Hey Mr Duh! the rope loop only stops you from falling if you can keep you head and jam one or both climbing spurs into the wood as you try to lean back on the rope. I don't care how many fire companies you are affiliated with. Did you ever see anyone who had their spurs kick out and slid down the pole uncontrolled? I have, several, raw chest stomach and thighs. I worked for an electric company and had many linemen friends. There is a reason they now use bucket trucks when ever a pole is accessible to a a truck. If people want to use that method thinking it is really a safety measure, it is their backside not mine, but don't try to sell it as a good safety measure, because it isn't. While there is supposed to be a safety aspect to the rope, its biggest value is allowing a lineman to work with both hands while leaning back on the rope with his spurs dug in and it allows a lineman to climb by leaning back to pull out a spur and dig it in higher on the pole without slipping down the pole. Without the spurs the rope is just a rope.