There's got to be a product to make this safe...

[gafftaper]

Hi everyone,

I'm helping a friend out in his theater and we were talking about a safety concern. The grand drape is a traveler with a large pulley that is screwed to the floor. You can also unscrew the pulley and fly the drape in an out. The problem is this heavy pulley is hanging there ready to kill anyone who isn't looking up and the door to the green room is about two feet away from where that pulley lands. It's quite a bit of work trying to safely fly this drape without injuring actors who are walking just feet away from it.

We were thinking there must be some sort of product available designed to quickly replace that pulley with a big soft sand bag or something that won't kill anyone.

Anybody seen such a product before we try to make our own? OR anyone made their own safe counterweight product and have design ideas?

[Footer]

most of the spaces i have worked in that have flying travelers either have it sandbagged with a shiv on the bag orthere is a pocket in the end of the trav to put the shiv in....

[SteveB]

The pulley is the bottom block to allow the travel rope to "travel". In use, you don't really need it, it only stiffens and aligns the rope, helping to keep it from twisting and allowing a cleaner travel.

You can un-tie the purchase line and take the bottom block off.

BUT. If this is a school, you'd best get permission to do a modification of this type.

A good question though. Do you have to fly the curtain ?. Can't you just use it as a traveller ?. Or, if you don't want a traveller, take off the pulley and use the curtain as a guillotine

SB

[Pie4Weebl]

We never use or midstage black travler as a travler so we just put the pully tied off to the pinrail nearby, it can still fly in and out but keeps the pully out of the way.