Beyond the Boom: Inside the Personal Kit of a Veteran Rigger

When you look up at a job site, you see the massive yellow steel of the cranes and
the heavy-duty slings. But the success of a 50-ton lift often comes down to the gear
tucked inside a rigger's canvas bag. This week, we sat down with "Sully," a 25-year
veteran rigger, to look at the tools he never leaves home without.

In the world of Hercules Crane & Lifting Supplies, we talk a lot about the big machines. But rigging is an art of precision. A veteran's bag isn't just a collection of tools; it's a history of
lessons learned the hard way. Here is the DNA of a professional rigging kit.

Check out some of our Rigging Favouries!

CORDEX PLUS GLOVES XL BEIGE Belay/rappel gloves engineered for high-dexterity work — reinforced palms deliver cut resistance without sacrificing the tactile sensitivity riggers depend on.
HERC Round Pin Shackles with Blue Pin — 5/16 in Forged, heat-treated steel anchor shackles with a cotter-pin-secured round pin. Fatigue rated, permanently WLL-marked, and suited for lifting, rigging, towing, and marine applications.
3M DBI-SALA ExoFit X300 Construction Positioning Safety Harness — X-Large Full-body comfort vest harness with automatic stand-up dorsal D-ring, quick-connect leg buckles, integrated suspension trauma straps, and 310 lb capacity. Meets CSA Z259.10-18.

1. The "Second Skin" Gloves

Impact Protection + Tactile Sensitivity
"You'll see rookies with the thickest, stiffest gloves they can find," Sully laughs. "But if you can't feel the burr on a wire rope or the vibration of a snag, you're flying blind." His go-to is a pair of high-dexterity, cut-resistant gloves with reinforced palms—worn in just enough to feel the texture of every load.

2. The Calibrated Tape Measure

Accuracy Over Everything
In rigging, "about an inch" is how people get hurt. A veteran's tape measure is usually a heavy-duty, magnetic-tip model. It's used for finding the exact center of gravity (CG). Even a small deviation, Δd, can create an unintended moment arg (M = F × d), turning a stable lift into a swinging hazard.

3. The "Lucky" Chalk (Soapstone)

The Language of the Steel
It's not just for marking pick points. Veterans use soapstone to draw out the "geometry of the lift" directly on the concrete or the load itself. It's the rigger's scratchpad—used to communicate with the operator and keep track of sling angles. If the chalk is out, the plan is being visualized.

4. The Pocket Clinometer

Sling Angle Science
Every rigger knows that as the horizontal angle θ of a sling decreases, the tension T on that sling increases exponentially (T = Load / (2 × sin θ)). Sully carries a small digital clinometer to ensure no sling ever hits that "danger zone" below 45 degrees.

5. The Personal "Master" Shackle

A Benchmark of Trust
Sully carries one specific, high-grade Hercules alloy shackle that has been his "standard" for a decade. It's cleaned, inspected, and oiled daily. "It's a reminder of what 'good' looks like," he says. "If the site gear doesn't look as clean as my personal shackle, it doesn't go on the hook."

The Takeaway
High-production rigging isn't just about having the biggest crane; it's about the obsessive attention to detail from the ground crew. At Hercules, we provide the industrial strength, but we salute the riggers who provide the precision.

Is your kit ready for the next big move? Check your gear. Trust your tools. Lift safe.