DTX Tooling started in 2018 when Edison Energy in California contacted my fishing company. That company manufactured an air-powered bait cannon that could shoot a fishing line hundreds of feet into the water.
They wanted me to develop a similar air pressure powered line launcher to get fall protection line up high towers for maintenance and pulling cable across creeks and canyons. Edison Energy was previously using a black powder device for this job. These line guns used .22 caliber blanks and required training with firearms. After the fires in California, black powder was banned. They needed a new option.
Working together, our idea was to create a safe, accurate, and powerful device. Something that would last a long time but was easy to use in the field by anyone. Something small and compact, but could get the job done.
We developed a handheld device with a locking safety called the “Shoulder Shot”. It was made with solid stainless steel and could send a throw bag hundreds of feet using air pressure, highly accurate, very powerful, and adjustable for distance by PSI.
After 2 years of going through the process of getting coded by Southern California Edison, we started looking into other places where our line launcher would be valuable. We discovered the arborist and rescue areas. Immediately, the product took off.
Other products were slingshots and black powder. Everyone seemed to own a sling shot but they seemed very inaccurate and had rubber bands that would break and stiffen at low temperatures. Arborists told us it would take some of their guys on average 35-45 minutes to set a line with the slingshot.
We thought we could do a lot better with our product, shooting just one time to hit your target, reducing setup time and labor costs. Sooner than later we were getting calls from customers that were using it in many other industries such as roofing, oil spill clean ups, swift water rescue, special forces, naval boat-to-boat line throwing, and many other industries around the world.
One industry that really stood out to me was the roofing. As a previous homebuilder for 10 years, I never had witnessed a contractor, inspector, or even myself tie off while going on a roof. I looked into the OSHA regulations. Surprisingly, OSHA seemed to require you to bolt a 5,000 pound resistant plate to the ridge of the roof to tie off (although you can climb up once with no fall protection to bolt and unbolt the plate). This was very interesting due to the fact that no homeowner is going to want that done to their home.
Shortly after, members of the National Chimney Sweep Guild contacted us about the same issue. They were able to get a regulation set to shoot over a home and tie off. Our unit is great for this due to the fact that we can adjust PSI to go over a home and not shoot into other property or trees. (We even created a handy PSI chart, so you know how much pressure for each distance and stuck it right on the laucher.) After looking up the amount of deaths and injuries per year from home owners and contractors falling off roofs, I was certain that we would could help a lot of people with our device.
We now serve clients in all of these industries and work with incredible distributors who share our product with their clients. If you would like to partner with us, please reach out. If you are using one of our line launchers in your work, we thank you and hope it serves you well. If you need anything from us, please reach out. We are here to help.
Thanks for joining me!
– Malcolm Dooley
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton