Showing Falls Caught in Guy Wire
High wind is the Steeple-Jack’s greatest enemy. It is only a fool who would attempt to rig a smokestack when the wind is blowing a gale; in fact, it is almost impossible to work in a high wind. More work can be accomplished in one-fifth of the time on a calm day. “Time is money,” but always take time when your life is at stake. Always keep in mind the motto: “Safety First.”
When tying up your riggings for the night, and it might be calm at the close of the day. Weather changes in a very few minutes at times. To safeguard against the rope from wearing against the stack and guy wires, walk out about fifteen feet from the stack, taking a piece of extra sling. Tie the sling to some object that is solid, throw two half-hitches with your fall line around the riggings just above the single block. When this is done, pass the sling which you have tied to some object through the hook of the block, making it fastened to the block. Then pull the slack out of your riggings with the fall line, at the same time keeping the two half-hitches just above the block. Do not take up all the slack; leave some play in your lines, using your own judgment as to whether the lines will come in contact with the guy wires. The weather will shrink the line more or less.
TO RIG A STACK WITHOUT A GIMBLET WIRE
When this proposition confronts you it may look to you like a job not worth fooling with. It can be done and, on some stacks, almost as quickly as with a gimblet wire.
There are a number of ways to rig without the aid of a gimblet, of which I will show you two of the quickest and most simple.
Look over your guy wires and pick out the most solid of the lot running to the top band. Make sure of its anchorage. There are supposed to be two clips at each end of a guy wire where it is connected to the turn-buckle, and at the band place the double block without the stack hook on the guy wire.