Where old ropes go to die.

[Tree09]

K good. When i switched from arborplex i was amazed

 

[lxskllr]

What don't you like about arborplex? I have a rope end of it I use as a lanyard. Has a nice hand feel, but it's too short to climb on. I've thought about buying some cause it's cheap as dirt, but it's not like I really need more rope.

 

[flushcut]

Climb on it and get back to us on how you like it.

I find Blaze a tad skinny for me but a guy I subbed for had one and climbed on it for a season retired it and it is still in service as a tag line and general abuse line. Hey pull that thing up a muddy bank of sand. No problem that line wears like iron 12 years later of pure abuse.

 

[Tree09]

Blaze is a 24 strand silky smooth racehorse compared to arborplex which is a 12 strand single braid. Arborplex is a great natural crotch rigging rope, and does fine for old school blakes or tautline climbing, but when you start going too much past that it leaves much to be desired. Great for gripping tho, and it will also take a beating. Kinda goes square under load tho.

 

[flushcut]

Boing Boing Boing! That is what I think when I see a hank of the stuff.

 

[Bodean]

Let's just be glad we're not on Manila.

 

[Jonny]

I’ve wanted to try Blaze. I’ve always been happy with Yale 11.7mm 24 strands and rumor has it the stuff feels and performs much like Velocity. Probably too late now since I got more rope than I need now, and skinny ropes are really hurting my hands and thumbs. It really sucks. I’ll be climbing on 5/8” stable braid soon, weight be damned. Just kidding probably.

 

[gf beranek]

That was in the big Spruce, in Jug Handle Creek, Deva. 7 years isn't much time, really.

Now down in Big River, about 1980, I put a rope in a big redwood. 6,000 lb. bs nylon arbor rope called 'Silver-lon'. 18 years later, all mossy, swollen and ratty looking, (the rope) I cut it out, and had it broke tested at Northwest labs in Seattle... 3,500 lb.

 

[Tommy_B]

Ive got an old climb line on the back of my truck. No idea how old it is but it gets used for nearly everything. Would rather lose friends than that old rope

 

[Tree09]

At work (as a fitter) they used to make all sorts of boondock saints jokes because i was always using rope for something

 

[Tommy_B]

I love that film. Not many people have heard of it over here

 

[Tree09]

Really? I thought pretty much everyone had seen it just because it's hilarious!

 

[Mellow]

I put up a rope swing in a red oak tree on a hill near my house in New Jersey in 1975. It was still there when I visited in 2015. No idea what kind of rope but it was at least 2 inches in diameter.

 

[treesmith]

I use ArborPlex almost every day. I keep a 75’ piece of 1/2” for natural crotching, a 150’ hank for higher up natural crotching, (as well as for zip-lining), and keep a 75’ and 120’ climb line out of 1/2” AP for natural crotch TIPs when I don’t need a friction saver. Also keep a 75’-80’ piece of 5/8” AP for heavier natural crotch rigging. Been using it and climbing on it for over 30 years.

 

[Burnham]

If you had started out with manila and then progressed to Goldline...you would have thought you'd died and gone to heaven when you first got a hank of Arborplex. Say about 1985ish, or a little thereafter iirc.

Not anymore...but back then it was the greatest rope I'd ever used.

 

[Mick!]

I love that film. Not many people have heard of it over here

Never heard of it, I’ll check it out.

 

[lxskllr]

manila and then progressed to Goldline

Looked up Goldline, but I guess it's too old to find good pictures. I guess it was 3 strand nylon, and probably gold colored to simulate manila? Did it have any similarity to promaster?

edit:
Or maybe like treemaster? Found this on a rock climbing forum...

I climbed on goldline for years, yes it's stiff, it never gets any softer, rapping on it was like rapping down a chain. It soaked up water and dirt like a sponge. When it froze, you didn't coil it, you folded it up.
You didn't just get rope burn from goldline, it took the skin with it (still have a scar). The friction was unbelievable.. it basically melted it's way through anything nylon that it ran across.
Trying to think of a good point here.. weight.. NO.. umm.. oh ya, it was durable, it did even burn worth a sh*t. I used the chunks that I had left from a retired goldline to hang over sharp edges and generally leave behind when rapping off a route with no anchors. If you really want to know what goldline is like, go and try body rapping on it

Sounds like sweet rope :^P

edit2:
If you want to relive the 'good old days' Burnham, I found this on craigslist...

Rope, climbing, 3/8" x 120' goldline - sporting goods - by owner -...

120 feet of 3/8" goldline climbing rope from REI (co-op) is rei still a co-OP. never used. No sunlight ever.

sfbay.craigslist.org

120' for $35. A bargain!

 

[gf beranek]

That's hard lay. Try spreading those strands open by hand. Ouch

 

[Burnham]

I do not think either promaster or treemaster are very much like Goldline.

It was stretchy as hell. Thanks for the link, but I think I'll pass on buying any. Frankly, if someone wanted to give me a hank, I'd run the other way .

The quote you found on that rock climbing site is pretty accurate. It was a difficult rope to work with, but you could not kill it, no way no how. It would actually soften up a little after literally hundreds of friction hitch rappels, the hitch being a prusik tied back onto itself. Only Goldline was harsh enough to wear down Goldline .

 

[gf beranek]

Just a bit softer that steel cable. nice

 

[Mellow]

My first job in the tree industry was with Bartlett in 1979. We were climbing with three-strand manila.

 

[gf beranek]

The old firm lay manila, when new, and when coiling it, could leave splinters in your hand.

 

[Burnham]

Sure did.

 

[frans]

Years ago I worked for Sam Noonan, he said they would take the new manila ropes stretch them out and drag them behind the truck down a dirt road just to get them ready to work

 

[pete mctree]

I started on 3 strand, but Manila sounds like another level on shittyness - at least it did not melt