I don't mind wearing sleeves when it's tight but can they build the straps better?

[bobbo]

Those straps only break when you are at the midpoint of doing something delicate and harry. I think mine broke for a 100 the time this year. I eventually put rope in them. It's just ignorant they haven't come up with a beefed design in thirty years. When they break I finish what I have to do, get in the clear and whipthem on the ground and just wear my gloves. Then the foreman reminds me I must wear them, then I tell him start fixing them. Of course he doesn't have spare buttons. Then he has gotta dig his out for a button, which is buried in his pick up box. And I just keep working then I am done. And he is still looking for his gloves and buttons. Don't care about the BS anymore. It's ridiculous.

Single phase I don't understand why you have to wear them you are dealing with one wire. Or delta with two and eight foot spacing. Just crazy now.

dont understand the sleeves for secondary. Just use tape for bare spots or secondary blankets. Open wire has the only hazards really. Triplex just bend your connection points in the clear. A good pair of dry Kunz are fine. Don't understand sleeves for secondary.

and why an outage on a broken arm? Unless it was a climber and the voltage too high, or it was the only way. Now I do things hot more because all the hoops you got to go through to do it dead. All the phone calls and arrangements. REAs don't have all that management as the big utilities. You can do anything if the customer isn't home or a knock on a door. Rural people are nice and accommodating.

[T-Man]

Sleeves are important protection but they don't protect as much as a lot of guys think. They get tested by hanging them over a vat of fluid with an electrode stick down the inside of the sleeve. The rod only goes down the sleeve about as far as the cuff of the glove is maybe 4 inches from the end of the sleeve or a little more. Then the sleeve is dipped into the vat of fluid not going over the lowest point of the sleeve near the armpit. So from about an inch below the armpit to the button holes at the shoulder they are not electrically tested maybe the top 10 inches of the sleeve is just visually checked, then from the cuff end up to maybe 4-5 inches is not tested either. So the middle 20 inches or so is the only area tested. We had a few different rules for sleeves way back when you got within reach of energized conductors you wore sleeves, then there was a period of ground to ground, and then before I retired it was back to within reach. I never had a button come loose, the straps we had were two different styles one was all one piece with a head hole and four tabs coming off, the other style was separate straps front and back. I had both and liked the separate ones better but never a problem like you are having. That would be frustrating. T

[lewy]

Have never wore sleeves and don't think I will ever have to. I really can't see the need for them with proper cover up which should be used any way, why would you be reaching past the phase you are working on where you would need sleeves?

[rob8210]

I had to wear sleeves the year I worked in the states, because it was the rules. I did not see the need for it then and I do not see the need for it now. If a fella takes his time and does his job properly there is no need to be reaching past your gloves to do anything. Nothing against you fellas that wear sleeves, you are just following rules.