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Re: Fall protection

To: "Chas. Schlismann" <racegt6@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Fall protection
From: Trevor Boicey <tboicey@brit.ca>
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2005 22:15:05 -0400
Chas. Schlismann wrote:
> I need to clamber about my steep roofs to do some work.  I've fallen
> off my house roof four times, so I need some help with a system that
> will allow some mobility yet provide protection.  I'm thinking about
> some sort of harness system but don't understand why some cost under
> $50 and others well into the hundreds of $$.
> 
> On my last trip up I tied a v. long piece of nylon rope about my
> torso, threw the other end (weighted) over the roof and had my son
> tie it to a truck bumper.  I felt very much a jewel thief or spy.
> The plan was for my son to use the bumper as a capstan and wind up
> the slack as I moved up.  My boy went to the head so I wound the cord
> around my gut as I worked my way up the rear dormer.  The missus came
> out and yelled up that she was going to the store and fired up the
> truck...
> 
> I need something that works independently of a pranking family.
> Advice welcomed.

   Rock climbing is a hugely popular hobby around here. Might be around 
there too.

   You can probably buy industrial safety equipment as well, made 
specifically for that job, but the climbing stuff works as well. When 
climbing you "fall" every day if you are pushing your limits, so the 
protection works.

   Just a harness that goes on you, and then a rope, and then a gizmo 
that attaches to your harness. As you climb, you pull the slack through, 
but if you suddenly fall, it snaps onto the rope and holds you. You can 
also let yourself down in a controlled manner with a small brake on the 
rope.

   Unsure how much it might cost you to get started. The rope is 
expensive because it has some "give" to it. You are supposed to throw 
the rope away if you take a good fall with it.

-- 
Trevor Boicey, P. Eng.
Ottawa, Canada, tboicey@brit.ca
ICQ #17432933 http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/






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