Tool and Gear Recommendations

Loadout Certified Note: When used with documented primary control points, this laser allows any QUALIFIED crew member to re-establish the same reference plane within 7 minutes at any point during a build. This DIRECTLY reduces cumulative errors in roof structures, truss systems, and decking systems.

Loadout Certified Note: once the constant plane is established with the rotary laser, the DW089CG is used to square the layout and align stage legs, tower bases, and remote blocks. The dual vertical beams make it significantly faster and more accurate to keep multiple structures square to one-another. A more affordable alternative is the DeWalt DW088CG (single vertical beam) if the second plane reference is not required for your workflow.

Loadout Certified Note: Steel tapes can stretch, kink, lose accuracy, corrode, and start to break apart, becoming hazardous to use over time. Lufkin fiberglass tapes have proven themselves to maintain accuracy in the most demanding weather and site conditions. The FE100D is our go-to for day-to-day work around the stage, G-Blocks, and deck footings because the engineer’s scale in 1/10 and 1/100 decimal graduations make it very easy to translate drawings and specs directly to the site. The FE300D becomes essential when confirming overall layout trueness or working with bigger and/or multi structure builds. Both sizes with engineer’s scales are required for professional, repeatable site layout that supports the Constant Plane standard.

Loadout Certified Note: This is the harness I live in on stadium and festival roofs. The FAST leg buckles mean I can get in and out without re-adjusting every morning, the CROLL is already built into the ventral point for rope ascents, and the gear loops and tool slots keep my kit organized up high. Fit it properly to your size and inspect the webbing, stitching, and fall indicator before every climb.

Loadout Certified Note: My fall-arrest lanyard is a Guardian twin leg. Two legs means I stay 100 percent tied off moving across steel and truss: clip the next anchor before you unclip the last. The clear shock pack is easy to check before I go up. Know your fall clearance before you tie off with any shock lanyard, never clip the unused leg back to your harness unless the manufacturer allows it, and retire it if the pack has deployed or the webbing is cut, burned, or glazed.

Loadout Certified Note: The GRILLON is what lets me lean back on a beam or around a truss chord and have both hands free to work. I keep it short, use it in double mode around steel, and still keep my fall-arrest lanyard connected. It is a positioning tool, not a replacement for fall arrest.

Loadout Certified Note: Suspension trauma is a real hazard after any fall, even a short one. These live on my harness at all times, they weigh next to nothing, and they do not get in the way. Practice deploying them on the ground, and have a rescue plan before anyone goes up.

Loadout Certified Note: A hard hat that falls off when you do is not protecting you. Up high you want a chinstrapped helmet that stays on, takes a headlamp for load-out, and is comfortable enough to wear all call.

Loadout Certified Note: Same idea as the VERTEX, just lighter on your neck over a long climb day. Pick the one that fits your head and your site's PPE rules.

Loadout Certified Note: On arena and stadium steel you do not always get a rated anchor where you need one. A beam anchor sized to the flange gives you one, as long as the steel itself is approved for the load. Check flange size before you send it up, and get the steel approved by whoever is responsible for the building.

Loadout Certified Note: For hauling bags, small motors, or setting up mechanical advantage on a rope pull, this is the one I reach for. It holds what you have gained between pulls, and it swivels, so the system does not fight you. Respect the rope clamp rating and the manufacturer's instructions; it is a hauling tool, not a fall-arrest device.

Loadout Certified Note: I run a GRIGRI on rope as a positioner, a self-belay I can lock off and adjust while I work. Be clear on what it is: Petzl designs the GRIGRI as a climbing belay device, and for rope access work Petzl recommends the RIG or I'D instead. Before you use one this way, read the manufacturer's instructions, check it against your employer's fall protection plan, and get trained on it. It does not replace your fall-arrest system. GRIGRI or GRIGRI +: either does this job; the + adds an anti-panic handle and a mode for slack management, at more weight and cost.

Loadout Certified Note: I keep it basic: small single pulleys, about 3 inches or smaller. They are light, full strength, and Prusik-minding, so you can build a haul or a progress capture with a hitch that tends itself. Match the pulley to your rope diameter, keep the sheaves clean, and stay inside the rating.

Loadout Certified Note: For hauling and rope systems you want static kernmantle, not climbing rope. Polyester holds up well to wet and dirty load-ins. Keep a log on every rope, keep it off sharp steel edges, and retire it when the sheath is damaged.

Loadout Certified Note: Auto-locking steel is what most of my carabiners are. The gate locks itself the moment you let go, it opens fast with gloves on, and steel takes the wear from truss and beams. Spine-loaded, gate closed and locked, check it every time.

Loadout Certified Note: I keep a few steel triple locks for connections that stay put or could rub against steel, where you want one more step before that gate can open. Load them on the spine, never across the gate.

Loadout Certified Note: Daisies are handy for staging gear and quick adjustments, but know what they are. GM says the pocket loops are only 3 kN and a daisy is never a personal anchor or a fall-arrest connection. Clip the end loop for anything structural and never clip two pockets with one carabiner.

Loadout Certified Note: If you want a daisy-style tether you can clip at any loop, this is the safer pick. It is static, so keep it at or below the anchor and stay on your fall-arrest system when there is any fall hazard.

Loadout Certified Note: When I say omnislings I mean plain sewn slings, and GM makes the ones I use. Nylon has a little stretch and handles abrasion better; Dyneema is lighter and thinner but has almost no stretch and a lower melting point, so keep it out of anything that could shock-load it and away from friction heat. Keep any soft goods off sharp steel edges or pad them, and do not tie knots in Dyneema.

Loadout Certified Note: A second steel option if you want an ANSI and NFPA rated carabiner with a bigger mouth for wide connections. Pick the gate type that matches your gloves and your work.

Loadout Certified Note: Every stagehand needs an 8 inch crescent, and up high it needs to be on a tether. Get one that is built tether-ready instead of drilling or taping your own.

Loadout Certified Note: I run a few different 1/2 inch ratchets, and what matters is the drive. Get one where a pin or push-button lock holds the socket on, not just a friction ring. A friction ring only grips until it wears or the socket takes a knock, and then the socket can pop off and drop. A locked drive means the socket stays on the tool until you release it. Use sockets with a detent groove so the lock has something to catch, change sockets somewhere secure, and tether the ratchet itself to a rated point on your harness. A dropped socket is still a dropped object.

Loadout Certified Note: A multitool covers the small stuff: cutting tie line, snipping zip ties, pulling a cotter pin. Run a tether on the lanyard ring when you are above anyone.

Loadout Certified Note: A knife you can reach and open with one gloved hand, clipped where it cannot fall. Keep it away from your live rope and lanyards.

Loadout Certified Note: For rope work, leather that can take heat off a rope beats a mechanic's glove. The cuff hole lets you clip them to your harness so they do not end up on the deck.

Loadout Certified Note: For pushing cases, handling truss, and general load-in, an impact glove saves your knuckles. Keep a separate leather pair for rope work.

Loadout Certified Note: Load-out happens in the dark. A helmet-mounted headlamp keeps both hands free, and the AAA backup means a dead battery does not end your night.

Loadout Certified Note: Anything above people gets tethered. A tether rated for the tool's weight, clipped to a rated point on your harness, is the difference between a dropped wrench and a near miss.

Loadout Certified Note: Most small tools do not come with a tether point. Tool tails give you one, but only up to the rated weight, and only if you install them the way Ergodyne says.

Loadout Certified Note: The small TOOLBAG is where the hardware lives: bolts, nuts, pins, a tape. It opens and closes with one hand, so you can grab what you need and shut it before you lean out. Close it every time. An open pouch on a beam is a dropped-object hazard.

Loadout Certified Note: The large TOOLBAG carries the day: wrenches, the ratchet and sockets, a hammer in the outside slot. Close it before you move. The bag only protects what is in it, so the tool in your hand still goes on a tether. Petzl rates it to 6 kg; do not overload it.

Loadout Certified Note: An open bolt bag is a dropped-object hazard. A topped pouch that snaps shut keeps shackles and pins where they belong. Budget alternative to the Petzl TOOLBAG pouches above.

Loadout Certified Note: Your boots take the beating on load-in. Safety toe, ankle support, and a sole that grips wet decking matter more than the brand. Break them in before your first long call.