When J gets cranked up the best way to understand how the discussion will go is to have a really good understanding of what a 'straw man' argument is about.
Present a premise...get challenged...answer the challenge with a completely unrelated counter challenge and ignore the request to back up their original premise.
No one is saying that nylon isn't a better choice for adding a thin layer of protection when working around power lines. That is agreed...it would be hard for almost anyone to think that the most conductive synthetic strap would be even close to how conductive a cable sling would be.
The issue that is being challenged is what is proper and accepted by, first, the laws of physics...then, regulatory agencies.
Do you follow NASCAR? I barely do...but if I remember Dale Sr. would likely have survived his death-crash if he would have been wearing the, now required, horse-collar decelerator. Think of Yates Screamers attached to helmet/head. Dale Sr. was old school...and a damn good racer I understand. A friend of mine who follows racing said that Dale Sr. could see, smell and hear the air on the racetrack and new where to be. But...he still died...from something that likely could have been prevented.
Same here...don't think for a second that using synthetic slings gives you any insulating protection. What it might do is reduce conductivity. These concepts are separate and totally different. J seems to run them together though.
Here's a tidbit related to the discussion. The 2012 ANSI Z133 was ready to go to print last March. But, at the last minute someone who thought that they had invented a link that would have been an isolator made an appeal to be able to change the wording. In the end, this appeal has lead to many months of delay. His invention doesn't have credibility with any regulatory agency that deals with cranes...from all over the world. So, for now, there isn't one thing in the world that can be accepted as a 'fusible link' when using cranes.