Best saddle for relieving ankle pressure

[Fl Canopy Stalker]

I’m a major reconductor foreman. I wear meindl lineman boots. Just so dang heavy for hiking mountains

You work primarily on transmission or on distribution lines?
Yea they are heavy and the don’t breath at all…. But even something lighter and cheaper like the wolverine 12” loggers would offer a lot more support and a better shank than a standard hiker or rubber boot.

 

[Lowg08]

You work primarily on transmission or on distribution lines?
Yea they are heavy and the don’t breath at all…. But even something lighter and cheaper like the wolverine 12” loggers would offer a lot more support and a better shank than a standard hiker or rubber boot.

Distribution reconduct. I’ve been looking at the Danner elk hunters. Especially with the lace to toe

 

[Fl Canopy Stalker]

Seems we

Distribution reconduct. I’ve been looking at the Danner elk hunters. Especially with the lace to toe

Distribution reconduct. I’ve been looking at the Danner elk hunters. Especially with the lace to toe

We just finished a large reconduct job on an old 4kV line that we upgraded to 13.2.
I have never tried the Danner’s but let me know how you like them if you get em

 

[Camelcluch]

Boots are my number 1. I wear kennetrek to hunt elk and walk up to 15 miles a day. I’m not a danner fan for the mountains but that’s just me. The Mendel boots are good and something similar would help with fatigue.
Now for my smarty pants idea. What about a sling of some sort to put your foot in while you rest? Loop around the the tree and let in hang at the need height. Good luck to you!

 

[kyler1945]

Angles and support will help with regard to ankle stress.

All the tweaking you can do to angles and support will pale in comparison to force applied over time. Put simply, you're tinkering with 10% of the pain by changing boots or platforms, or types of soft saddles.

The best I could do when primarily using the kestrel prior to the JX3 was keeping my ankles, knees, and hips at exact same angle, with me about 45* off the tree. This put something like 30% of the stress on my ankles/feet. I could handle it just fine. But handle it, and it being comfortable are two different things.

In the hybrid, I have 0-30% of my weight on my ankles, and can make micro adjustments instantly with hardly any movement. And I'm comfortable doing so, because the force of my body weight is spread from just above my knees, all the way up to my shoulder blades. No soft saddle can come remotely close to this.

You may not need to go to a hybrid because you might find a middle ground that works. But I suspect it will take a stroke of luck, or a LOT of trying things out to figure it out.

 

[Lowg08]

Seems we


We just finished a large reconduct job on an old 4kV line that we upgraded to 13.2.
I have never tried the Danner’s but let me know how you like them if you get em

We just finished an upgrade the day I broke my ankle. I was putting guy guards on when I fell. # 2 acsr to 556 AAC. I’ve considered staying with meindl and just going to the vakuum hunter

 

[Lowg08]

Angles and support will help with regard to ankle stress.

All the tweaking you can do to angles and support will pale in comparison to force applied over time. Put simply, you're tinkering with 10% of the pain by changing boots or platforms, or types of soft saddles.

The best I could do when primarily using the kestrel prior to the JX3 was keeping my ankles, knees, and hips at exact same angle, with me about 45* off the tree. This put something like 30% of the stress on my ankles/feet. I could handle it just fine. But handle it, and it being comfortable are two different things.

In the hybrid, I have 0-30% of my weight on my ankles, and can make micro adjustments instantly with hardly any movement. And I'm comfortable doing so, because the force of my body weight is spread from just above my knees, all the way up to my shoulder blades. No soft saddle can come remotely close to this.

You may not need to go to a hybrid because you might find a middle ground that works. But I suspect it will take a stroke of luck, or a LOT of trying things out to figure it out.

I’m hoping it’s not that bad but I want to have ideas in place to help so I don’t lose a season

 

[MattMan81]

We just finished an upgrade the day I broke my ankle. I was putting guy guards on when I fell. # 2 acsr to 556 AAC. I’ve considered staying with meindl and just going to the vakuum hunter

Can you elaborate a little big about your fall for us guys and gals who might think your lineman's belt will keep you perfectly safe. I did start a thread a while ago on taking a fall. But going to assume you had all your PPE on like your suppose to. Unless I missed it. But is their a teaching moment here for guys about climbing wooded round objects?

 

[Fl Canopy Stalker]

We just finished an upgrade the day I broke my ankle. I was putting guy guards on when I fell. # 2 acsr to 556 AAC. I’ve considered staying with meindl and just going to the vakuum hunter

Man sorry to hear that… Seriously consider angling your entire platform a little more and choose a saddle that allows you to sit comfortably. Sitting with your knees around a 90 degree angle will take a lot of the force off your ankles the trade off is you’ll need really good knee padding and protection

 

[Fl Canopy Stalker]

Can you elaborate a little big about your fall for us guys and gals who might think your lineman's belt will keep you perfectly safe. I did start a thread a while ago on taking a fall. But going to assume you had all your PPE on like your suppose to. Unless I missed it. But is their a teaching moment here for guys about climbing woods round objects?

Falling on a pole while leaning out to hang line hoses or insulator hoods is a lot different than rough tree bark and climbing sticks. A lot of lineman still free hand climb as well and then don’t belt off until they are at height. Our company requires guys to use a buck squeeze so that a cut out doesn’t equal a fall down the pole

 

[Fl Canopy Stalker]

Can you elaborate a little big about your fall for us guys and gals who might think your lineman's belt will keep you perfectly safe. I did start a thread a while ago on taking a fall. But going to assume you had all your PPE on like your suppose to. Unless I missed it. But is their a teaching moment here for guys about climbing wooded round objects?

Hey Matt I don’t know what type of guy wire he was hanging but down here we put the guy guards on most poles from the ground. It’s usually only required to cover the ground connection and goes up about 8’ high so that people don’t drive or walk into the guy wires. Again I can’t say what type he was hanging but it sounds like he could have had a ground level trip and fall and maybe just landed wrong or had that heavy acsr cable land on him…. A lot can happen in utility/line work. Most of our injuries happen to guys getting off the bucket trucks and tripping, not falling down the poles

 

[Plebe]

Angles and support will help with regard to ankle stress.

All the tweaking you can do to angles and support will pale in comparison to force applied over time. Put simply, you're tinkering with 10% of the pain by changing boots or platforms, or types of soft saddles.

The best I could do when primarily using the kestrel prior to the JX3 was keeping my ankles, knees, and hips at exact same angle, with me about 45* off the tree. This put something like 30% of the stress on my ankles/feet. I could handle it just fine. But handle it, and it being comfortable are two different things.

In the hybrid, I have 0-30% of my weight on my ankles, and can make micro adjustments instantly with hardly any movement. And I'm comfortable doing so, because the force of my body weight is spread from just above my knees, all the way up to my shoulder blades. No soft saddle can come remotely close to this.

You may not need to go to a hybrid because you might find a middle ground that works. But I suspect it will take a stroke of luck, or a LOT of trying things out to figure it out.

Boots though might be helpful to and fro. The right boot might make a big difference. I know my hikes in and out are more physically stressful than my all day saddle hunts.

I do agree the JX3 would offer some relief after trecking in and setting up.

 

[Weldabeast]

Hey Matt I don’t know what type of guy wire he was hanging but down here we put the guy guards on most poles from the ground. It’s usually only required to cover the ground connection and goes up about 8’ high so that people don’t drive or walk into the guy wires. Again I can’t say what type he was hanging but it sounds like he could have had a ground level trip and fall and maybe just landed wrong or had that heavy acsr cable land on him…. A lot can happen in utility/line work. Most of our injuries happen to guys getting off the bucket trucks and tripping, not falling down the poles

#1 cause of those type falls?....u guessed it, stiff heavy boots

Life's not fair

 

[Fl Canopy Stalker]

#1 cause of those type falls?....u guessed it, stiff heavy boots

Life's not fair

Negative ghost writer… usually it’s either not paying attention to ground clutter, uneven terrain ect…. The second is usually not following the 3 points of contact rule because those steel steps getting in and out the truck get slippery when wet and after a long day of hanging cross arms, jumpers and insulators, we tend to become focused on going home… lol big heavy boots don’t help but they don’t hurt either

 

[Weldabeast]

Negative ghost writer… usually it’s either being really hung over from the night before, or still under the influence from the night before

 

[Fl Canopy Stalker]

You and that dang blackberry nectar from the Meet up lmao

 

[Lowg08]

Lol. Ok. I was not on a pole. Those yellow things you see at the ground. Yea that is those. Ok. I was double checking for any trash, missed pole numbers and etc. was walking up to the guys not guide wire. Tripped going up on a clump
Of grass or hole. Can’t remember. We had been using mud mats to pull in this yard. They were laid on the bank but with a path for access to the pole. I tripped going up so knowing the hazard. I took a step to the left to avoid the hazard and caught the toe of my boot on the corner of the mat. It was an incline so down I went and gravity and a fat guy did the rest. A legit accident.

a lineman’s belt ain’t worth a crap if it’s your only attachment unless you have a squeeze element to restrict a fall. With no squeeze your headed to the ground no matter unless it hangs on something

 

[MattMan81]

Hey Matt I don’t know what type of guy wire he was hanging but down here we put the guy guards on most poles from the ground. It’s usually only required to cover the ground connection and goes up about 8’ high so that people don’t drive or walk into the guy wires. Again I can’t say what type he was hanging but it sounds like he could have had a ground level trip and fall and maybe just landed wrong or had that heavy acsr cable land on him…. A lot can happen in utility/line work. Most of our injuries happen to guys getting off the bucket trucks and tripping, not falling down the poles

X2 on stepping off the truck. Not a utility guy, but have spent a lot of time in a bucket truck. I rolled my ankle a few times stepping off it. Nothing major, but it still hurts for a while. I went to 8" boots because of it. Seems like walking In grass should be an easy thing. But grass can be even and have a 3" hole underneath. So totally agree with that statement.

 

[Fl Canopy Stalker]

Lol. Ok. I was not on a pole. Those yellow things you see at the ground. Yea that is those. Ok. I was double checking for any trash, missed pole numbers and etc. was walking up to the guys not guide wire. Tripped going up on a clump
Of grass or hole. Can’t remember. We had been using mud mats to pull in this yard. They were laid on the bank but with a path for access to the pole. I tripped going up so knowing the hazard. I took a step to the left to avoid the hazard and caught the toe of my boot on the corner of the mat. It was an incline so down I went and gravity and a fat guy did the rest. A legit accident.

a lineman’s belt ain’t worth a crap if it’s your only attachment unless you have a squeeze element to restrict a fall. With no squeeze your headed to the ground no matter unless it hangs on something

Yea that’s what I figured when he asked about your fall lol I was like we always hang out guy guards from the ground then I was instantly wondering what type of funky guy wire you’d use in the mountains lol

I do disagree slightly about a lineman’s rope/belt. If it’s above waist level and proper leaning angle is used it swings you into the tree instead of dropping you straight down it. This allows for arm friction, climbing sticks, and branches to all help keep you from a straight drop down. In the old days before squeezes,guys were taught to push off the pole with their hands to provide resistance to slow the fall and also to keep guys from hinging the pole and being impaled by kreosote splinters….more broken ankles and legs but fewer deaths using the push away method…. The squeeze is the best thing to happen to spike climbers for safety although it’s considerably slower and more taxing than free hand climbing was in my opinion

 

[Lowg08]

Yea that’s what I figured when he asked about your fall lol I was like we always hang out guy guards from the ground then I was instantly wondering what type of funky guy wire you’d use in the mountains lol

I do disagree slightly about a lineman’s rope/belt. If it’s above waist level and proper leaning angle is used it swings you into the tree instead of dropping you straight down it. This allows for arm friction, climbing sticks, and branches to all help keep you from a straight drop down. In the old days before squeezes,guys were taught to push off the pole with their hands to provide resistance to slow the fall and also to keep guys from hinging the pole and being impaled by kreosote splinters….more broken ankles and legs but fewer deaths using the push away method…. The squeeze is the best thing to happen to spike climbers for safety although it’s considerably slower and more taxing than free hand climbing was in my opinion

Lol dang are you calling me older lol. I started free climbing many moons ago. I have fell further with a leather safety with no squeeze. I didn’t bounce but it’s still better than death. I don’t know. I’ve seen a guy fall to the ground with a squeeze on so. I have a different idea on some things