Don't Get Carried-Away - Grab This

While touring the Mesa Arizona Arts Center (which is a fantastic set of four venues:  www.mesaartscenter.com) the Technical Director, Robby Elliot, showed me a simple rig that they use to prevent unexpected run-aways in the fly system.  Robby explained that due to the short time constraints imposed during some show strike operations, sometimes the stage crew gets ahead of the fly crew when unloading the battens.  This leaves the counterweight arbors heavy and prone to accidents while the weight loading crew plays catch-up.

To make the system safer, they install a Ultra-Safe rope grab (www.ultrasafeusa.com/pdfs/US-5000%20manual.pdf) on the hauling lines and anchor it to the locking rail with a SpanSet type roundsling (www.spanset-usa.com/lifting-steeltex.cfm) and an Omega Pacific HMS Jake 3-Stage Lock-action Carabiner (www.omegapac.com/itemdetail.php?id=59&secid=25).  They chose the Ultra-Safe US-5000 rope grab because it is designed to fit over the hauling line ropes (it will fit up to 3/4" diameter ropes).

When a rope lock is released (or slips!) the rope grab will hold the line until the line set is restored to a balanced condition.  Flexible, easy to move around, and simple to train the users on.

Those aren't all they're cracked-up to be.

Modern rope locks are made from formed & welded steel plates. Older ones were made with cast metal and are more prone to stress cracks, and ultimately failure. Another good reason to do an annual inspection! Never load you rope locks to more than the recommended 50 pounds - keep your sets balanced and 'in-weight'. The rope lock may be stronger, but do you really want to find-out? This is also why you don't want to use your rope locks for rope brakes -- a dynamic load like a moving set and/or counterweight carraige can place much more strain on a rope lock than you would ever imagine.