brooke484•6d agoMost Upvoted

Saw a crew using the wrong knot for a speedline and it made me cringe

I was watching a job in Springfield last week where they were rigging down big oak limbs over a house. The lead climber kept using a bowline to attach the lowering rope to the speedline, which is a huge risk. A bowline can roll and invert under shifting loads, especially with the side pull you get on a speedline. I learned that the hard way six years ago when a piece spun and the knot failed, dropping a limb way too close to a fence. For speedlines, a running bowline or a timber hitch is way more secure because they cinch down and hold. Has anyone else had a close call from a simple knot choice?

2 comments

2 Comments

jamieperez6d ago

Man, that's scary to hear. A bowline on a speedline is just asking for trouble with all that side force. Did the crew seem like they were new to this kind of work, or were they just set in their ways and ignoring the risk?

jake_hall886d ago

Old habits die hard in any risky job.