I did a 35 year career as a high voltage switching station electrician. I had a crew doing live barehand work in my station and the foreman suited me up and took me up in an insulated bucket and I barehanded 138kv. The suit was a lightweight fabric with wire interwoven. First they use a hotstick to bond the suit to the line and then you just reach out and grab the line. Absolutely insane feeling as the current flows around you in the suit.