Category Archives: Rigging

Aerial Rigging – What You Don’t Know Could Kill You

By LewitwerAugust 4, 20165 commentsRigging

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Laura and Angela with a big old bunch of biners!

Aaaaand we’re back to the aerial teaching thread! (Did you miss the first few posts? Catch up! Click here and here. )

Today friends, we’re chatting about what EVERY aerial instructor (and student, for that matter) should know about aerial rigging. I quite genuinely don’t care if you “only teach for XYZ Studio and they handle all of the rigging” – you have a responsibility to yourself and your students to know the basics. See a hole in your knowledge (or your fabrics)? Fix it pronto!

Rigging Basics

As a coach, you should be able to:

Identify equipment & it’s proper use.
- It’s not enough to know the name of your apparatus (and, for the record, tissu is the curtain you climb, tissue is what you blow your nose with).
- You should know the industry terms for ALL your equipment (shackles, carabiner, span set, swivel, rescue 8, etc.).
- You should understand how each piece was designed to be used (including contraindications), and be able to select the “right tool for the job”.
Understand common rigging terms such as bridle, basket, choke, etc.
Tie common knots such as the bowline, figure 8 loop, and clove hitch.
Maintain & inspect equipment, and keep a rigging inspection log.
Have written standards in place for retiring equipment.
Understand of how shock loads in dynamic movement affect the body & rigging (ex: are you teaching a drop to double ankle hang from a dead hung rig on a low-stretch fabric? It’s back to basics for you, m’dear!)
Explain clearly and concisely why we do not rig and teach from trees.
Teach your students about what they’re hanging from. Take every opportunity to educate your behbehs on equipment inspection, hardware, angles, knots, etc.

Now – if I walked into your studio and asked you, or the instructors that work for you, any of the above questions, would we have an awkward moment? From some of the conversations I occasionally have, my guess is yes…. But, it doesn’t have to be this way, friends!

Closing the Gaps in Your Aerial Rigging Knowledge

So, you’re not rock solid in a few areas (or more than a few). What do you do?

Become a pro-active sponge. Be relentless in your pursuit of rigging knowledge, and take gaps in your understanding seriously. DON’T be an idiot and pretend that you know more than you do – that’s how people get hurt. Not sure what you don’t know? Then….
Take a workshop. Jonathan Deull, Delbert Hall, Bill Auld, and many other EXCELLENT aerial riggers have started offering fantastic workshops for aerialists. If they come anywhere near you, run to sign up – they’re worth every penny and more.
Get up close and personal with a rigger.
- If you’re on an event with a professional rigger doing your set-up, ask them to walk you through the rig (they will probably offer anyway). Don’t be afraid to politely ask questions! In ye days of olde, when I was on tour, we had some phenomenal riggers (Tracy Nunnaly and Bill Auld) who not only answered all our questions, but went WAY out of their way to educate us about everything from angles to equipment.
- Schedule a private lesson. Many riggers will teach a one-on-one or group session in basic rigging for a very reasonable fee.
- Cultivate a good relationship with several excellent aerial riggers – you should have at least two on speed dial.
Scour the interwebs. You can find a number of great resources! One of my favorites is Delbert Hall’s FlyWire newsletter – a must for aerialists!
Be more social. The Safety in Aerial Arts FaceBook group is a great place to read up on best practices, ask questions (please search before you ask – you’re probably not the first person to have your question), and connect with top riggers in the industry.
Have a regular rigging training/refresher for your instructors. Invite a pro to do a rigging workshop in your space, and/or hire a certified rigger to come in once a year to a) do an inspection of your space and b) make sure all your instructors have a solid understanding of what’s keeping everyone in the air.

Rigging is kind of important (!!!), but green instructors often consider it peripheral – preferring to focus on trick-collecting and pointy toes. You can’t see me right now, but I have on my serious “Laura Means Business” face. RIGGING IS NOT PERIPHERAL KNOWLEDGE, IT IS ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE.

Your mission for this week? Pick out one thing above and order it, sign up for it, learn it, do it, schedule it, juggle it, etc. I’m going to brush up my knots and make sure they’re still tight and right. What are YOU going to focus on? Do you have a favorite resource I didn’t mention? Love and pull-ups, Laura

As always, if you like this post, share it on your blog, the F-books, Twitter, and wherever else you crazy kids are sharing things these days.

How Carabiners Are Made

By LewitwerDecember 3, 2013Rigging, Supplies, Uncategorized

I found this fascinating, Dear Danglers! Hope you do too! Love and pull-ups, Laura

Rigging From Trees – Magical or Moronic?

By LewitwerAugust 1, 20135 commentsRigging, Safety, Uncategorized

With summer in full swing, the hot topic of the week is:

“Is it a good idea to rig from trees?”

GREAT question! Is it safe? Why is there so much controversy? I see so-and-so doing it, so what’s the big deal? More great questions! Let’s chat!

The Allure of Trees

What aerialist hasn’t looked at a gorgeous tree branch and thought, “Man, I would love to hang on that!” Trees are beautiful, seem strong, and totally whisper to our just-a-little-bit-and-sometimes-a-whole-lot-granola side. And don’t we all have fabulous memories hurling ourselves off a tire swing or rope into a river? Or climbing until we were positively giddy with our own daring? Besides, it seems like a super cheap alternative to renting studio time. Why shouldn’t we just grab a branch and get to making the fabulous?

The Problem With Trees

It’s not that you CAN’T rig safely from trees – for sure, it can be done. The big question is, do YOU have the expertise to do it? Unless you’re a professional rigger with an arborist for a best friend, I seriously doubt it. It comes down to what all aerial rigging comes down to: accurately assessing the structural integrity of an overhead anchor, understanding the forces likely to be placed on it, and then rigging accordingly.

Accurately assessing the overhead anchor – Are you SURE you know what’s happening inside that branch? Do you know signs of disease in trees? What about how weather conditions (lots of rain, drought, etc) affect them? How to check for signs of distress in the branch you want to hang from? There are SO MANY things that factor into the health of the tree.

Understanding the forces likely to be placed on it – How familiar are you with rigging REALLY? Do you understand how much force you generate when you climb? What about drops? Were you planning on crawling out on that branch and rigging 5 or 6 feet from the trunk with a span set and carabiner? Or, better yet, were you going to go out and choke your fabric directly to the branch? If you were thinking about doing either of these things, friend (and I say this with love), you have no idea what the hell you’re doing. Get off that poor tree. I’m not trying to ruin your fun, but there are a lot of complex factors at play here.

Where This All Leaves Us (Ha Ha – Get it? LEAVES?!)

The bottom line is that it’s a horrible idea to rig to ANYTHING if you don’t know what you’re dealing with. Most of the students who come to me with questions about trees do so because they’re looking for a cheaper alternative to studio space. HEAR ME NOW. By the time you hire a rigger, arborist, and purchase proper equipment, it’s unlikely to be a cheaper alternative. Know what’s also not cheap? Hospitals. Lawsuits. Funerals. Get what I’m saying? Don’t be a dufus. Don’t be an ARROGANT dufus. A wise aerialist knows the limit of their expertise, and respect it. For the sake of our community, I hope you’ll do the same. If you’re determined to rig from a tree – do it right. Hire professionals, or use a free-standing rig!

Here’s a great article (thank you Jordann Baker & Sadie Hawkins for posting this!) on tree rigging – give it a look. It really points out the particular challenges of rigging safely from our leafy friends without hurting the tree or us. Read it read it read it now! Love and pull-ups, Laura

Rigging From Trees Article

As always, if you like this post, share it on your blog, the F-books, Twitter, and wherever else you crazy kids are sharing things these days.

When to Retire Your Carabiners

By LewitwerApril 23, 20132 commentsRigging, Safety, Uncategorized

Hello Dear Danglers! The following was brought to my attention by one of my all-time favorite riggers (and all around great guy) Mr Bill Auld. Many of us have heard the whole “if you drop a carabiner from higher than waist height you should retire it” bit. That’s super extreme, ya’ll. Give the following a read, and you’ll see that it’s not quite that simple! Love and pull-ups, Laura

“This is a controversial topic that comes up every so often and which, due to the often singular importance of carabiners, is worth some further research.

If you want the one word executive summary, it would read; “No” (as in no, you don’t need to immediately discard dropped carabiners). If however you want to know when you should and shouldn’t, and why, then read on…”

READ THE REST OF THIS POST HERE!

UPDATE: If this was of interest to you, here are some more resources!

http://web.mit.edu/sp255/www/reference_vault/Fatigue_Presentation.pdf

http://www.rescuedynamics.ca/articles/pdfs/CarabinerWearTests.pdf

As always, if you like this post, share it on your blog, the F-books, Twitter, and wherever else you crazy kids are sharing things these days.

Destructive Testing of Aerial Fabric

By LewitwerApril 11, 20131 commentRigging, Uncategorized

Hey – ever wonder what happens when a fabric fails? How much force is needed to make that happen? How wear and tear affects a fabric’s strength?

A few years ago, I donated my very first fabric to Phil Servita and his Machine That Breaks Things. You can find the results here (I’m Destructive Test #2): http://flyingsquirrelconsortium.com/ptest2007/index.html. Really interesting!!!

Love and pullups, Laura

My poor fabric when it finally bit the dust!

As always, if you like this post, share it on your blog, the F-books, Twitter, and wherever else you crazy kids are sharing things these days.

Rig Bags – Why The TSA Loves Us

By LewitwerSeptember 8, 20111 commentRigging, Uncategorized

Raise your hand if you LOVE trying to explain to the TSA agents at airport security a) what the heck that heavy spinny screwy thing in your bag is and b) what you plan to do with it. OY! (Here’s a helpful hint – just tell them it’s rock climbing equipment, it’s more likely to get you through without having to pantomime a 90 minute show.) In any case, that bag they’re so carefully scrutinizing is your rig bag, and we’re going to chat about what you might want to have in there. This is a whopper of a topic, so expect more posts on this down the line.

First, your bag should be sturdy canvas, denim, or other heavy material. I like a zippered closure, and it’s really nice to have several pockets on the inside to separate out some of your gear. Speaking of gear, let’s get to it! Here’s what we bring to a “light” event, meaning we know ahead of time that we will only need the bare essentials (rigging to pre-hung truss for example). Remember – it’s better to be looking at it than looking for it!

steel carabiners (for load bearing points) in the appropriate size for your apparatus
aluminum carabiners (for non-load bearing points – to swag your apparatus off, for example)
span sets/slings of varying lengths (we prefer black for masking reasons, not because we’re New Yorkers)
at least one large span set with cable running through
tie line for ~~making yourself crazy when you tangle it~~ swagging equipment out, and at least one pulley
swivel(s)
duct or electrical tape to safety the gate on carabiners or keep them from flipping when swagged (also great for marking/identifying your equipment, or for shutting up that obnoxious guy who keeps asking you if you’ve ever tried trapeze naked)
assorted clips of varying sizes come in handy here and there
a small flashlight on a cord or a head lamp (you’ll look so cool)

Those are the basics! If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then you don’t need a rig bag, you need a rigger. Start educating yourself TODAY – your life depends on it. Happy dangling, my loves!

As always, if you like this post, share it on your blog, FB, Twitter, and wherever else you crazy kids are posting things these days!