Can I pick up Doubles by the manifold?

[TekDiveGirl]

I straddle my fingers across the valve portion so that two fingers of each hand are on the knobs and two are on the cross member. I've tried the tree (tank) hugger approach and it just seems a little, well, dangerous - they're high up on my body and I don't feel like I have a secure grip on them that way.

:11: Did he just call me a tree hugger?? :11:

Curious why it feels dangerous to you -- they are no higher on your body than if you were wearing them on your back.

 

[Atticus]

:11: Did he just call me a tree hugger?? :11:

Curious why it feels dangerous to you -- they are no higher on your body than if you were wearing them on your back.

lol, I wasn't calling you a tree hugger, more referencing that I feel like I'm hugging a tree when I carry doubles this way.

The reason it feels dangerous to me to carry doubles by hugging them -- In order to feel like I have a hold of them I raise them up until they stick in front of my face. This puts my arm around the middle of the doubles and lets me cant them outwards slightly so the tank boots poke into my belly. In this position I can't see worth a darn, I'm clumsy to begin with, and I start thinking about tripping over something ...

When they're 'on' they're strapped to my back and not impeding my view of where I'm walking. Also if I stumble over something unless I go completely down the tanks aren't going flying.

You're welcome to carry your tanks any way you like of course, I'm just saying it doesn't work very well for me.

 

[terrasmak]

I use a shoulder strap that connects to both valves. Works great but a small car will probably be next depending on the walk from the car to water , and car to shop.

 

[Rick Murchison]

find a boy

Whenever I take mine to a shop for filling, I ask in a loud voice "Who has a young strong back?" The winner gets to tote.
When I'm handling them myself I pretty much restrict things to gettin' 'em from the truck to the hand truck or from the hand truck to the truck - not that I can't still honk 'em around like a youngster, but I've entered the "protect your lower back" stage of life
Rick

 

[cummings66]

Not that I'm old, 'cause I'm not ya know. What I know now about lifting and what I should and should not do I really wish I knew back in my 20's. The ache's and pains I have now are a direct result of what I didn't know then. Who cares if I could lift and carry lots of weight back then? All it did was cause me pain later in life.

Were I carrying doubles it would be from the truck to the dolly, then wheel it to the location I need them. I'm with you, protect the back for as long as you can, once hurt it doesn't really get better.

For the younger more macho guys out there, if you lift do it properly with the legs and not your back! Remember, just because you can does not mean you should.

I swear, as my daughter grows up I'm going to do my level best to insure she remembers the lesson's I've learned and am learning, in particular those lessons about lifting and carrying heavy objects. If you look at statistics, back problems rank right up there for us as a nation.

 

[TekDiveGirl]

Whenever I take mine to a shop for filling, I ask in a loud voice "Who has a young strong back?" The winner gets to tote.
When I'm handling them myself I pretty much restrict things to gettin' 'em from the truck to the hand truck or from the hand truck to the truck - not that I can't still honk 'em around like a youngster, but I've entered the "protect your lower back" stage of life
Rick

Heh -- nice! I know exactly what you mean though. And when you figure what % of weight it is compared to my body weight -- well its a lot.

I used to never allow anybody to carry my tanks -- I was a tough diver chick yanno and could do it myself thankyouverymuch. Now I carry them when I need to get them moved -- but have no problem letting some nice person grab a set.

 

[artek]

Just wondering if picking up my double tanks by the manifold is bad for it. Is there any other easy way? The valves are larger and it's hard to hold it like a normal tank.
J

you can't, but
your shop:monkeydan can

 

[captain]

I would like to see the arm strong enough to hold up doubles that are heavy enough to bend a manifold. A chain is only as strong as the weakest link. In this case it's the arm.

 

[Atticus]

you can't, but
your shop:monkeydan can

Sad but true.

 

[lowwall]

I would like to see the arm strong enough to hold up doubles that are heavy enough to bend a manifold. A chain is only as strong as the weakest link. In this case it's the arm.