Making Difficult and Dangerous Work Easier and Safer.
BY: Bob Glenn, Editor and Publisher
[This article originally appeared in the September/October 2024 Issue of Wire Rope Exchange. Read the entire issue online at this link.]
For half a century, the team at Pelican Rope Works and U.S. Rigging Supply have focused on providing superior products to enhance safety and performance in various industrial lifting and fall protection applications, as well as for arborists and climbers. Their products aren’t just tools, they often quite literally serve as lifelines for the users who rely on them. And protecting those lives, making sure they return home safely each day, has always been the mission here.
As they celebrate 50 years in business, we’ll explore their history and development over time, the relationship between the two companies, their products and the customers they serve, and their focus on innovation, and other aspects of their operation.
Founding and History
U.S. Rigging Supply was founded by Gayl Whipple in 1974. At that time, there was an established sailboat manufacturing base with six large yacht manufacturers in Southern California. As any sailor knows, sailing requires a considerable amount of rope and rigging — everything from rope to wire halyards, lifelines, shackles, stainless steel deck gear, and much more.
Gayl Whipple had a long history of serving the sailing industry as a premier supplier of complete rigging hardware kits for boat manufacturers. When his rope supplier, based in North Hollywood approached him with an offer, Whipple recognized the potential for greater efficiency and customer value by manufacturing both rope and rigging supplies. He purchased the assets of the rope company and named his new business Pelican Rope Works.
Soon after, the rope operations were moved to Orange County, where it joined sister company U.S. Rigging Supply. Though they remained separate entities, they perfectly complemented one another, sharing a single location.
As demand grew and the business evolved, both companies shifted from recreational sailing to industrial rigging and safety products where their extensive lineup of rigging hardware, wire rope, synthetic rope, and more found uses in lifting, fall protection, offshore heavy marine, and other industrial applications.
Whipple realized a simple principle that has driven Pelican Rope and U.S. Rigging’s success for decades: customers who use rigging hardware also need rope, and those who use rope need hardware. Today, 50 years later, no other company offers domestic rope manufacturing paired with such a vast, complementary hardware line.
Two Companies, One Mission
Pelican Rope Works is a pure manufacturer, converting raw material into finished ropes for 50 years and selling through distribution channels. Meanwhile, U.S. Rigging Supply develops, sources, and distributes hardware and safety products to rigging shops, OEM manufacturers, dealers, and distributors.
While the two corporations share considerable overlap in customers and applications, their offerings are unique. This separation allows for an enhanced focus on the specific contributions of each to the broader mission: Making Difficult and Dangerous Work Easier and Safer.
The companies operate two separate websites – PelicanRope.com and USRigging.com – which have evolved to serve their customers’ needs in unique ways. USRigging.com has flourished as an e-commerce site, offering anyone, anywhere not served by a dealer access to the full product line at MSRP, with no minimum orders, fast shipping, and extensive customer support.
PelicanRope.com primarily serves as a resource for expert rope and rigging information, featuring videos, blog entries, rope specifications, and information on some of the high-tech fibers we use in rope manufacturing.
All manufacturing takes place in Santa Ana, carried out by a dedicated team of rope and rigging professionals. The process is conducted with exceptional standards, supervision, and routine testing to ensure enhanced efficiency, reduced waste, and streamlined operations, enabling us to deliver high-quality products quickly and reliably. We were the first rope manufacturer to achieve ISO Certification, and we continue to set the standard today. We are a leading manufacturer of Life Safety ropes used in work-at-height and rescue operations. These ropes are rigorously tested by certified laboratories such as UL both initially and on a recurring basis.
In the Field
Pelican Rope is used across several key markets: work at height, arborist, utility and telecommunications infrastructure (rigging, transmission stringing, cable pulling, climbing), inland marine, construction, mining, safety/rescue, sailing, theater/stage, and more.
When the companies consider uses for rope and rope assemblies, they can think about climbing, lifting, securing, and pulling. The standards vary by industry, with fall protection ropes and lanyards developed for the construction and rope access applications covered by several ANSI standards. The work performed by arborists is so unique that they have their own ANSI standard. Even in lifting and pulling applications, while two customer objectives may be the same — for example, lifting or pulling heavy equipment — the conditions can vary significantly, from clean indoor work to offshore, to mining.
In order to stay on top of their widely varying needs, the Pelican Rope/U.S. Rigging team partners and maintains very close connections with their customers. One tenet of their Vision statement is to be the most trusted partner for rope and rigging products. Their CEO, Terry Walker, explains how they act on that principle this way: “We are known for our responsiveness to unique customer applications. Our approach gives us an advantage in innovation by combining our 50 years of domestic rope manufacturing capabilities with our hardware expertise. Our team of experienced engineers and manufacturers enable us to quickly meet evolving user demands. Our customers appreciate that their engineers can call us and talk directly to an engineer focused on solving their problem.”
Walker adds that, “we’re also very active in the world of conventions and tradeshows. These events give us the opportunity to meet with our customers one-on-one and to discuss what’s important to them. We appreciate the chance to talk to everyone involved in using our products – from engineers to CEOs to those climbing trees and 1,000-foot towers, relying on our gear to keep them safe.” They regularly attend and exhibit at the Associated Wire Rope Fabricators (AWRF) meetings, along with conventions for safety, construction, arbor care, telecom infrastructure, and more.
Their mission is straightforward: “Making Difficult and Dangerous Work Easier and Safer.” Often, innovation is required to achieve that goal. A past example involved an application we developed for a mountain rescue team. The rescue team needed to be able to move quickly while hiking up high mountains, frequently over 10,000 feet. Carrying heavy coils of rope slowed their progress and drained their energy. Using Pelican Rope Work’s high-tech fibers, they developed a small very light, very strong rope for rescue teams to carry on these missions, reducing the weight by 60%.
Of course, no business can really succeed without a strong team of professionals in place to serve their customers. “We like to think of Pelican Rope/U.S. Rigging as one big family,” explains Walker. “When someone joins our team, we welcome them to our family. We have many employees who have been with the company for decades and that’s fundamental to who we are. We have second and third generations working with us.”
Looking ahead, Walker shared his vision for the future: “Our commitment to safety and innovation has been the cornerstone of our success for the past 50 years. As we look ahead, these values will continue to shape our mission, driving us to make difficult and dangerous work easier and safer for everyone who relies on our products.”
Visit their websites, www.pelicanrope.com and www.usrigging.com, to learn more.
