Basic rigging for a crew

treebilly

Student of the Jedi. OH-7106A
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Aug 10, 2014
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Location
North Lawrence,OH
My general tasks at work seem to be growing. The company I'm working for has never been gear heavy. They have a lot of machinery but lacking in the gear. My boss was shocked when he opened my rope box last weekend to find only a 3/4"x200' and a 1/2"x200' bull rope. He called and asked what happened to everything. After telling him all the rigging in the truck was mine, we discussed what has happened to his blocks and porties. Anyhow everyone was asked to remove all personal gear from the trucks yesterday and one of my crew (he volunteered for more OT) is inventorying all the trucks.
My question is what would be a good set up for rigging gear? How many blocks (1/2"&3/4") per truck? One porty or two? I know that some of the crews won't ever need to be as gear intensive, but what would be a decent kit to have on all five crews?


I came up with a list in the spring but he lost it. I'm also thinking I might have gone overboard with the amount of equipment since I have a slight gear disorder
 
More rigging gear means less work when you need it.
Rigging rings are simple and easy.

An aerial friction device simplifies things, too, I'm.

2+ throw line cubes.
 
More rigging gear means less work when you need it.
Rigging rings are simple and easy.

An aerial friction device simplifies things, too, I'm.

2+ throw line cubes.


A YouTube playlist of trainings of techniques helps. The new guy can easy sit down and watch, as needed.

Before a complex rigging operation, you can show the appropriate people, appropriate things.
 
We could all throw out a huge list of stuff, but you, ("the resident expert") know what you do and what you need more than we or even the boss Rich. I'd make him another list. And go I'd go even further overboard this time ;)
 
3/4" block x 1
5/8" block x 1
Dead eye ring sling
200' 1/2" rig line
150' 1/2" rig line
200' 5/8" rig line
150' 3/4" rig line
Stein bollard x 2
5:1 fiddle block set up
That'd be my basic set up that can accomplish almost anything, just in 2 minutes of thought.
 
My daily kit is:
2 5/8" blocks
2 1/2" blocks
an assortment of loopy slings in 1/2", 5/8", and 3/4"
2 12' 3/4" dead eye slings
1 lg porty
2 lg steel locking biners
1 150' 1/2"
1 120' 1/2 3strand
1 150' 5/8"
2 throw line cubes
1 fiddle block set
 
I would say you'd know best, Rich.


Before I had the crane, my rigging for the lift (Nifty SD64) was 80, 120, and 150' pieces of gold streak for natural crotch rigging and ~10 ~10' pieces of 1/2" line for butt hitching pieces and cutting/tossing. That did the overwhelming majority of my work, occasionally I'd have to bring Scott in for more rigging, but that was fairly rare.
 
Maasdam rope puller with at least 150ft and a sling.

Personally I carry about 6 2ton shackles, I never felt ok using biners when rigging. Now I don't know if it's the cost of a rigging biner vs a shackle that is my issue. ;)
 
Situation for our kit is no bucket, three man crew with climber.
Massdam rope puller 200 plus 50 foot three strand. 50kn biners x 4 plus 4 different slings with a piece of rope 50' in case we need to tie to a larger girth tree..

Speed line kit with loop runners and biners for at least 12 slings

200 foot 1/2 " stable braid, 300' 1/2 three strand, 400' 1/2" stable braid (we have tall trees). 9/16 and 5/8 stay in shop unless needed for a specific job.
3 blocks plus 1 snatched pulley good up 5/8ths. One block is 1/2.
Fiddle block kit.
Sling bag, assorted slings, different sized probably 12 including the webbing slings, couple of shackles on more 50 kn crabs, rigging rings.
3 kits have a potty each. Puller, sling kit and speedline. 2 medium and one large.
Climber bag has 3 special pullley, block and sling setups plus mini porty.
 
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  • #10
My thoughts were two of the 1/2" and 3/4" blocks with various slings, multiple lengths of the stable braid to match, a porty, a few steel biners, and a pair of throwlines. A fiddle block would be nice as well.
I try to have a lot more but I'll be happy setting them up with the basics. When I went back to work there they didn't even own a block.
I'm staying away from zip line stuff as I'm sure someone will tie the runners together and try to do something way to big. I've broken a few slings or biners doing this but I also expected it and was doing vertical zipping at the time. Held long enough to do what I needed.
Rings would be nice as well but are prolly considered a luxury item.
Also as sad as this may sound, I'm thinking of putting a laminated inventory list for each toolbox just so any one can do a quick check to make sure they are not forgetting anything. We've lost some gear to theft but they probably lose a majority of what goes missing.
 
Why do you say the inventory list for each tool box is sad? The more idiot proof things are made, the better, even if you aren't working with idiots. Systems to make life/work easier.
 
A check list can be handy for checking before leaving a job site as well as morning routine.

I forgot to list throw lines. I carry 3 in case I need to leave one in a tree to return to. 2 weights per cube.
 
Stuck two throw lines today... Two ready to go cubes, plus an old backup throwline or two, wound on a fancy wooden device (stick).
 
I like to have a 1/2 inch 16strand line in there for natural crotch rigging/pull rope/ zip line work. Cheap, relatively abrasion resistant ,disposable and extends the life of your other lines.
 
When I climbed for Davey we didn't even have a throwline. Our equipment consisted of two saws, a 3 strand handline, a saddle and a 1/2" lifeline. Our boss came from a landscaping background so he had no idea what we needed, and I was used to working with almost nothing so I wouldn't have known what to ask for.
 
I like to have a 1/2 inch 16strand line in there for natural crotch rigging/pull rope/ zip line work. Cheap, relatively abrasion resistant ,disposable and extends the life of your other lines.

Too many whys and wherefore to compile a real list.

But a low tech older rope for that sort of application is a good addition.
 
Agreed , I have a friend who was playing guitar and switched to drums , he said he loved skins because the instrument is really endless for kit and style. I feel the same way about rigging , endless ... From the simple line through a crotch to drift lining w GRCS and POW. So variable. I guess if it were making the call for several crews I would gear them all up with the simple kit yet have one comprehensive complex kit at the shop for when sales call looks like it would help that crew on that day.
 
My daily kit is:
2 5/8" blocks
2 1/2" blocks
an assortment of loopy slings in 1/2", 5/8", and 3/4"
2 12' 3/4" dead eye slings
1 lg porty
2 lg steel locking biners
1 150' 1/2"
1 120' 1/2 3strand
1 150' 5/8"
2 throw line cubes
1 fiddle block set

only in oregon would you need a 3/4 rope
 
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  • #21
The 3/4 doesn't see near as much use but I still wear out one a year compared to 3 of the 1/2 ropes.
 
Did you end up with a list?

Interesting to see how everyone's kit varies. For us 2 porta wraps are almost mandatory, we use the 2nd one all of the time.
We also use rescue pulleys a lot of the time instead of blocks but alot of the rigging we do is small and technical. The omni blocks are kickass but it might be hard to talk the boss into it.
Rings on deadeyes are cheap and make excellent redirects in the canopy.
A basic speedline kit is also really handy to have, and a trolley for a controlled speedline is money well spent for us.
 
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