Pro Sound Web: Whether it’s a shackle, a hoist, a crane, or a beefy fly frame, never forget that everything breaks. The only question is under what load and under what conditions.
To address this issue, the rigging industry has adopted the term “SWL,” which stands for Safe Working Load. You might also see “WLL,” which stands for Working Load Limit. When you purchase a shackle, a pairing ring, or a length of wire rope, they’ll all carry a load rating - unless they are cheap copies of the real thing.
3 comments:
Well one thing my Mom has always told me is, "that you get what you buy." She was talking about the quality of the product in comparisons to the cost. Just as this article pointed out you can purchase the same item from two different vendors and have two completely different quality of products in your hands. I have just recently become aware of the importance of certain products and what you should/shouldn't purchase. The article had some very helpful and important information to remember, and was also very nice reminder of what you SHOULD do when rigging.
I learned a lot from this article. The rating and directional force stuff I was aware of, but I had no idea companies that made knock offs for these kinds of things existed. You would think that they would be required to list a safety rating on any hardware like that, or that there would be enough lawsuits against companies that did that to scare them off or make it not worth trying to compete in a market where the strength of something is necessary and so paying extra for it is not only worth it but necessary. The thing about reeving is not something i was aware of. Although it is seemingly counter intuitive after thinking through it I understand why that would be true. definitely a useful article
This last summer while working on lifeguard vessels on a lake I got into a fun debate with a senioring lifeguard who tried to enforce that I not use a shackle with tension on the head and pin but instead the tension pulling on the sides of the anchor. It ended in him asking me to directly use it tension on the sides of the shackle. This article would have been useful to tell him he was being an idiot but as any seniority rank goes i just had to follow orders.
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