What makes a good climbing rope?

[Ropey]

One this I have learnt very quickly is not all ropes are created equal.....

 

The other is not all Arabists like the same type of rope....

 

There are good ropes and there are bad ones, some climbers prefer low stretch static ropes while others prefer ropes that are classified as semi static which allows a freer movement in the tree.

 

There are nubby ropes like XTC and Spark then there are sports type ropes like Blaze and NEG specifically developed to work better with micro pulleys or ascenders

 

There are pros and cons for both types

 

What rope work best for you and why???

[DrewB]

i like the 13mm rpes when working in small trees and cold days and 11mm once the trees start getting bigger. if its big i will srt or footlock in and all my systems work/flow better with the smaller diameter. the lower weight really becomes noticable when moving 45m of rope around the crown, i like how the thinner ropes self feed through my hitch better as my blaze and nrg dont seem to fluff up so much. i really dislike boucy ropes now but when i started i liked them as they seemed nicer if i did fall on them-this comes from a rock climbing background. and theyve gotta be spliceable!! imo

[Will Hinchliffe]

I like ropes that retain there slipperyness (low surface tension?) and wash well. I like the XTC Fire but I think there is some variation between batches. One rope we have is incredibly supple and the other a bit stiff?

[bob]

spliceable

supple

holds knots

no milk

11mm to work with gadgets

low strettccchhhh

bright colour for visibility for climber and dumb ass groundies

nice and supple

reasonably priced

good product info with rope or web site

sure there are loads more but that will do for now

[Steve Bullman]

this doesnt make a good rope....but consistency in size would be nice. theres all sorts of rope out there ranging from 11mm to 13mm and yet they all seem different......im now climbing on a 12mm line which im told is a strict 12mm....yet ive got an 11mm rope that seems thicker.

[Ropey]

As funny as this may sound but the colour of a rope can make them look quote different in size, some of the fleck systems that manufacturers put in rope play tricks with your eyes.

 

You can control the diameter of a rope when its made but depending on the construction it can reduce in diameter after use.

 

Most fibers will creep which means by applying constant load to them they will permanently elongate, this is different to stretch which returns.

 

With permanent elongation the rope increase in length, to do this it must decrease in diameter.

 

I think it is Samson that have a "Machten" system, this simply preloads the fibers to help reduce the amount of shrink the braid has during use.

 

I have a Sterling static rope here that has seen constant shock loading to 10% of the breaking load, the rope started life as a 13mm and is now MM.

 

It has been retired of course but still retained a very high break load when we tested it.

[treewizard]

i like xtc 12 nice rope dosent go mouldy if it gets wet, but changed to new england safty blue because of my lockjack, but its a personal thing really