. Though in the John Howard catalog I did see available by special order "slings with your own custom patterns and colors". Now that would be very fitting for PPE apps.

In the meantime, if any of you know of a color/length standard for the common 1and 2" nylon web slings please let me know.

In the meantime here's a suggestion.

Starting lengths in 6 inch increments from 1 foot to 2 foot. There after, full 1 foot increments up to 6 feet. and using primary colors.

That would give a line up like this. yellow, blue, green, orange, red, purple, Grey?

12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72.



Simple, not complicated As for 2 inch webbing, use the same color scheme.

Hopefully it's a start. Mull it around and let's come up with something.

Thanks and have a Happy New Year, Jerry B

Good news, the Tree House video is done. I will be sending it out to everyone involved with the project. And a few who were not.

Enjoy it!

 

[Lumberjack]

We use a permant marker on the tail of the water knot, or if they're sewn, mark it on the end (of the daisy chain).


Carl

 

[NickfromWI]

A reccomendation....

COLOR CODING ROCKS!!!!! IT SHOULD BE EVERYWHERE!!!!


Okay, I'm glad I got that off my chest. I thought of something that might improve the color coding here. Based on the order given before: yellow, blue, green, orange, red, purple, Grey, there is no way for a new guy (or girl) to know which is longer, red or blue. So if you simply say bring me a really long sling, they still will have to search. (Of course, you could say, "Bring me a GREY sling). If you put the shorties at the beginning end of the rainbow, and get longer as you work toward purple (Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) any person will find it easy to remember which is which.

Frans, can you pass this on to the creator of this idea, along with the standard disclaimers about sewing your own gear (which I do, too! )

love
nick

 

[geofore]

colors

Roy G. Biv Red, orange, yellow, Green, Blue, indigo, violet.

The thing you need to meet federal regs is every strap has to have load limit tag on it. SWL, safe working load. It usually ends up being the ring or hook on some straps limit the safe working load to what the ring or hook can take because the strap can take more.

Standard straps and loopies aren't so hard as they are the safe working limit of the material they are made of. You need to get some tags you can mark with permanant ink and sew on the straps if you are going to pass them on so the guys that use them know the limits of the straps they work with.

If your straps come in one color you can use colored thread to sew them to make the distinction. As with anything you work with inspect it before you use it.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

One convention that I read about on a Search and Rescue forum was to make the short ones start with letters at the beginning of the alphabet. So, blue would be shorter than yellow. Then fill in the middles with the other colors in order. If you used four colors and six inch increments, the blue could be for 24" and then 48". If a groundie couldn't figure which were the "Long Blues" of "Ellbees" they need to go to remedial classes.

Tom

 

[NeTree]

Seems to me if this is THAT much of an issue, you don't need color-coding... you need to get organised. Mine hang from a door in the box. Makes it easy to tell which is which, and keeps them clean and dry.

Who the hell would need 40 slings anyways?

 

[geofore]

color system

This sounds like there is no industry standard (system) out there for color coding for length. That is why the tags are a good idea. You can mark the length on the tags also. While color codes are nice, it would expensive to buy all the colors you might use if you sew your own. The tags are cheaper to use.

 

[Frans]

netree wrote:
"Seems to me if this is THAT much of an issue, you don't need color-coding... you need to get organised. Mine hang from a door in the box. Makes it easy to tell which is which, and keeps them clean and dry."
My answer:
The examples for needing the slings coded for length are so numerous that the argument for having them only stored (and organized) in your truck is illogical to say the least.
How about this off the top of my head: You are working on a tree far away from the truck.
How often does that happen? Every job? No, this argument has little basis in reality.

Who the hell would need 40 slings anyways?
My answer:
Only those folks who are doing alot of takedowns/prunings that need to be roped. Unless of course you are tying off one limb at a time with your rope, waiting for the groundies to get it untied then sent back up and twiddeling your thumbs waiting for the whole process to get done before tying on another limb and repeating the process, unstead of presetting numerous limbs and being ready to set your limbs on line the second it comes back up.(or set limbs on your speed line)
And how did you come up with the number 40 anyways?
I have maybe 1 or 2 dozen and use them all the time.

geofore wrote:
This sounds like there is no industry standard (system) out there for color coding for length. That is why the tags are a good idea.
My answer:
Tags seem like a good idea but consider one of the most fundemental realites of tree work- IT IS DIRTY your little tags will instantly become useless and unreadable after one (ok maybe two) pine/cypress wet tree jobs.
There seems to be NO INDUSTRY STANDARD in this case. Dont you think their should be? Kinda a no brainer dont you think?

geofore also wrote:
The thing you need to meet federal regs is every strap has to have load limit tag on it. SWL, safe working load. It usually ends up being the ring or hook on some straps limit the safe working load to what the ring or hook can take because the strap can take more.
My answer:
Why meet fed regs? the webbing is the same as the store bought ones, the stitching is the same material and method of stitching. If you are more comfortable buying (and paying a premium) no one is adivsing you not to, so go ahead.
My friend is not proposing to sew rings or other hardware into the slings. Just plain slings that is all. Seems like a very good idea to me.
I like the constructive ideas that were posted in reply to this post and will forward them to the owner of this machine...
Thanks
Frans

 

[geofore]

slings

Endless loop or eye to eye is one thing but with the ability to sew, the next step is large and small dee sling, maybe a cambium saver or false croutch or maybe a short one with a snap to hold your saw. It's real easy to take the next step because you can do it with your own machine to sew. I just want to warn you it is the weakest link that sets the rating for the slings. Even with the eye to eye, if you attach a hook or ring be aware of the rating of the hook or ring may be your limiting factor. I do have slings custom made for my work and this is the warning the shop that made them gave me. Be aware of your weakest link.