PMI USA Made Ropes and Cordage is the preferred choice of rope and rescue professionals worldwide. Manufactured to exacting standards in our ISO 9001 accredited production facility, PMI Ropes are renowned for exceptional durability and quality.

Beginning in March, 2022, the PMI Bound Loop Sewn Prusiks that you have come to rely on will be constructed with a single stitch block instead of two stitch blocks for tighter rigging and unsurpassed strength. PMI 8mm single stitch-block prusiks will be rated at 5620lbf (25kN) in the looped configuration, with a strength of 2923lbf (13kN) when pulled in a single strand. PMI 7mm single stitch block prusiks will be rated at 4271lbf (19kN) in the looped configuration typical of use, and boast a strength of 2023lbf (9kN) when pulled in a single strand.

PMI Prusiks are specially engineered to pass the original “pinch test” devised by Arnor Larsen for optimum grabbing action. Because professional rope users – and especially rescuers – have long relied on Prusiks as a foundational tool, these small cords have attained quite a devoted following. However, some thirty years ago practitioners began to notice variations in their performance. This resulted in a slew of tests being performed over a period of years by the British Columbia Council for Technical Rescue, Alpine Center for Rescue Studies, and other industry experts, to determine the reliability and optimum conditions for prusik use.

Results were mixed, at best.  At one point, a statistician by the name of Jerome Stiller (who also was a technical rescuer himself) compiled and crunched the results of several tests, presenting his results at the International Technical Rescue Symposium in a series of reports.

You can read the reports from Jerome’s studies at “When Prusiks Go Bad, or Are You Sure That Thing is Gonna Hold?”  and “Tandem Prusiks: Is No News Good News?“. Perhaps the most astounding finding was that even when Prusiks were properly tied, set, and (in the case of tandem-prusiks) spaced, some of the more commonly used configurations of prusiks resulted in failure at an alarming rate – especially under dynamic loading conditions. Conservatively, Jerome put the failure rate in excess of 20%, or 1-in-5 tests.

Further testing ensued by industry professionals looking to optimize results. Eventually it became clear that the specific relationship between rope and prusik was key, including construction and materials of both the cord and the host rope, environmental conditions, age and wear, etc. Further, it was noted that prusiks that were neither too soft nor too stiff performed best. A prusik that was too soft would be too “grabby” and would catch too quickly – thereby imparting a higher force and resulting in catastrophic failure. On the other hand, a prusik that was too stiff would allow too much slip or fall distance – again, increasing the impact force and sometimes not even catching at all. A just-right prusik, though, would grip early without grabbing, absorbing force at a slower rate resulting in a softer catch and fewer failures.

In other words, users must employ prusiks only with great caution and thorough research to ensure that they are being used correctly and will perform as expected.

It was Arnor Larsen who postulated the “pinch test” as a reasonable field-test of prusik cord viability. The pinch test is performed simply by pinching a bight of the prusik cord between thumb and forefinger. A small ‘eye’ should appear in the bight – enough to see through but not larger than the diameter of the cord. If there is no eye in the bight, the cord is too soft and will be too grippy. If there is too large an eye the cord is too stiff and will not grip readily enough.

PMI prusik cord is carefully manufactured to achieve optimum results in the pinch test.

Homemade prusik loops may be formed by joining ends of a cord together with a double-fisherman’s knot, or some other appropriate termination. With the popularity of prusiks increasing, several manufacturers now offer prusiks with sewn terminations, for greater convenience of use.

PMI’s sewn prusiks are formed in what is called a ‘bound loop’ configuration; a clear protective sleeve covers the stitched termination, and also draws the loop together so that the strand opposite the stitched end floats through the protective sleeve. This allows the remaining loop size to be adjusted smaller or larger so that the bight can be cinched down to help hold the connector more securely in place. The bound loop design also allows for cleaner rigging, with less drooping cord to snag on protrusions.

At PMI, strength and security are always top priority, and our sewn terminations are no exception. PMI 8mm and 7mm prusiks offer exceptional strength ratings of 5620lbf (25kN) and 4271lbf (19kN), respectively, in a looped configurations.

For Made in USA ropes and cords that are second to none, you can rely on PMI!

Here at PMI we are committed to safety and compliance in equipment for work at height. In fact, we participate in several professional standards development efforts related to ropes, equipment, and training for high angle work and rescue.

In 1992 I was operating a research and testing lab called Alpine Center for Rescue Studies when Steve Hudson approached me and asked if I would represent PMI to the NFPA 1983 committee. Since then I have participated in this and several other NFPA committees including as chairman of NFPA 1958 and as an inaugural member of NFPA 1670.

Those of you who use, or are subject to, NFPA standards for rescue equipment, operations, and training should be aware of some upcoming changes to the NFPA standards that may impact your world.

—Watch the video or keep reading—

“Familiar documents”

A meeting was recently held to discuss the first draft of what will become an NFPA Consolidated Technical Rescue document, soon to be known as NFPA 2500. The official title of NFPA 2500 is: Standards for Operations and Training for Technical Search and Rescue Incidents and Life Safety Rope and Equipment for Emergency Services. Don’t let the fancy title throw you, though. This NFPA 2500 is nothing more than a bundled package containing three documents with which you are probably already familiar:

NFPA 1983 – Standard on Life Safety Rope and Equipment for Emergency Services

NFPA 1858 – Standard on Selection, Care, and Maintenance of Life Safety Rope and Equipment for Emergency Services

And

NFPA 1670 – Standard on Operations and Training for Technical Search and Rescue Incidents

The first, most obvious question is WHY is NFPA doing this?!

“NFPA 2500 is nothing more than a bundled package”

NFPA’s theory in all of this is simple. They want to make the standards more user-friendly while at the same time making them less expensive and time consuming to develop. According to the NFPA website, they’ve got over 250 committees managing more than three hundred standards documents…  with requests on the table for at least a hundred more! By bundling like-documents related PPE and Pro Qual, they’ll be taking 116 separate documents and consolidating them down to 48 –  theoretically reducing the time investment and travel for meeting required by the more than 9,000 committee members who write them.

In implementing these changes, NFPA has acknowledged that there are two things firefighters hate:

1. change, and
2. when things stay the same.

So, with this in mind, they are going to accommodate all of us:

First, by changing the way the standards are packaged, and

Second, by keeping the existing reference numbers the same,

so if someone wants to implement just one of the standards in a group you can still do that.

“Combination of the three”

Chapter 1 of the new NFPA 2500 will be kind of an umbrella, outlining the scope of the entire document.  In chapter 1,  each of the existing standards: NFPA 1983, NFPA 1858, and NFPA 1670, will still be called out and identified by name, so your AHJ will be able to continue to adopt whatever it is you already use without having to change any terminology or numerical references. You can choose to adopt just NFPA 1983, just NFPA 1858,  just NFPA 1670, or some combination of the three.

“The meat of the document begins”

The way the new NFPA 2500 is organized you’ll find Chapters 1-3 just to be administrative oversite information. The new chapter 1 is just that high-level overview we talked about, explaining how the documents are bundled. Chapter 2 is nothing more than a list of references – same as it is now – and Chapter 3 is definitions. Then the meat of the document begins. Chapters 4-23 will be the content that you presently know as NFPA 1670.  It will still be called NFPA 1670, so if you presently use 1670 for Training and Operations you will still be able to do that. Chapters 24-28 will be the content that you presently know as NFPA 1983. Again, it will still carry the numerical designator NFPA 1983, so the equipment you’re buying will still have that reference number on it.

And, finally, Chapters 29-35 will be the content that you presently know as NFPA 1858.

“NFPA 1858 just released a year or so ago”

You might not even be familiar with this 1858 document yet, because it was just released a couple of years ago. It is designed to provide guidance for Selection, Care and Maintenance of NFPA 1983 Rope Rescue Equipment.

After this, you will find all of the Annexes and Reference Materials for all three of these documents.

Now, there’s just one thing we want to add, and that is: DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER!!!

Rest assured, this was not PMI’s idea! Although Loui McCurley from PMI has sat on the committee for more than 20 years, she is just one of many members. This action was mandated by the NFPA, not chosen by the committee… so committee members are just doing the best they can to try to catch NFPA’s VISION for this and carry it out in time for a GOOD standard to be produced in 2020. Although we didn’t create it, PMI is – as always – going to do our level best to walk with you, support you, and assist you in navigating this change with as little impact as possible on your organization.

We’d love to hear your comments and questions here, and will try to answer any specific questions you might have along the way.

Presenter: Loui McCurley | Webinar | This presentation will outline recent updates to the recent OSHA Fall Protection Regulation as well as developments within the ANSI Z359 family of Fall Protection standards as relates to rope access. Presented by PMI’s Loui McCurley, who has been blazing new trails in safe work at height for over three decades, this is a command performance update to her presentation at the January 2017 SPRAT conference. From working as a Rope Access Technician before such a thing existed in the USA, Loui visualized and instigated the founding of the Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians (SPRAT) in 1996, then went on to help develop a pair of groundbreaking global rope access standards with the International Standards Organization (ISO) in 2003. Ten years later, she worked tirelessly with OSHA to ensure allowances were made for rope access in the impending 2016 updates to their 29CFR 1910 Subpart D Walking Working Surfaces regulation, and recently released the first book of it’s kind on Professional Rope Access for Safety Professionals and Program Managers. Today, in addition to serving as Regulatory Assistance Chairman of SPRAT, Loui is once again leading a charge for the cause as chairman of the ANSI Z359 Committee’s forthcoming standard on Rope Access. Loui’s commitment and passion to improving safety in work at height is recognized by regulatory authorities, standards organizations, and corporate safety professionals worldwide. You’ll get the latest critical updates and insights toward future efforts in this presentation.

Presenter: Loui McCurley | Webinar | 
Although fall prevention and protection has been repeatedly addressed by OSHA, which has suggested methods such as elimination or substitution of work, use of engineering controls, administrative controls, and the appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to control hazards, falls continue to be a leading cause of death and injury in the workplace.

In developing a Managed Fall Protection Program, one thing is clear: Adequate preparation, systems thinking, and adhering to appropriate safety practices are more likely to have a positive influence on safety at height than complex, rigid work systems and adherance to “product standards”.

This presentation, given by Loui McCurley, will explore integration of Rope Access into the employers Managed Fall Protection Program, and the potential benefits of versatility and capability that can be realized by the employer as a result. We will discover how Professional Rope Access fits in as a work method combining trained technicians with a proven system of work and equipment to achieve complete system of work, and how it is recognized by US and International standards, including ANSI, ISO, and others.

Presenter: Loui McCurley | Webinar | 
Although fall prevention and protection has been repeatedly addressed by OSHA, which has suggested methods such as elimination or substitution of work, use of engineering controls, administrative controls, and the appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to control hazards, falls continue to be a leading cause of death and injury in the workplace.

In developing a Managed Fall Protection Program, one thing is clear: Adequate preparation, systems thinking, and adhering to appropriate safety practices are more likely to have a positive influence on safety at height than complex, rigid work systems and adherance to “product standards”.

This presentation, given by Loui McCurley, will explore integration of Rope Access into the employers Managed Fall Protection Program, and the potential benefits of versatility and capability that can be realized by the employer as a result. We will discover how Professional Rope Access fits in as a work method combining trained technicians with a proven system of work and equipment to achieve complete system of work, and how it is recognized by US and International standards, including ANSI, ISO, and others.