Splice preference

[Treeaddict]

Do you prefer a hand splice or sewn splice eye on your climb line? It seems like a hand splice may be stronger. Is the difference nil and of no importance?

 

[SkwerI]

Depends on the rope construction. Some types of rope are easily spliced, others cannot be spliced reliably or safely. For those, they sew the eyes. The only rope I splice is double braid. Last time I tried splicing a climbing rope I destroyed my $120 fancy dancy splicing wand. Back to using an old coat hanger!

 

[flushcut]

Spliced is just plain sexier than sewn.

 

[TINYHULK]

I like spliced eyes or atleast having ropes that are splice-able. Allows me to remove a section of rope and re-splice if necessary. On my tachyon line the rigging line dropped lower under load than I thought and burned my climbing line just enough to expose the core. Now I can just cut it at 15ft, make the tail a lanyard and splice a new eye. Couldn’t sew an eye to stay safe with my hitch climber set up. Probably negligible but a splice is smoother so it could be easier to remove from a friction saver 🤷‍♂️

 

[ruel]

Hand splice, it just looks better to me.

 

[greengreer]

Hand splice as well. I'll sew a small eye in the jacket on non splice able ropes for hauling up ropes and saws, etc. Sewn eyes are kinda bulky to me and can get stuck easily

 

[BIGTWIG]

Hand splice as well. I'll sew a small eye in the jacket on non splice able ropes for hauling up ropes and saws, etc. Sewn eyes are kinda bulky to me and can get stuck easily

I agree with this, I’ve had sewn eyes get stuck during retrieval through friction devices during some extremely inopportune times.

 

[Treeaddict]

That was my “worry” as well. Stuck through a tight crotch due to bulk. Heck, I even got a splice stuck once. 😫

 

[SkwerI]

I can splice me some double braid! Not so much anything else.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

If the stitch is well designed and well made, the sewn eye should be strong enougth. You can bet that the ropes manufacturers have studied that very closely before releasing it. There's even a big thread on Treebuzz about sewing the eye by hand instead of by a machine.
Now, it's hard to tell if one is stronger, because usually, the rope itself fails under load before the splice does. If done correctly of course.

Beside the sexy side and the bulkyness, I worry about the abuse the splice can stand during the rope's live. The DRT gives a straight pull on it, but not the SRT if the line is directly choked on the TIP or on the trunk for bucking (I do those two a lot). Friction against the bark and working the splice back and forth by the curvature look harder to me on the sewn splice. Maybe I'm mistaking, idk.