Which Rope?

[rangerdanger]

Hi-Vee is awesome. My favorite rope is a 60ft or so hank of Hi-Vee thats been mine for awhile. It's broken in really well, and has a great feel to it.

 

[Ace76]

Snakebite will be the least versatile rope of those choices. It's not really intended for DdRT. It doesn't matter how much a rope milks as long as you don't whip the end until it's done.

Its not the milking I am concerned about. Its the 2.2% stretch that im more concerned about when using it for SRT. The Snakebite or any other of the HTP static ropes offer much lower stretch. I have read on here and other forums that it is good for Ddrt it you use a split tail. It will be a few weeks before I can buy anything so I have some time to think about it.

 

[Blinky]

I'm not sure how a split-tail would change much except the 10mm Snakebite might be too small for some mechanicals.

Problem is... no stretch. That gives you no margin of safety if you drop very far and the rope catches you. Ropes are, in some respects, shock absorbers.

Don't get hung up on SRT, getting into the tree is just a small part of the process. Most of your time will be on DdRT. Climbing a rope isn't that hard once you do it a while and SRT is just one way of going about it.

 

[Ace76]

Problem is... no stretch. That gives you no margin of safety if you drop very far and the rope catches you. Ropes are, in some respects, shock absorbers.

I was always taught to never climb above my TIP, so a fall is highly unlikely. Not sure if its different in tree climbing?

 

[Burnham]

I'm not sure how a split-tail would change much except the 10mm Snakebite might be too small for some mechanicals.

Problem is... no stretch. That gives you no margin of safety if you drop very far and the rope catches you. Ropes are, in some respects, shock absorbers.

Don't get hung up on SRT, getting into the tree is just a small part of the process. Most of your time will be on DdRT. Climbing a rope isn't that hard once you do it a while and SRT is just one way of going about it.

Listen to Blinks.

 

[Burnham]

I was always taught to never climb above my TIP, so a fall is highly unlikely. Not sure if its different in tree climbing?

You have to be very asiduous about taking up your slack to be certain you cannot take a dynamic fall...that sometimes gets overlooked in the heat of action...and tie-in points have been known to give out (could be poorly selected, or some little branch keeps the rope above the good crotch you think you're on), dropping the climber onto another limb.

It's not worth the risk, to me. 'Course, I come from a sub-category of tree climbing where climbing above your tie-in is the norm...so I may be overly sensitive to the issue.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I slipped just 4 feet one time while making a transition standing on a branch while taking up slack... Hit the end of my flip line and it hurt like hell... Falling is mostly a matter of when not a matter of if... And it does not take much of a fall to hurt something... Why we need the shock absorber a dynamic rope supplies.

 

[Ace76]

You have to be very asiduous about taking up your slack to be certain you cannot take a dynamic fall...that sometimes gets overlooked in the heat of action...and tie-in points have been known to give out (could be poorly selected, or some little branch keeps the rope above the good crotch you think you're on), dropping the climber onto another limb.

It's not worth the risk, to me. 'Course, I come from a sub-category of tree climbing where climbing above your tie-in is the norm...so I may be overly sensitive to the issue.

Good point!!! Thank you.

 

[SkwerI]

History has shown that the best climbing ropes are the lower stretch ropes. Safety Blue, Hi-Vee, Blue Streak are all excellent low stretch ropes. Trees are dynamic, not static, and our saddles are designed for work positioning, not fall arrest. Therefore the fall arrest argument shouldn't even come into play. If you want a system designed for fall arrest then wear a full body harness like the bucket harness with the stretchy thingy attached at the middle of your back.

Stretchy ropes suck for tree climbing.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I hate em!

 

[Blinky]

History has shown that the best climbing ropes are the lower stretch ropes. Safety Blue, Hi-Vee, Blue Streak are all excellent low stretch ropes. Trees are dynamic, not static, and our saddles are designed for work positioning, not fall arrest. Therefore the fall arrest argument shouldn't even come into play. If you want a system designed for fall arrest then wear a full body harness like the bucket harness with the stretchy thingy attached at the middle of your back.

Stretchy ropes suck for tree climbing.

That's 100% true but shit happens. Having fallen several feet onto my harness once I can attest that it hurts like hell the next day. I doubt that double braid tree ropes offer much shock absorption but in terms of the whole system, some is better than none.

When I think dynamic rope I think kernmantle, designed to keep a human alive in a long fall... 6% or 8% elongation under a body weight fall. Interesting in a tree once in a while but not fun to work on.

Double braid tree rope is a LOT less stretchy, more like 2% or 3%. I don't ever notice my PI stretching at all. I remember Velocity had some stretch but once I climbed on it, the stretch stayed out for the rest of the day.

Snakebite is under 1% I think. The Sherrills catalog states that it not for use with DdRT. It's one of the coolest looking ropes out there... I wish I could justify buying some but I just don't have a use for it at the moment.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I fell nearly 10' once in my Weaver and 1/2" Safety Blue. I was facing downward and it whipped me back around into a sitting position - nothing to it. I didn't even drop my saw.

 

[SkwerI]

Butch, that's because it's extremely rare for any tree climber to ever fall straight down from their tie in. We are almost always at an angle to our rope attachment point so any fall will pull us sideways when the rope gets taut instead of being snapped to a sudden stop.

This entire topic is so completely irrelevent that I can't believe I'm commenting on it other than to say how irrelevent it is. In a fall your biggest danger is smashing into the tree trunk, not how elastic your lifeline is.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I've fallen like you say a couple times. One of those times my foot was wrong and I blew out my knee. The other time it was just a rough ride - but again, no problemo. The rope and saddle did me just fine.

Irrelevent?

 

[Tucker943]

Yo Skwerl, whats irrelevent about kicking around some opinions on ropes and how they do/dont function? The topic is "Ropes". As far as i can see it, everything said has been relevant.

 

[Ace76]

Would you trust climbing on a used rope? I found a pretty good deal on some sterling rope, only used once. Tell me what ya think.

http://cgi.ebay.com/7-16-Super-Stai...3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:4|65:1|39:1|240:1318

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Ummm no thanks... Not only does the used bother me a bit from someone I don't know.. But... Chlorine... Nope...
Here is a hank of new ..

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sterling-Dynamic-Climbing-Rope-11mm-x-46m-150-NIP_W0QQitemZ280311432914QQcmdZViewItemQQptZClimbing_Equipment?hash=item280311432914&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

 

[Ace76]

I doubt normal levels of chlorinated pool water will have nay effect, but I do see your point. That new rope you linked is dynamic rope, way too stretchy for SRT.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Ahhh my bad.. Sorry.. Forgot to check the dynamic or static...
Wish the ebay guy sold sterling if that's what your set on .. But he's mostly samson products...

 

[CurSedVoyce]

This looks more promising

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sterling-Prime-Short-Static-Ropes-4-Total_W0QQitemZ400030918646QQcmdZViewItemQQptZClimbing_Equipment?hash=item400030918646&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A2|294%3A50

 

[Stumper]

My own preference is for lovely, fat, firm, abrasion resistant Samson Arbormaster (Blue streak, Gold streak,etc) a fat 1/2 inch rope is easier on your hands when gripping............ but I acknowledge that the smaller diameter lines have a definite place. Of the dinky doo lines I prefer Velocity. Its firmness, limited stretch and light weight make it a nice rope for dual use(DdRT and SRT). I own some Poison Ivy and it has a very nice hand... but it is a bit "softer" than I would prefer. I've climbed on Blaze and it neither offended nor thrilled me. New England Safety Blue is good rope..........but I prefer the firmer, slightly nubbier Arbormaster. Arborplex gets trash talked without mercy but I remember when it was a thrilling revelatory experience to climb on a rope made for tree work instead of three or four strand manila.
As Chip said-don't get hung up on SRT. Ideally you have a hard lay kernmantle line made specifically for SRT AND a semi-static arborist line designed for DdRT but 2% stretch under body weight doesn't mess with you much in actual use. Once you load the line your movement up the line doesn't alter the load unduly. If you are advancing smoothly there is very little bounce...and if you get the rhythm right the tiny bounce can ease your advance rather than impede it.

 

[Burnham]

Very well said, Justin. I agree on all counts, excepting the part about once climbing SRT, you don't alter the load unduly. With the sit-stand type ascent systems, aka Texas, you double to triple the load at each stroke. It's enough to break out an anchor point the you've pull tested pretty well.

 

[startersplice]

Has anyone tried the AllGear ropes?
Made by Atlantic braids.
-Neopro 16
-Prolite 24

Cheers

 

[Burnham]

Has anyone tried the AllGear ropes?
Made by Atlantic braids.
-Neopro 16
-Prolite 24

Cheers

Not I. Made in UK?

 

[startersplice]

The Allgear ropes are made in the USA