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Six months ago I used to wreck the morning setup with my tag lines tangled in a knot
About three weeks back in Denver I finally started hanging them in a figure eight pattern off the headache ball before each lift, and now I'm done rigging twelve whole minutes earlier, has anyone else found a better way to keep them from snarling on windy days?
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west.alice11d agoMost Upvoted
Yeah that Denver wind is no joke, I've got a few scars from trying to wrestle a loose tag line on a breezy day down there. You know what really turned things around for me? I stopped trying to keep the whole thing neat up top and started carrying a separate short pigtail strap with a snap on it. I clip the tag line to that near my waist, then I just let the rest of the line hang in a loose pile at my feet while I'm getting the load ready. The key is keeping it under tension from the moment you lift, so I'll hook it onto my harness carabiner and feed it out as the load goes up. That way the line never gets a chance to wrap around anything or form a snarl, even when the wind is trying to twist everything into a mess. It's a little more hands-on but I haven't had a single knot in months.
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Man, I feel you on that tangled mess. I had the same problem on a big job in Houston last summer, wind whipping around the steel all day. What finally worked for me was switching to a lanyard with a snap hook that I clip directly to the tag line eye before I even start the basket. I keep about two feet of slack, and the rest I coil up in a loose figure eight against my leg, not hanging off the headache ball. It took a few tries to get the rhythm down, but now I'm done with snarls completely. Even on those gusty afternoons, the line just drops straight and clean every time.
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