I assume (mainly because you've found your way off four times) that
the roof is quite steep. If that is the case, I would do one of two
things:
1) Rent a manlift when you need work done on the roof.
2) Buy some climbing equipment.
Since I own some climbing equipment, I'll steer you in the right
direction there. You'll need:
1) A harness. An Black Diamond Alpine Bod at REI is $30 and would
easily do what you're asking of it.
2) A couple of locking carabiners. $8-10 a piece. You'll need one
to hook your belay device to your harness and you'll want one to make
hooking up to your 'top-rope' quicker/easier.
3) A belay device. Judging by the difficulty you seem to have
fighting the force of gravity I would
recommend an "auto-locking" belay device. The Petzl Reversino is
$27. The Petzl Grigri is another nice option but $80.
4) Rope. Don't cheap out here, buy climbing rope. Climbing rope is
meant to be fallen on. So it stretches a bit and absorbs some of the
shock. It will also work really well with the other stuff you have
to buy. That said, go ahead and buy cheap(ish) climbing rope.
You're not doing big ascents. This will be expensive. I see REI has
a 30m length of 8mm rope for $60. Make sure that you buy the right
size rope for your belay device.
Now you'll basically be setting up a top-rope and rappelling down
your roof. You run a rope from some secure point(s) at the top of
the roof (it's best not to be too far off vertical because then you
swing when you fall) to the ground. Then you run the rope through
your belay device. This can be used to hold you at any point along
the rope. As you go up you pull the slack out and you feed rope in
as you descend. With an auto-locking belay device it will stop the
rope automatically if you fall. You could rappel right off the side
of the house if you wanted.
~Paul
On Aug 22, 2005, at 9:48 PM, 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.
>
> TIA, Charlie
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