Tom Dunlap
Addicted to ArboristSite
Time to pull this thread out of the "Favorite rope" arena.
Yesterday I was at a Best Buy store and saw a small forklift in the aisle. There was an overhead cage above the platform where the operator would stand. Attached to the cage was a fall restariant system. A waist belt with a d in the back, a double locking snap attached to flat webbing. The webbing went into a spring loaded reel that operates like a seat belt spool. Inertia lockup. An overhand knot had been tied in the webbing to let the belt hang at a comfortable height or so that the operator wouldn't feel the tug of the recoil. What caught my eye was the knot...hmmm...that is tied sloppy...I wonder if that is a factory knot...When I looked at the webbing, this is what was printed on it, "Do not tie knots in webbing." Printed on both sides, endlessly. When I looked closely at the knot I could see the words "Do not..." poking out. Arbos aren't the only ones who don't understand safety.
Those old non-locking snaps make nice clips for small trailers.
A climber at out chapter TCC had a rope that was pretty crusty for about fifteen feet, in the middle of the rope. The fellow who was doing the gear inspection is young, but knows the ropes [he worked for me for three years
] He asked three other judges if the rope was OK and all three said no without even a second of thought. The climber came up and started sqwauking about "only" using it in the footlock. And this climber is an instructor within the company that he works for!!! He started to get testy and the judges reminded him to act professionally or face disqualification. He shut up...
If a lanyard got nicked, there is nothing wrong with tieing a double fisherman's knot with the two ends and continuing. After all, we tie less effecient knots into our climbing system all of the time with no dire consequences. I wouldn't climb with that lanyard any longer than necessary though. There is always a short piece of decent climbing rope to use for a lanyard.
Tom
Yesterday I was at a Best Buy store and saw a small forklift in the aisle. There was an overhead cage above the platform where the operator would stand. Attached to the cage was a fall restariant system. A waist belt with a d in the back, a double locking snap attached to flat webbing. The webbing went into a spring loaded reel that operates like a seat belt spool. Inertia lockup. An overhand knot had been tied in the webbing to let the belt hang at a comfortable height or so that the operator wouldn't feel the tug of the recoil. What caught my eye was the knot...hmmm...that is tied sloppy...I wonder if that is a factory knot...When I looked at the webbing, this is what was printed on it, "Do not tie knots in webbing." Printed on both sides, endlessly. When I looked closely at the knot I could see the words "Do not..." poking out. Arbos aren't the only ones who don't understand safety.
Those old non-locking snaps make nice clips for small trailers.
A climber at out chapter TCC had a rope that was pretty crusty for about fifteen feet, in the middle of the rope. The fellow who was doing the gear inspection is young, but knows the ropes [he worked for me for three years
] He asked three other judges if the rope was OK and all three said no without even a second of thought. The climber came up and started sqwauking about "only" using it in the footlock. And this climber is an instructor within the company that he works for!!! He started to get testy and the judges reminded him to act professionally or face disqualification. He shut up...If a lanyard got nicked, there is nothing wrong with tieing a double fisherman's knot with the two ends and continuing. After all, we tie less effecient knots into our climbing system all of the time with no dire consequences. I wouldn't climb with that lanyard any longer than necessary though. There is always a short piece of decent climbing rope to use for a lanyard.
Tom
