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Hot take: I always thought the 'wrap your umbilical around your thigh' trick for river currents was just old-timer talk, but getting spun around near a dam intake in Pittsburgh last week made me try it.
That single wrap gave me just enough extra leverage to keep my hose bundle from getting sucked into the grate, so has anyone else got a weird trick that actually saved your gear or your hide?
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jesse_west1mo ago
My old crew used to swear by the "belt loop trick" for a dropped tool, and I always wrote it off. I watched a brand new wrench slide right off a belt and into a deep sump once. Now I always clip through a belt loop before the tool belt. It adds a second of delay that has saved a lot of gear from the abyss.
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wadefoster5d agoTop Commenter
That second of delay you're talking about, how often do you find yourself actually needing to undo it to grab a tool in a hurry? I started doing the belt loop thing a few months back after losing a crescent wrench to a creek. It's saved my gear twice now, but sometimes I feel like I'm fighting the clip when I need a tool fast. Does that ever bug you, or did you get used to the extra tug?
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oliverw461mo ago
Yeah, that "slide right off a belt" line got me. I was the same, thought it was just extra fuss. Then I lost a good pair of linesman pliers off a roof. They bounced once and went straight into a storm drain. Ever since, I run the clip through a jeans loop first. It’s a tiny bit of friction that stops that heart-sinking moment. Saved a tape measure just last week.
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