I dont think I ever seen a bucket til I was 5th step.
I did everything out of hooks for two years before I ever saw a bucket. The lineman was always in the bucket. Built a lot of subt with underbuild. We use to clip and soft side in hooks never in a bucket. Even the foreman would clip in his tools. And the oldest guy would be in the bucket. If there were a five or 6 man crew, the grunt woyld lay out the ties and the connectors for the static or neutral at every pole. And we would compete who could get the most. It was fun. Miss it. Learning to rig with hooks is how you learn. Putting an aprentice in a bucket right off will make another ****ty lineman and we have enough of those.