Question about those new wireless load indicators

I saw a crew using them on a site in Tacoma about six months ago and thought it was just a pricey gimmick... my old wired system worked fine. Then I had a job lifting some awkward pre-cast panels where the rigger's view was totally blocked. Borrowed one for the day and the real-time weight readout on my phone kept me from a bad swing when we hit 92% capacity on a tricky pick. It was the vibration alerts that really sold me, though. Has anyone else run these for a full year and had any problems with the battery or signal?

3 comments

3 Comments

charlesanderson1mo ago

Has anyone checked if the vibration alerts are strong enough to feel through thick winter work gloves? I borrowed a set last January and missed two warnings because I couldn't feel a thing through my liners.

robert_roberts7d ago

Oh, that's a real bummer. I've had the same issue myself with my old pair. I wear insulated gloves for shoveling and the vibration was just a gentle buzz you'd never feel through all that padding. I ended up switching to a model that had both vibration and a louder beep, which helped a lot but still wasn't perfect with the thickest gloves. You really have to test them out with your specific gear before committing.

samthompson1mo ago

Yeah, I saw a review that mentioned the same problem with heavy gloves. They said it works fine for light jackets but anything thick really mutes the feeling. Might depend on the brand, but it's a fair point.