Sling Provides Secure Grip on Tapered Utility Poles

Enlarge Image The BoaGrip's polymer bars grip tightly onto dry or wet surfaces.

January 11, 2006 -- Safe Shop Tools, Inc., Missoula, Mont., has unveiled the newest version of its BoaGrip™ below-the-hook rigging sling, which uses patented grippers to hold tight to the shaft of any kind of utility pole, including tapered or straight, metal or wood, wet or dry.

 

According to the company, this product, which has a rated capacity of 1,900 pounds, solves the common problem utility workers have when it comes to difficulty in getting a good grip on the shaft of a tapered pole, which often means the crew has to spend time clamping the truck's boom to the shaft of the pole. The only alternative was to fasten a sling to the pole's cross arm (if one existed) — but that required an extra crewmember to keep the bottom of the pole from kicking out. 

 

Safe Shop officials say the BoaGrip solves the problem by using patented, slip-resistant polymer traction bars. Even if a pole's shaft is tapered, SuperStick™ grippers hold fast. When the BoaGrip is slipped around a pole and pulled taught, the tool's polymer grippers are forced onto the pole's surface; more force produces an even tighter grip. Now crews can pick a spot anywhere above the “tipping point,” fasten the sling, and be ready to lift • without clamping or jerry rigging.

 

The BoaGrip's Double-D link ensures that the gripping surface is held flat all the way around the pole. Its inner link keeps the sling's opposing gripper surfaces separate, so that  the BoaGrip won't bind or bunch when pulled.

 

For more information, visit www.boagrip.com.