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yoginisrock
Aug 16, 2004, 8:13 PM
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Looking to buy my first rope. I've gotten several brand recommendations but can't find anyone who knows anything about New England ropes. The rope will beused primarily for multi-pitch trad and aid climbing.
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crimpandgo
Aug 16, 2004, 8:18 PM
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I dont climb multipitch trad or aid, but I have used New England ropes for years for general use climbing. They held up really well and had great "feel". And they are usually priced lower than most other ropes on the market.
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slab-dyno
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Aug 16, 2004, 9:23 PM
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I have had a Maxim 60m 10.5 dry for about a year now. I climb a lot of single and multi-pitch trad, and it has held up great. It hasn't shown any signs of wear yet. If I were to get a rope right now though, I'd probobly get something a little thinner and lighter.
Jimmy
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taino
Aug 16, 2004, 9:35 PM
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I have the Maxim Double Happiness 9mm X 60m double ropes, and like them a lot. Good hand, not too much kinking... the one problem I do have is that they got very dirty, very fast (three months).
T
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holdplease2
Aug 16, 2004, 9:42 PM
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I have a blue maxim rope, probably a 10.2 maybe a 10.5. Before that I had a mammut, and have recently replaced the maxim with a mammut. I prefer mammut.
Though the Maxim has a nice hand, I feel that it did not wear as well as my mammut rope, but it could be my imagination.
Anyway, I don't think you can go wrong with Maxim, Mammut, or any of the other top brands. Personally, I do not like PMI and I find that many of the low-end brands simply are not worth it. Who wants to deal with a poor-handling line? Not me.
-Kate.
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drkayak
Aug 16, 2004, 10:24 PM
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I have had a least 4 Maxim 9.8mm x 60m ropes. They can be had for a good price. None of them lasted more than 1 year. Sheath seperation was a common problem. I had one that the sheath would bunch up when you rapped on it. I switched to Sterling ropes. I would rather spend $180 on a rope that will last several years.
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verticallaw
Aug 16, 2004, 10:52 PM
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the only complaint I have with my maxim 9.8 X 60 is that it is not holding up to abuse as well as my old mammut, that and the sheath has slipped a bit at the ends, and it's twisty as all hell on raps. Other than that their "feel" as said before is second to none.
Mike
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jstp
Aug 16, 2004, 11:07 PM
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Used a few maxim ropes, one of them has major sheath separation problems. it needs to be recut about once a week (we do guide on it though) as the sheath slips considerably and the core bunches up and does odd things near the end. very disconcerting. after chatting with some of the other guides and comparing it to the other maxim ropes we use, this seems to be a fluke, albeit and expensive and possibly dangerous one. on the whole i, nor the other guides are very impressed with the maxim ropes and try to avoid using them. hope this helps.
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mungeclimber
Aug 16, 2004, 11:22 PM
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I've had a maxim. Won't go back. Save the dollars up and be happy with a Mammut, BlueWater, or Edelweiss. Then again, buy one and then later buy another like Mammut. You'll learn sooner or later. Plus you'll burn it up if you climb enough.
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zen_alpinist
Aug 16, 2004, 11:36 PM
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All my experiences with Maxim ropes (9mm - 9.8mm) are that they get dirty as heck. They seem like dirt magnets. Wash em, and they are still black.
Get some cheap leather gloves for belaying/rappelling or suffer the black hands.
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can_climber
Aug 23, 2006, 11:18 PM
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Settle down...
I know this thread is two years old. But, better to renew this thread than create a whole new one.
I am in the market for new rope, and have the chance on a maxim rope pro-deal. My previous rope experience has been mainly with Mammuts, Edelrid, Edelweiss, and Esprit. I did it once with a bluewater...
So, people in this thread are saying that the hand of the maxim ropes is second to none? I am having a hard time believing that. A guy brought his newish Maxim rope out to the gym, and the sheath was superstiff...like twine, as well as numerous kinks. Is this normal for a new Maxim rope?
It seemed like the sheath might be durable, but then people in this thread were talkin like the sheath was not durable. So what gives.
Has anything changed since 2004? And, do all of you who find the "hand" to be good have lots of rope handling experience?
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vegastradguy
Aug 23, 2006, 11:25 PM
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the hand on the maxims i've seen have been great...that said, i'd never buy a maxim regardless of the hand. why, you ask?
their ropes have impact forces bordering on 10kn! even for a traddy like me who doesnt care much about rope stats in general....10kn is way too high.
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can_climber
Aug 23, 2006, 11:33 PM
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Wow 10kN!
Thats why I was going to stray from the Mammuts...they often have a high impact force.
Thanks.
edited to add. The 9.9 Apex (actually 9.8mm) has an impact force of 9.5kN. Pretty high indeed.
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claramie
Sep 3, 2006, 10:52 PM
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Maxim is my favorite rope manufacturer. Great hand, minimal kinks and I don't notice the rope getting dirty quick (and I live in AZ). I don't know why there have been so many complaints on this thread about poor abrasion resistance and dirt accumulation. I'm not bagging on anyone, but I have never had any such experience.
I have owned:
Maxim 10.5 Leavittator
Mammut 10.2 Supersafe
Mammut 10.2 Supersafe (triodess)
Maxim 9.8 Leavittator (two of them cuz one was stolen)
I really disliked both of the Mammut ropes that I have (although they were the same rope). They always kink up and they wore faster than my Maxims . I don't know if it is the sheath proportion on the supersafe that added to the kinking; maybe other models are better.
I have also climbed on Beal, Edelrid, Edelweiss, Bluewater and Sterling. Maxim is still my favorite and, at least at this point, I won't buy anything else. They are expensive, but they are my favorite.
CL
Question: I am going to bey a pair of doubles for ice. Any advice for me? Maxim makes the Unity... has anyone used this?
Thanks
edited for spelling
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timm
Sep 6, 2006, 2:31 AM
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I've never had good results with Maxim ropes. I've owned 4 (all 10.5mm) ropes and have had problems with:
1) Sheath slippage
2) Sheath wearing very quickly
3) They get dirty quickly and stay dirty despite washing
The sheath's tend to slip simply using a autoblock friction hitch backup on rappel. Generally, this only occurs after I've weighted the autoblock inorder to tend to something on rappel. But, I've never had this happen on other brands of rope.
I've also noticed that after washing the ropes the sheath tends to shrink more than the core and you get rope core sticking out from the ends of the sheath.
The best ropes that I've ever used have been Mammut. They tend to be stiffer than other ropes but the tightness of the sheath seems to cause them to wear better. I've never had a dirt problem with them nor any problem with the sheath ever slipping. I've got a 6 year old Mammut rope (now retired) that looks in better shape than a 6 month old Maxim despite the Mammut being thinner (10mm vs 10.5mm) and have been climbed on much more. Sometimes you do get what you pay for.
I've recently bought 2 Edelweiss ropes and so far I've been impressed. But, they haven't proven to be better than Mammuts so far.
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dan2see
Aug 24, 2010, 2:39 PM
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They're all good.
You can pick anything, just select the diameter and treatment for your particular scene.
Then, go for the rope with the coolest color.
---o---o---
OK I'll tell you what I did:
I got a Maxim Apex 10.2 in cool green. It's the best rope in the world for slabby limestone.
I got a Mammut 8.something double-dry in cool blue. It's the best rope in the world for ice.
(This post was edited by dan2see on Aug 24, 2010, 2:45 PM)
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irregularpanda
Aug 24, 2010, 4:33 PM
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dan2see wrote: I got a Maxim Apex 10.2 in cool green. It's the best rope in the world for slabby limestone.
Better not use it on granite, it'll explode and then give you syphilis if you survive. Stage 3 syphilis.
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dan2see
Aug 24, 2010, 6:37 PM
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OK I won't go there.
I like scrambles, so maybe I'll be more comfortable on higher free-solos.
But I stick to my "cool color" attitude. So I'll always wear tie-die scarf and fluorescent socks.
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