Need Climbing Gear for Safety While Painting House
CrazySafety
Although not as exciting as climbing a mountain, I need to paint a 3
story wood shingled house. Safety is a big concern and am seeking
advice about using a repelling rope/harness/carabiner hookup along
side of a ladder. I'd say the top of the roof is around 50-70 ft off
the ground. Just a little too high to jump from.
So my questions to the experts are:
1. Is this feasable?
2. What type of equipement?
3. Where to buy?
4. Can I repel off the peak of my roof during painting breaks and
impress my wife with my maverick style and attidude..?
Any type of feedback is appreciated.
Christopher Brian Colohan
> Although not as exciting as climbing a mountain, I need to paint a 3
> story wood shingled house. Safety is a big concern and am seeking
> advice about using a repelling rope/harness/carabiner hookup along
> side of a ladder. I'd say the top of the roof is around 50-70 ft off
> the ground. Just a little too high to jump from.
You will probably find the answers to a lot of your questions in this
thread from last year, where someone asked about cleaning their
gutters:
or, a smaller link:
Chris
--
Chris Colohan Email: ch...@colohan.ca PGP: finger col...@cs.cmu.edu
Web: www.cs.cmu.edu/~colohan Phone: (412)268-4751
Gaetan Martineau
> 4. Can I repel off the peak of my roof during painting breaks and
> impress my wife with my maverick style and attidude..?
>
> Any type of feedback is appreciated.
With a good bounce and swing, you can even break the window with both
feet for a well remarked entrance in the bedroom. They often do it in
movies. Will this will impress your wife? About that I am not sure.
Depends on the wife. Mine would say : "What are you doing there, stupid
boy?" Who knows, this may be the most dangerous part.
(3 story high is much for painting. What about scaffolding?)
Gaetan
Tom Stybr
news:6eaa3238.03051...@posting.google.com...
> Hi,
> Any type of feedback is appreciated.
You sound like one of my office mates. His idea of doing some repair work on
his house was to throw a ski rope over the peak of his house and tie into
some webbing harness he had. Trying not to be too condescending, I inquired
about what his anchor would be. He said the bumper of his truck. I had only
one piece of advice for him:
"Take the keys with you."
Tom Stybr
^,,^
> I need to paint a 3 story wood shingled house. Safety is a big concern
> and am seeking advice about using a repelling rope/harness/carabiner
> hookup along side of a ladder.
> I'd say the top of the roof is around 50-70 ft off the ground.
> Just a little too high to jump from.
> So my questions to the experts are:
my new friend CS,
you were right to write, to this n-group or any other in which at least
some of its denizens spend time too high in vertical places.
the very fact that you have done so already convinces me that you are a
big boy and will be just fine. for you respect gravity.
fwiw, i didn't as a 'ute -- and paid a very steep price for my sins of
vainglory indeed. ie, 5 months in a "halo." yeah, just staring at that
one tile over my head. well, one of 154 such tiles, 25 of them not
quite full tiles. and with all these wild little lines like ant races
on the uhf at the wildcat motel in bozeman, only more so. that and mine
very own 'Nurse Rachet' (oh save me Jack) who had just weeks before
divorced from her monstrous alcoholic husband of 20-some years.
she was pissed. maximally. and understandably so -- as i tried so
desperately so many times to remind her; that not all Y chromosome types
were "the monsters like Al" [tm - nurse ratchet]; that some of use are
deeply embarrassed and deeply saddened by what too many of our fellow
Y's do. that and that i was -- most obviously as she was giving
me my twice a week 'spooonge bats' after all, about as much fun as a
fudgicle enema w/o foreplay -- absolutely the most marginal and teeny
weeny leetle wee y chromosome who ever stood upright.
but no, that bought me no slack. for lady ratchet positively beat me
silly for months. "time for your sponge bath, Mr X" ("Eeeeek, Mr. X is
my father i'm just X... and thank you oh so much but i'm just fine here
on the group W bed and, well, i'm smellin' just fine and er, no need for
the old in /out in/out reverend mother ratchet... eeeeeeeek!
but i digress. which i so rarely do (you are really the newbie you
claim to be - aren't you?)
well, if you want the advice of someone who took a 70 footer 1100 feet
up and saw his ankles from the wrong side (the reverse banana) then when
the edelrid recoiled hit that ceiling legs first (both tib/fibs and
right femur go snap) then chest fist the second time (sternum, two ribs
on one side and 4 on the other, collapsed a lung) then that long long
long long ride down boulder canyon with my partner (oh amen he was an ER
'doc and not a dermatologist) barking directions at the two newbies he
rodeoed from nearby while all the while i swatted at his head and pulled
his lips towards mine. most remarkable kisses i've ever known. and no,
he's not that cute (or perhaps he is and i was just so unlucky as to be
born a breeder - however unsuccessful at that) it's just that the only
air i had was his air. and it was delicious. it was life. well, best
kiss ever - in the full sense of the word.
~~~~~
but i digress. how surprising (you are the newbie you claim to be,
right?). well, you are on target. 70 feet can keeeel you way dead, as
can 70 feet. i was lucky. you are right to pre/ass/ume that you won't
necessarily be so. lucky.
~~~~~
so my advice is this: [1] hire some 'huffers' (professional paint fume
sniffers) to do the thrash and dangle. if, having considered that, you
are nonetheless compelled by finances or Y chromosome issues to do it
yourself, and do it in such a way that requires the A5 'thrash and
dangle' then do at least find a real climber who lives nearby and have
them show you the ropes, as it were. perhaps a start would be defining
where your 'nearby' actually is - on this or similar lists. but be
warned that anyone who tells you that s/he is a 'great climber' by
definition simply isn't. take my word for it. or better yet, consider
this: when i first met pete croft i dropped to my knees (he had just
weeks before soloed astroman - which i had just a few weeks more before
taken many a fall on) and said 'dude you are a climbing gawd!" he said
'huh? well i do climb now and again, but i'm no god." which is to
say that if you live in 'jersey (what exit?!) you are poop out of luck.
well, if you are in 'jersey seek out a tree surgeon not a climber. (oh
how i will rue writing this line. and yes, when i first me l... well, a
god(dess) of a climber in the 'gunks - she was living in 'jersey with
some lucky dope).
~~~~~~~~
if you can't find someone who has done [a] mutli-pitch routes, [b] aid
routes, [and/or c] multi pitch rappels (oh how i love your phrase
'repelling' for you hit it dead on: i love to climb but truly despise
hanging off of 'guy gear'-- read: hanging belays and 'repelling') --
then best to return to the core recommendation above (ie, hire a
professional 'huffer.')
but, that said, if you are truly compelled to hurt yourself, by
yourself, i'd urge you to at least consider the following advice --
before you blow it off and go out and kill yourself - or worse. its the
'or worse' that you should fear.
[1] wear a helmet. a climbing helmet would be ideal, but a cycling or
snowboarding helmet will do. hell, a football helmet would do. fook if
the neighbors snicker, remember that your brain is the one body part
that can't heal itself. (if it could we'd all be, well, as loony as
me). if you don't believe this i have a couple friends you should meet.
they will whistle their one note for you. forever.
[2] use a harness. any harness. borrow on from a tree surgeon. that
and deign anything you read that refers to a 'dulfritz' as a work of the
antichrist.
[3] don't worry much about the rope you use. mom's clothesline will
suffice.
[4] _do_ worry about what you attach mom's clothesline to, how you
attach it, and what you attach it with. (i once saw the wreckage of a
kid who decided to "repel" off of the television-machine antenna on his
parents roof. oh, icky.
[5] use _only_ locking carabiners. if you don't know what a locking
carabiner is, return to the core recommendation (hire a professional
huffer). it doesn't matter if they are made of steel (ie, you got them
from your new tree surgeon pal) as you won't be carrying a rack of 60 of
them at 8000 meters.
[6] before stepping off the eave at 50 or 70 feet, try out you new
guy-gear and slick techniques at a lower altitude -- say 8 or 10 feet.
for at that latter altitude if you blow it the only thing you bruise is
your ego. and if you ego has led you into a bruising situation, you ego
needs bruising.
well, that's all i can say - other than be sure your life insurance
policy is paid up and your organ donor card is current. that and this:
if the fall doesn't kill you (or worse), the toxic fumes likely will.
did i mention hiring a professional idiot?
well, good luck my friend.
> Any type of feedback is appreciated.
this'll likely teach you, polite one...
canis fidelis est,
^,,^
was: SARONG; NOT SKIRT now: SARONG; STAND FAR OFF
FERAL; NOT GOTH FERAL; NOT IMMORTAL
IMMORTAL; SO FAR; TOO CLOSE; SO FAR
TOO CLOSE; STAND FAR OFF
~~~~~~~~~~~~OB:OtrPplQuoteWad Follows~~~~~~~~~~
"Jesus wept." John 11:34-35
"The very first question to ask when use any sharp tool is: "If it
slips, where will it go?" -Jamesy Ruddy, my beloved irish grandfather
who raised me.
"Choose carefully, you wouldn't want to make the wrong mistake." -ibid
~~~~~~~~~~~~OB:OtrPplQuoteWad Ends~~~~~~~~~~~~
don't anthropomorphise ^,,^ -- for he really don't like that shit
^,,^
in a recent post of ridiculous length and no apparrent point, your pup
wrote:
>> well, if you want the advice of someone who took a 70 footer
>> 1100 feet up and saw his ankles from the wrong side
this should properly read:
>> well, if you want the advice of someone who took a 70 footer
>> 200 feet up and saw his ankles from the wrong side
for there are no 1100 foot walls in or immediately adjacent to boulder
canyon. at least none i ever found. and i looked.
now had i blown the math in the other direction (wrote, say "a 70 footer
11 feet up) i'd let it hang w/o comment. much to the confusion of all
no doubt (all dumb enough to plow through my posts, that is). be a hell
of a crater, no? but a mistake that distorts one to appear larger than
life rather then smaller is a different matter. a matter that demands
attention. especially in this sport (i'm tempted to say addiction) in
which it is easy to fall into the morass of ego inflation, of buffing
one's own head to a high gloss, of standing too close to the flame such
that ones image appears far too large on the cave wall. an easy
crevasse to fall into, even for those who know better and choose better.
for all these reasons, much diligence is required.
or so says your dog. who admittedly has other reasons not to stand too
close to the flame, such as all that loose fur going POOF! and ending up
one of those pathetic hairless breed mutations. that and smelling even
worse than usual.
but i digress. arghhh. perhaps i alone can digress when addressing the
the importance of not digressing. a quick trip into the hall of
mirrors. and whose image does one see? arghhh.
~~~~~~~~~
though if anyone does know of a clean, contiguous 1100 foot wall in
boulder canyon - do please let me know so that i can fall off of it too.
carry on. fight nice.
canis fidelis est,
^,,^
~~~~~~~~~~~~OB:OtrPplQuoteWad Follows~~~~~~~~~~
"If all the girls who attended the Harvard-Yale game were laid end to
end, I wouldn't be surprised." -Dorothy Parker
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
-Thomas Edison
"The mistakes are all waiting to be made." -Savielly Tartakower, a chess
grand master commenting on the game's opening position
A. Cairns
"^,,^" wrote:
> this'll likely teach you
Accumulated wisdom:
snow travel, scratch
working on the roof, scratch
detouring through Mexico to reach Tuolomne, surprisingly reasonable
discursive replies, good
Alex Chiang
> (all dumb enough to plow through my posts, that is)
I'd like more opportunities to be dumb, please.
/Alex