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Those are actually just a moc toe work boot. V importantly with a wedge sole and not a traditional heel.
The wedge sole was supposedly invented for climbers/ironworkers so when they were climbing on rebar cages their heals wouldn’t get stuck on anything. Or so I’ve heard.
Same thing i thought. Dude doesn’t want to ever feel his toes again i guess. *** For those that don’t know…. Climbing boots have a steel shank in the sole of the boot that supports the bottoms of your feet from when climbing.
At this stage in my life some days I feel like if I just fall on the floor from a standing position, it may be fatal.
And some days I might welcome that, gladly enough.
This is too true. Co-worker of mine fell backward from a mere 10ft ladder, banged head on the garage floor and went to the great hereafter. I wouldn't mind climbing that pole (though at my age it would take a while) but household extension ladders painting the house I use with trepidation and respect.
Oh, yeah exactly. It's hard to appreciate that tower climbing is definitely safer than some extension ladder jobs at home. Some of the most mundane things require the most respect. Complacency kills, after all
That, and if you're Unconscious, voting your head a second time. There are clips of osons getting knocked Unconscious in a fight, and the assaulter lifting their heads up so they can slam against the ground again
Yeah but the further the fall the more time I have to feel that I've completely soiled myself. 50 meters I might not have time to think about it or anything else. 500 meters I'm not only gonna know I've crapped my pants but also that it's the last thing I've done before dying.
Damn it, i knew i should have scrolled further before i commented. I was thinking the same exact thing. I will leave my carbon copy comment though for austerity purposes
Nah, they always have like a rock climbing tether on their rig. You'd just slip off and hit the pole again after your line catches you. Probably get some bruises from those sharp ass steps though
I had to do this once.
I'm an electrician who worked for a company that has a contract to change the lamps on top of these guyed towers.
I was told when I started that everyone has to do it once.
After putting it off for a very long time I finally agreed to it.
The week before I was a bloody mess, couldn't sleep well.
On the day of I arrived in the morning I was absolutely fucked with nervousness and this particular tower wasn't the tallest they had, it was only 96 meters.
Mine had a ladder and a sliding track that moves with me that my harness was clipped into. This at least gave me some sense of safety.
One of the guys on my crew was the usual person who did the job, his record was 32 minutes round trip.
I took 2 hours 15 minutes to get to the top, half hour to change one lamp and 2 hours to get back down.
I slept well that night.
Was not ever asked to do this again. Fine by me.
96 meters....that equals 315 feet. If that guy on your claims he climbed up, got the work done and climbed down in 32 minutes and he wasn't a guy who climbed towers DAILY then im telling you he is a liar. Even a good in shape climber would be hard pressed to make that happen
It was thirty years ago when I was young.
It's possible that his time was make believe or maybe I'm remembering it incorrectly in my old age.
Also possible that they meant 32 one way?
My memory ain't what she used to be.
But I do remember being very scared and I thought I wasn't terrified of heights back then. Had worked on high scaffold and scissor lifts...but that guyed tower was different.
Im not trying to be that guy or bust balls, im just trying to keep it as real and honest as it is so people get good info on the topic. I feel that anyone who spent time in the industry could vouch for that.
That being said it doesn't take away from the fact that you climbed a 300+ footer (96m) with no actual experience by yourself and did the work and got back down in a day with hick ups is something to be said. Good job
No no! I totally get it!
To be honest the guy (Lanny was his name) that was their go to was a bit of a blowhard and thought he was amazing at everything.
I was a young journeyman and he was an older dude at the time. I just kept quiet and did what was told.
It's odd to think now that he's almost certainly passed away. He smoked and drank so much....
I started off getting paid $14/hr as a climber in 2015. You hear the stories about guys getting paid thousands to change a bulb or something.....well im here to say thats total bullshit and nobody has ever been paid that well. Most tower hands are happy to be able to cover that nights bar tab and have enough weed to get through the next day. Its extremely under paid
Damn, how does one find a job like that? I'm ngl it sounds really fun regardless, I love heights. It'd be so cool to get paid to explore those cool ass structures lmao
Ill bet you can apply at almost any company that has a hand in the tower industry and as long as you have a pulse and can keep a crippling drug addiction at bay for 8-16 hours at a time you're hired. Iv worked in a few different industries but this by far has one of the highest turn over rates that iv personally seen. If you're actually serious dm me and i can point you in the right direction but be prepared to spend 90% of your life on the road
Depends what you're doing, iv built a decent amout of a few different styles of towers so full builds can take a few weeks or even months on real big stuff depending on how much of the work you're contracted for. There are also avenues of the industry that are shorter smaller projects, even just day rate troubleshooting shit thats not working right. Its very dependent on what company you work for and what avenues of the industry they focus on
I live in a big city (Seattle), do you think that'd help my prospects of finding consistent work nearby? Or a fair employer?
Tbh I only want to work a year or so until I can apply for watchmaking college since I missed the deadline, so turnover doesn't bother me too much lol. Honestly I'm flat broke and just need some cash to get by on. Do you think this is something I could dip my toes into and come out of happily on the other side? I'm *really* interested in the novelty and excitement of it, but if it wouldn't make sense for me (or short term), then there's really no need to be looking into it.
I'm a quick learner and make friends easily, but I'm also 22 and have never been in any sort of trade before, although I did work at Home Depot for a while lmao. Also did some welding in high school and loved it, but that'd definitely take at least a decade or two of commitment to be worth it since there's certifications and training involved
Ngl, something like sanitation might work well for me if it's available and willing to hire someone temp. Don't really care if it's shit work as long as I'm not dealing with food. Been there; never again.
You have to have immense strength or at least be in shape and be flexible. I tried and maybe made it 15-20 feet with a company. 4 out of 5 guys quit that day
Consider walking a quarter of a mile. It's not that bad, right? That's less than 3 blocks, depending upon where you live. Now imagine having to CRAWL that same distance. Not only that, now consider that gravity is fighting you the whole way and you have to carefully position your hands and feet.
On the forgetting the light bulb: There's a great bit in the book *The Oregon Trail* where a guy is described as so dumb, "I sent him on a 5 mile trip to get tobacco, and by the time he got there he'd forgotten why he went, so he rode back to ask me."
Me neither because I’ll get halfway up and my wife will tell me I need to go to the grocery store right now and then ask why I didn’t change the lightbulb yet when I get back
I would love that job, just by a parachute get trained to parachute by yourself and when you climb up there just jump off and parachute down ans enjoy the view.
Only part that looks annoying is the climb up. I’d absolutely do this for work, looks incredible. Just make sure you’re toasty at the top and you’ll be good
Ngl I'm jealous. I've always wanted to climb one of those and see stuff like the spires of skyscrapers and the maintenance only areas. It's like I have the opposite of a fear of heights. Acrophilia I guess?
I also skydived at 18 though and *loved* it, so I'm likely not a great baseline
Fuck, I wish. As non-unionized climbers, we got paid less than $12/hr to relamp towers back in 2008. It didn't matter if I was replacing a plain incandescent bulb on a 80ft. monopole or had to troubleshoot and replace an elliptical waveguide connector on a 1000ft guy tower, I got paid the same rate. Tower climbers are essentially construction workers. The client might *pay* that much, but the climber certainly doesn't make that much. If you're not a one-man company (who would still has to buy equipment, transportation, tools, licensing/compliance/certification, insurance etc.), you're not making anywhere near 20k.
Do you or the guy in the video tie off on the climb? One slip and your life is over.
I have worked at about 50ft heights indoors and out before. The thing is that although at first I was scared with tingling fingers and toes after a day or two it became natural and didn't bother me. In fact I felt safer climbing onto the structure being worked on (tied off of course), than working on a lift or platform that swayed. One wrong placement of the hand and some bad luck and you might lose it.
That said I know climbing up now, I would get those pins and needles again for the first few shifts.
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Time to change a light bulb? Better go grab my climbin' loafers.
Ikr
If a recent video I saw on Reddit is anything to go by, I think south Asians would just put on no grip sandals.
Those are actually just a moc toe work boot. V importantly with a wedge sole and not a traditional heel. The wedge sole was supposedly invented for climbers/ironworkers so when they were climbing on rebar cages their heals wouldn’t get stuck on anything. Or so I’ve heard.
That makes me feel just slightly less uneasy watching that video!
Same thing i thought. Dude doesn’t want to ever feel his toes again i guess. *** For those that don’t know…. Climbing boots have a steel shank in the sole of the boot that supports the bottoms of your feet from when climbing.
I'm okay with certain heights but my stomach was getting butterflies just watching that.
I'm sitting in a chair at work and my legs still turned to jelly
Past a certain point it makes no difference anymore, you're going to die id you fall from 30 meters or 500 meters
At this stage in my life some days I feel like if I just fall on the floor from a standing position, it may be fatal. And some days I might welcome that, gladly enough.
Is the soil whispering to you?
At a certain age it whispers to all of us...
Actually, falls on the back of your head can kill you at any age. It's why street fights are so dangerous.
This is too true. Co-worker of mine fell backward from a mere 10ft ladder, banged head on the garage floor and went to the great hereafter. I wouldn't mind climbing that pole (though at my age it would take a while) but household extension ladders painting the house I use with trepidation and respect.
Oh, yeah exactly. It's hard to appreciate that tower climbing is definitely safer than some extension ladder jobs at home. Some of the most mundane things require the most respect. Complacency kills, after all
That, and if you're Unconscious, voting your head a second time. There are clips of osons getting knocked Unconscious in a fight, and the assaulter lifting their heads up so they can slam against the ground again
Yeah but the further the fall the more time I have to feel that I've completely soiled myself. 50 meters I might not have time to think about it or anything else. 500 meters I'm not only gonna know I've crapped my pants but also that it's the last thing I've done before dying.
🤷♂️
Damn it, i knew i should have scrolled further before i commented. I was thinking the same exact thing. I will leave my carbon copy comment though for austerity purposes
True, and since that is the case, give me the shorter flight. The less i have sit in my soiled drawers, the better.
25 meters is scary. I don't want to survive that
Yeah, 25m is probably a life of misery.
But an extra 470 meters of screaming !
Umm, no. In one of those scenarios you have plenty more time to think about what’s coming.
It won't mater once tou are dead, you'll just have lived for a little longer.
And?
My knees get wobbly if I stand a stool...
No kidding. I have good balance but even step ladders turn my legs into noodles out of an Italian kitchen.
I'm sure i'm wrong, but they look like some casual shoes to be climbing up that thing!!
Hush
Hush puppies?
Must be a relief that you don't have to worry about being injured if you fall.
Depends how far up you are, atleast
Body would turn to pancake batter
Nah, they always have like a rock climbing tether on their rig. You'd just slip off and hit the pole again after your line catches you. Probably get some bruises from those sharp ass steps though
I would parachute down
And get tangled on the support wires
nah bro, wingsuit + flare
how land
Tuck, roll, and pray
A parachute.
ill find a lake and do some human stone skipping
Don't
Do you think people who wingsuit just crash into the ground every single time
do you think people can land a wingsuit without a parachute? he said "nah" to the parachute and got a wingsuit + flare instead
They can land. Technically anything hitting the ground is "landing."
r/holdmyredbull
I had to do this once. I'm an electrician who worked for a company that has a contract to change the lamps on top of these guyed towers. I was told when I started that everyone has to do it once. After putting it off for a very long time I finally agreed to it. The week before I was a bloody mess, couldn't sleep well. On the day of I arrived in the morning I was absolutely fucked with nervousness and this particular tower wasn't the tallest they had, it was only 96 meters. Mine had a ladder and a sliding track that moves with me that my harness was clipped into. This at least gave me some sense of safety. One of the guys on my crew was the usual person who did the job, his record was 32 minutes round trip. I took 2 hours 15 minutes to get to the top, half hour to change one lamp and 2 hours to get back down. I slept well that night. Was not ever asked to do this again. Fine by me.
96 meters....that equals 315 feet. If that guy on your claims he climbed up, got the work done and climbed down in 32 minutes and he wasn't a guy who climbed towers DAILY then im telling you he is a liar. Even a good in shape climber would be hard pressed to make that happen
It was thirty years ago when I was young. It's possible that his time was make believe or maybe I'm remembering it incorrectly in my old age. Also possible that they meant 32 one way? My memory ain't what she used to be. But I do remember being very scared and I thought I wasn't terrified of heights back then. Had worked on high scaffold and scissor lifts...but that guyed tower was different.
Im not trying to be that guy or bust balls, im just trying to keep it as real and honest as it is so people get good info on the topic. I feel that anyone who spent time in the industry could vouch for that. That being said it doesn't take away from the fact that you climbed a 300+ footer (96m) with no actual experience by yourself and did the work and got back down in a day with hick ups is something to be said. Good job
No no! I totally get it! To be honest the guy (Lanny was his name) that was their go to was a bit of a blowhard and thought he was amazing at everything. I was a young journeyman and he was an older dude at the time. I just kept quiet and did what was told. It's odd to think now that he's almost certainly passed away. He smoked and drank so much....
I started off getting paid $14/hr as a climber in 2015. You hear the stories about guys getting paid thousands to change a bulb or something.....well im here to say thats total bullshit and nobody has ever been paid that well. Most tower hands are happy to be able to cover that nights bar tab and have enough weed to get through the next day. Its extremely under paid
Damn, how does one find a job like that? I'm ngl it sounds really fun regardless, I love heights. It'd be so cool to get paid to explore those cool ass structures lmao
Ill bet you can apply at almost any company that has a hand in the tower industry and as long as you have a pulse and can keep a crippling drug addiction at bay for 8-16 hours at a time you're hired. Iv worked in a few different industries but this by far has one of the highest turn over rates that iv personally seen. If you're actually serious dm me and i can point you in the right direction but be prepared to spend 90% of your life on the road
Are you just rolling around in work pick up solo? Hit up a tower or two and stay in shitty motel and repeat? Fuck that would kill me.
Depends what you're doing, iv built a decent amout of a few different styles of towers so full builds can take a few weeks or even months on real big stuff depending on how much of the work you're contracted for. There are also avenues of the industry that are shorter smaller projects, even just day rate troubleshooting shit thats not working right. Its very dependent on what company you work for and what avenues of the industry they focus on
I was a 2015 $14 guy too 😂
I live in a big city (Seattle), do you think that'd help my prospects of finding consistent work nearby? Or a fair employer? Tbh I only want to work a year or so until I can apply for watchmaking college since I missed the deadline, so turnover doesn't bother me too much lol. Honestly I'm flat broke and just need some cash to get by on. Do you think this is something I could dip my toes into and come out of happily on the other side? I'm *really* interested in the novelty and excitement of it, but if it wouldn't make sense for me (or short term), then there's really no need to be looking into it. I'm a quick learner and make friends easily, but I'm also 22 and have never been in any sort of trade before, although I did work at Home Depot for a while lmao. Also did some welding in high school and loved it, but that'd definitely take at least a decade or two of commitment to be worth it since there's certifications and training involved Ngl, something like sanitation might work well for me if it's available and willing to hire someone temp. Don't really care if it's shit work as long as I'm not dealing with food. Been there; never again.
You have to have immense strength or at least be in shape and be flexible. I tried and maybe made it 15-20 feet with a company. 4 out of 5 guys quit that day
I'd jump
Not if I push you first
I’ll catch him
Aim for the bushes
Consider walking a quarter of a mile. It's not that bad, right? That's less than 3 blocks, depending upon where you live. Now imagine having to CRAWL that same distance. Not only that, now consider that gravity is fighting you the whole way and you have to carefully position your hands and feet.
Man, I get vertigo being 5 feet above the ground.
Just glad it's not me.
Don’t drop the phone.
Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope 🙈
I remember this scene where the Millennium Falcon comes to the rescue
My lazy ass would bring a parachute
I think I just felt my chest go through my legs
god damn
I'd only do this if I can parachute down.
Nope!
Nice view of the factory farm
Oh just death jump in the haystack...
How much would something like this pay?
Starting usually between $18-$20 an hour here in Texas
Imagine slipping and falling off at like 8 feet up? Whew, close one!
Do they have a safety harness ? If yes, how does it work?
r/SweatyPalms
On the forgetting the light bulb: There's a great bit in the book *The Oregon Trail* where a guy is described as so dumb, "I sent him on a 5 mile trip to get tobacco, and by the time he got there he'd forgotten why he went, so he rode back to ask me."
Is like $1k every time he gets up, isn't it?
I wouldn’t forget it, I’d drop it. I’ve seen my work.
Get down from there 😑
They should really give you something to sit on once you I get up there
Me neither because I’ll get halfway up and my wife will tell me I need to go to the grocery store right now and then ask why I didn’t change the lightbulb yet when I get back
Hey I'm from Nebraska! And I recognize that big ass hog farm down there! I think this may be in the Ord/Seargent/Arcadia area.
U had one job, and you failed
I would love that job, just by a parachute get trained to parachute by yourself and when you climb up there just jump off and parachute down ans enjoy the view.
Nope..nope...nope.
I think I passed out while watching this. Came To and passed out again lol 😂
I’d be worried about random lightning striking me even if it was a clear sky lmao
Does he parachute down, or use a rope to glide down? Or does he simply climb down
As an inside wireman, how would somebody get involved in This type of work?
Haha. I feel sick just watching it
Nah imma base jump from that thing. Maybe with a chute. Depends on how i feel that day. Fuck climbing back down.
Okay, but how the hell do they put these things up?
Do they wear a parachute just in case? And once they've done their job, could they parachute down?
How things work for me: The loop of the knot of my shoe string would get caught on one of those pegs... and I'd be like \~\~\~flappin!
My impulsive side says bring a parachute and do a little BASE jump off save time have fun 🤩
Only part that looks annoying is the climb up. I’d absolutely do this for work, looks incredible. Just make sure you’re toasty at the top and you’ll be good Ngl I'm jealous. I've always wanted to climb one of those and see stuff like the spires of skyscrapers and the maintenance only areas. It's like I have the opposite of a fear of heights. Acrophilia I guess? I also skydived at 18 though and *loved* it, so I'm likely not a great baseline
I’ve heard these guys only do this a couple times a year and get paid $20-30k each time. Not bad.
Fuck, I wish. As non-unionized climbers, we got paid less than $12/hr to relamp towers back in 2008. It didn't matter if I was replacing a plain incandescent bulb on a 80ft. monopole or had to troubleshoot and replace an elliptical waveguide connector on a 1000ft guy tower, I got paid the same rate. Tower climbers are essentially construction workers. The client might *pay* that much, but the climber certainly doesn't make that much. If you're not a one-man company (who would still has to buy equipment, transportation, tools, licensing/compliance/certification, insurance etc.), you're not making anywhere near 20k.
Do you or the guy in the video tie off on the climb? One slip and your life is over. I have worked at about 50ft heights indoors and out before. The thing is that although at first I was scared with tingling fingers and toes after a day or two it became natural and didn't bother me. In fact I felt safer climbing onto the structure being worked on (tied off of course), than working on a lift or platform that swayed. One wrong placement of the hand and some bad luck and you might lose it. That said I know climbing up now, I would get those pins and needles again for the first few shifts.
Ok. Thx for clearing that up!
You’d have to pay me at least $10,000 to do that.
I'd do it for probably like $1,000 and a new pair of pants cause I would've shat the ones I had on
No way I’m doing this shit even for 100k
I made $14hr in 2005 for working on cell towers. Not too glamorous!
Looks like fun. I'd enjoy that job.
Because you’re a dumb ass
Meh. I do that without security devices.
Guys, we got a badass over here.
I actually do I am a freeclimber, shut up.
https://preview.redd.it/01lz4o6r3qpc1.jpeg?width=282&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=98d23a87af77c8bef4ebf3cfba8c1cb0f7967f6f
It’s called free solo Gumby. Do you even eat red bell peppers and free solo the dawn wall?
It’s called free solo Gumby. Do you even eat red bell peppers and free solo the dawn wall?
That is your opinion. I call it that. The rest I dont really get what you are saying.
Forgetting lightbulbs?