What is a key benefit of keeping sling legs near vertical during lifting?

• A. Higher effective capacity
• B. Slings wear faster
• C. No impact
• D. Increases sling stretch

Answer: (A)

Keeping sling legs near vertical minimizes the extra tension caused by the angle between the legs and the load. In a two-leg sling, the tension in each leg grows as the legs spread apart, because the vertical components must still balance the full weight but with a smaller cos(phi) factor. When the legs are nearly vertical, cos(phi) is about 1, so each leg carries roughly half the load and the overall tension is lower. As the legs open, each leg must take more tension to hold the same weight, which reduces the effective lifting capacity of the sling arrangement and can lead to faster wear or higher risk of failure. So the key benefit is a higher effective capacity when the sling legs stay near vertical.