One of the comments from "Rope King" said 280 pounds breaking strength. If you're tying off so you won't get within 6 feet or so of the edge of the roof it should stop you from going over the side as most of your weight would be on the roof and not hanging on the rope over the side. I'm sure someone can give a better answer but it's better than nothing in the mean time for sure. ;0) I did see another comment saying the rope stretches a lot too.

Tim, is there any fear of damaging pipes using AC's roof anchor? Some are made of metal, and others are made of PVC.

Tim Teed wrote:

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Im in my 3rd season and we have never used a rope for tie off.  We use the safety kit in a bucket which costs about $100 with AC's roof anchor rod when we walk on a roof

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I have put together a Delta harness, 2 D rings, brake/lanyard and one of AC's roof anchors. Just looking for a suitable rope.

Seems like all I was seeing were 300'+ ropes for sale, and thought this King would work. Being poly I was thinking it is bleach safe.

Guess I better look some more for better rating...

 

I have another question. Are there any roofs where the Roof Anchor won't work, and we would need a longer line?

I think that my weight plus weight of gear is the impact load, right AC? But 2.5 times that is only 1/6 th of 3K LBS, so I still need something rated for 3K LBs? Can that quality of rope be found in less than 300' lengths? AC, do you sell just the rope?

Hey Tim, Troy and AC, thank you all for your help!

vic

Vic, don't go cheap when it comes to safety. Whether it's your safety, an employees' or your customer's.

I use an outfitter named Outdoor Play. You can find them online. We use rope rated for rock climbers along with harness' and accessories.

These ropes hold up great against the chemicals, as well.

home depot has them

Vic,

Impact loads can be several times the weight of the person plus gear, because when you fall, the force on the rope multiplies. I used to know some of this math, but don't anymore. It has to do with height of fall, acceleration, weight, etc. Remember, we are using fall positioning systems, and the idea is to set it up such that you don't fall off the roof. Ideally, we don't get on the roof, and this is a moot point, but eventually we will all have to. The gear in a bucket is a good start for cheap, and you can replace many of these for the price of one really nice life safety rope. It must adhere to some standard, I would guess. Just inspect the gear, especially the rope, often. It is inexpensively made, which equals not as durable. Remember we are dragging these ropes across essentially course sandpaper and exposing them to a corrosive.

Some things to know about ropes: Really good life safety ropes like you see AC use are kernmantle ropes. New England Ropes and Bluewater are two major brands. If you look at climbing ropes, that is what they look like. There are two parts, the kern, or the tightly woven outer layer, and the mantle, or the inner strands. The inner layer does most of the work, and the outer layer is there to protect the inner layer. Kernmantle ropes are further broken down into static and dynamic. Static does not stretch and is heavier and stiffer, and is used in commercial, industrial, and rescue situations, dynamic is what sport climbers use, and stretches to absorb shock, and is meant for multiple shock loads (falls.) That is why climbers do not have shock absorbing lanyards and commercial users do. The ropes in the bucket kits are twisted or braided rope, not as durable. Persoanlly, I did not know this type of rope was allowed for fall protection.

We use static, kernmantle, New England ropes, Sala harnesses and shock lanyards, steel locking carabiners, and Petzl ascenders. I bought these years ago for a swing stage job on a 7 story hospital, before I was Soft washing. I want the protection of the outer jacket on the more expensive ropes. I don't like the stretch of dynamic ropes, I want to know my solod "stopping" point. I also trust steel carabiners, because aluminum ones become brittle when dropped, and employees drop them a lot. We use figure-8 knots, not bowlines. I have not had an inspection sheet, but will implement this next year.

Sorry to geek out on you guys. All my knowledge of this comes from Fire Department Technical Rescue training. Our standards are ridiculously rigid. For example 6000-10,000 lb ropes, if a rope is shock loaded, it's junked, if an aluminum caribiner is dropped, it's junk, we have to have a rope inspection program, etc.

I just looked up the OSHA standard, rope type is not specified, nor is knot type, or carabiner material. As AC said above, if it's rated, you should be good, unless you have an anvil in your pocket. One thing it does say as I read it, (essentially) is that carabiners should be locking-type. It also indicates that ropes should be inspected before each use, and that ropes that are shock loaded should be junked. For right now I'm going to keep my gear the same. I may try some cheaper (but still rated) rope next year and see how it holds up. If I start running multiple crews I would be open to a little less expensive gear as long as it didn't compromise safety.

Shock loaded would be if you had a significant fall. This should not happen to us on roofs, because if you fall, it would be to your knees or rolling a foot or two, staying on the roof. If you went over the edge and "free fell" a few feet and were caught by the rope, it has been shock loaded. Or, if the shock absorbing harness lanyard is sprung, your rope has been shock loaded.

I have been thinking about my rope/system inspection program I will implement next year. So far I have come up with check boxes for a daily pre-inspection, daily inventory of bag, and a weekly washing.

Curious about what others do; bleachwash rinse of ropes and equipment daily? That would be another check box. So far it's what I have been doing.