Bosun's Chair Recall

West Marine has just issued a recall notice for what appears to be the entire line of WM branded bosun's chairs. It seems the webbing used in these chairs may not be adequate to support a climber. If you own one, stop using it and contact WM about the recall. I bought their "Professional" model last year and took it back yesterday for a full refund. I'm now shopping for a replacement and have my eye on the Spinlock Mast Pro Climbing Harness. Any feedback on that product or other methods of going aloft would be appreciated.

Good heads-up! I wonder how far back that recall will go.

Having done a fair amount of rock climbing I've utilized my seat sling harness for going aloft and the chest harness for an ondeck safety harness. If it's rated for climbing it's more than adequate for boat use. I've never tried a bosuns chair but they do have added advatages, like tool storage..

I used to use the harness shown below, sold by Brion Toss Rigging Services. It's basically a very comfortable professional rescue harness, that Brion has slightly modified for rigging use. Highly recommended, but pricey, with the current price at about $380 or so. (Ouch!)

I wrote about using this harness in:

http://www.boatus.com/goodoldboat/upthemast.asp

Basically any rescue harness, as opposed to climbing harness, would work just fine. The difference is in the padding and weight. Climbers put up with thin padding and pain because they don't want the weight, but for working aloft you want to be comfortable to be able to stand long sit times.

A good place to look might be the On Rope catalog, where they have a nice looking PMI harness for $170: http://www.onrope1.com/store/index.php?p=product&id=111&parent=8

Another source is: http://www.rocknrescue.com/

The Spinlock harness looks quite good, but from the photos it appears to have much less padding than the rescue models. Believe me, that matters after about 20 minutes! But I strongly agree with your idea to get a good harness, as the feeling of security you get from using one is SO much more than what you experience with a Bosun's chair.

i bought a WM chair last fall. (there's a pun in there somewhere.) looks it's off to the dealer today for a refund, thanks for the notice!

Thanks for the heads up I have one a well new used it once sent a friend up the mast glad it did not fail.

Here's the recall link: http://www.taylormadeproducts.com/recalls.html

Thanks, Laura!
I checked the model # on ours and then took it in yesterday. Interestingly enough, they now have none in stock to sell...
I was given a tad over $109. back for the one I turned in.
Perhaps the webbing would have been OK, but I do not want to be a "crash test dummy" from 50 feet off the deck.

I stopped by a local rigging loft to ask what they use and was told that it is a Petzl harness, sold for use by arborists. More expensive than most of the marine stuff in the stores, though.

http://en.petzl.com/petzl/ProProduits?Produit=656
It looked kind of like this one.

Looks like I have some shopping to do, and quickly... That fore deck light bulb is still burned out, up there on my spar...


Thanks again,
Loren

I bought one from Port Townsend - from Brion Toss Yacht Riggers - thing was built like a tank. You could hang upside down, and it would not drop you out, and had a HUGE amount of hang time on it!

I combined this with a 3:1 ratcheting block set up and 150' of yacht braid - resulting in a self-climbing harness that did not put any strain or wear on my halyards...

//sse