Ultimate – the best achievable or imaginable of its kind. Can we have The Ultimate Gear List for anything? Probably not, but we can put some thought into what that might look like. Before we get to the list, let us outline where this gear cache came from. In building this course with Jason Ilowite …
The Gear Used In Artificial Highlines and Two Tension Rope Systems Read More »
I am pretty excited about the future of our community. Folks are talking more about what is important and designers, builders, techies, manufacturers, and instructors are all listening to each other… for the most part. 🙂 We are surrounded by amazing people. I have long desired to have a playground to build and adventure into things …
You Will Never Look at Small Gear Small Team Rescue the Same Again Read More »
You know how excruciatingly hard it is to negotiate any sort of edge without some sort of “blood bath”. You have given your life and soul to a purpose… to save lives and mitigate the challenges that would put you in the same sort of predicament your patient is in. An “edge” is going from …
Concepts in Thought: The Direction is Up and Off! Read More »
This past weekend, Rigging Lab Academy was privileged to spend some time in the beautiful Washington State country with the Volcano Rescue Team; an MRA team responsible for rescues on Mt. Saint Helens. A few months ago the team reached out to RLA inquiring about our ability to deliver a three day course that was …
Weekend at the Volcano: A Custom Course Focusing on High Angle Rigging Techniques Read More »
Hey all, It has been interesting hearing from many of you with respect to the use of “rigging or rescuers winch systems”. We’ve been discussing both the Harken LokHead Winch and Harken Riggers Winch. There seems to be 3 camps… Departments who swear by the 15:1 SSSF and 1/2″ rope only. More adventure-based riggers who …
Using A Frame Mounted Winch Should Be An Acceptable Tool… Why Isn’t It? Read More »
Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast: A Common Sense Approach to Your Next Rope Rescue “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast”. This is an old adage that was passed on to me in my first dealings with the fire service. At first it seemed like some sort of cliché or one of many one …
Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast: A Common Sense Approach to Your Next Rope Rescue Read More »
It is no secret in the world of technical rope rescue that high directionals can vastly improve the efficiency of an operation. High directionals provide ample room to clear a litter from an edge, can improve the angle of ropes running over the edge creating less force on a system, and perhaps the most notable …
By: Marcel Rodriguez I have long been a fan of artificial high directional anchors (AHDs) for dealing with tricky edges. Beyond the obvious benefits of having a focal point above a tricky edge, the reduction of mechanical disadvantage (through friction) is a strong argument for raising the rope off of the deck and reducing contact. …
Calculating mechanical advantage: the T-system The subtle but significant difference to this system… a pulley on the load and the main line terminated at head of the tripod. We have a 6:1 mechanical advantage in the pulley system. 1. Assume continuous strands of rope have the same amount of tension. If we start at the …
Determining Mechanical Advantage using the T-Method with an added Pulley on the Load Read More »
Rescue tripods “falling over” Natural, improvised, and purpose built high directionals are used to manage loads over edges and through openings. They can make otherwise impossible tasks possible. There are now many proprietary solutions with almost limitless configurations that are being used by rope technicians for access, standby rescue, technical rescue, and load management. High …
