My guess would be about the same yeah.

Kevin,

I see a plastic cover over the rope it's just pushed towards the left keeper in the pic. Or are you saying the plastic isn't enough protection? They described the safety in the PG&E article Bobster posted and said it would be rope w/a plastic cover I believe.

From what I see in the pic, with the plastic cover moved to the other (working) end of the rope to reduce wear against the pole. If you had a pouch or way to keep it out of your feet while climbing, the rope would be a fair alternative to the retractable. I think one could find a small pouch to stuff it in that would be about the same size as the retractable but with out the weight.

Thanks, I didn't notice it.

I think it is key to learn to free climb first before belt climbing, because when you have to climb around an obstruction and haven't free climbed you will be lost.

This post has been edited by SkLinemanSk: Aug 19 2006, 07:02 AM

It is frustrating, but seems to be commonplace all over this country, that if one guy screws up you make a rule that inconveniences everybody instead of just chewing out the one dummy who deserves it. Unfortunately I blame much of this on the fact that the dummy can file a lawsuit and have a good chance of winning even if he was at fault.

Iam truly sorry that you feel this way. Would your family like to know that , because you refused to use a device that saves lives,for just a little hasel you want be comming home tonight or severly injured .
How about you get a call that your son cut out and fell to his death. Wouldn't it give you peace of mind,he has another piece equipment to keep to save his life.

I guess I'm misunderstood again.......never said "I refuse to do it". In my 34yrs doing this line of work, mostly Transmission, I've never fallen. I have used 2 safeties many times before, for example, a newly set 115kv triple verticle dead end with no conductor on it and all the insulators attached and hanging down. Double safeties allows you to get up and around all the insulators, there's just no way to free climb by them. This policy just came down from the people above "because other companies are doing it". We are striving to be the #1 utility in the US and once again we are following........
That's all I meant................

SEEMS LIKE AT LOT OF UTILITIES ARE.............BENCH MARKING...........OTHER UTILITIES TO CHANGE THE WAY WE DO THINGS

SOME IDEAS/PRACTICES MAKE SENSE--WELL OTHERS JUST DON'T

Done That;
Is that mostly tower work or a combination of stick and tower ?
34 years is quite an accomplishment for not dropping off a stick at least once.

It's strickly poles for now.......but?
I've been pretty lucky in that regard......I always remember, nothing hurts like pain......
I've been hurt a couple of times on poles, and almost killed once on a 3 pole crossing structure (that's a scary story), but have never fallen.......knock on wood......

I really feel for you guys that have to safety off on the pole 100% of the time. The first thing they tought me at climbing school 10 months ago was how to free climb properly. I feel more comfortable free climbing than I do hitchhiking up and down the pole. It allows me to get to the work faster and get down faster. I have cut out before and caught myself while free climbing. I am not saying that it is the safest thing to do in the world but with all this 100% safety bs going around it is going to allow almost anyone to do our job. If the companies are soooo big on safety how about just eliminating climbing all together. Oh wait it doesn't make economical sense. Fortunately working for a contractor it will most likely be a while before we would switch to 100% safety. For those of you that are, I am truly sorry especially for those that will never learn/be allowed to free climb.

I'm glad I retired. :O)

I agree. The free climb is the fun part of the job, and the part that give you the most pride.

first off. no matter what you , do and no matter how safely you try to be. someone , somewhere will be killed or hurt. you try your best day in and day out not to be the one, but it's gonna happen.it might not be you or me but it could be the guy 1,000 miles away.it's just the nature of this biz. we are human and prone to errors. secondly if you can't climb, you shouldn't be in this trade.in no way shape or form. you know the ones on a climbing job that always carry back, so they don't have to go up. a guys life is depending one you so if you can't get up, get the hell out. i know all the boys on my crew can get me if need be and that is reasurance.third, the 100% fall protection, yea it's good and yea it's also inpractical. sometimes you can't use two belts, fidgiting around on a damn pole with all the crap they have on them. try'an to get the second belt around the 5 stacks of 100 pr. phone and then the monster bundle of cable then the street light bracket come on this is where the experience and skill come into play. like i say, there is a time a place and situation where you'll want the two belts or other safety device thats been invented... the same with the free climb. if every pole on every inch of this earth was the same build then...what can i say..but there not.they are all difrent some are godly ugly and some are like wow..they set this big ass thing for a street light.we are lineman we are profesinals. our work comes with risk. like earlier i said some will die some will be hurt. we are lineman..........god be with our fallen brothers who we will never foget, for they're knowledge and sacrafices to the trade...

This post has been edited by kp74: Nov 8 2006, 12:50 PM

im trying to make the switch from free climbing to double safety belt climbing too. i feel like a new guy trying to climb, pretty clumsy. i wish they would put more trust into there lineman and make it an option. im sure weve all seen poles that we would opt to archy rather than free climb, and we made the choice. and im sure weve all been in situations up in the air where we thought it would be nice to have another belt. when they made the switch mandatory it kinda made me feel like the company thinks im an idiot. made me loose some pride, it just dont seem right. i was trained through a 3 year apprenticeship to free climb, then they throw me a second rope and tell me if i dont use it im down the road. pretty bruttal. ive wondered itf they implemnted it because the number of guys who fail the climbing school? i dont see it being because the number of falls they have had, when they read off the numbers the odds were amazing. the number of poles climbed in a single day in our system to the number of falls, didnt seem that horrible to me, i mean its always gonna happen right, belt or no belt. and i believe 8 outta ten times i slipped i was belted off. i never seen it coming to be honest, but i figure ill make the best of it.

In our company we had something like 15 falls in a short time, all apprentices, all from districts where they were riding the bucket trucks instead of climbing. there is a reason we take pride in being able to do this job. Not Everybody can do it. those who can't make the rules for the rest of us. our company still lets us make the decision, and I still choose to free climb most of the time, single belt the rest of the time.

heard of several contractors doing this

The biggest problem with PG&E, is their not teach their apprentices to climb, before climbing school, or after.
Their using fall protection at their climbing school, whitch give them a false sence of security in the real world.
We hate it

Man, yall wouldn't make it on our crew complaining and whining like yall do. Basically, the mentallity where I work is if it is company policy, you better damn do it or be fired. I would say, deal with it. But, we won't have to worry about the hitchhiking thing, we are so damn good at climbing out here in western kansas that it really isn't a big deal....