There is a ton of information in this chapter.     It might be better off if I take two days to blog about it.    This is the 101 of the rigging world.    It starts with diffrent types of slings, not much new here.   But it did make me stop and think about chain.    We frown of chain, but I’m not really sure why.   I assume because most of it must not be made for rigging, and when it is used I don’t think it’s acceptable to most riggers.   But it’s in Donovan’s book and seems like he’s saying it’s acceptable.    I need to read more about it, but again,  I can’t think of a time that chain is used as a sling that it was “OK”.

There is a short section on shackles and hoists and the three types of hitches (basket, direct, nad choker).    I used a choker today when I pulled down a rotten tree bc I know it would not slip.   But it is the weakest of the three types of hitches.

The section on Hitch Load Capacity made me stop and think about some of the basket hitches I have seen lately.    When the hitch is so tight that we might be more than 120* on the bottom of the basket.    If you hand a 1ton motor on 3/8″ steel (figure it at 5,000lbs swl) and the motor gets enough weight to hit the load protector on the CM chain motors (say 3,700lbs),  we care getting really close on the weight limit on them.   And it does point out it the book how hard it is to tell the difference in 110 or 120 or 130.

Also, the section on Choker Hitches makes me want to run the numbers on some of the points I see on this one show every year where the hook needs to be at the top of the beam, so we do this crazy hitch and pull the hitch back on itself.

The other thing that jumped out was the Basket Hitch Load Capacity drawings.    The one that shows a load tied off to the floor is worth us all considering more because it doubles the weight the beam sees.

The hitch types and hitch problems are all worth reading, but I don’t have the capacity to explain them here.

The part of breast lines made me think of the rigging we see at the congress center.   It makes me wonder when when you call a breast line a breast line, or  it becomes a flat bridle.     I don’t think there is an answer to that.

I did an electric bridal the other day.     It’s scary as shit.   I had a full 2,000 lbs on it and I stopped doing it once I was done.     I have never been a fan of electric bridals and I still am not a fan of them.

We used to do crazy 4 way and 3 way and way complicated bridals at the Waverly Hotel.   All to get a chain to fall through a down can.     They were a pain in the ass.    I have never seen a diamond bridal that I was aware of…….

The next section of the chapter was on fall protection.    That’s an entire area that I need to get back in the habbit  of practicing.

The next section is on work methods, but I think I am going to spend more time on Chapter one.     There is a bunch in it, and it’s all very basic, but like in math, you have to have the basics before you more on to other things.