So I meet this climber, who claims he's experienced. He certainly looks the role; lean, fit, equipment dangling from his harness, clinking together as he shifts about.

I pull out a rope from my bag and ask, "This rope has be dipped in battery acid, shit on, pissed on, and I found it in the river behind my house. Is it safe to use?"

Chalk billows into the air from beneath his palms slapping his knees. He even chokes a little on his fit of laughter. He wipes the dirt and tears away from his face before he finally responds, still chuckling lightly, "I would never use that rope for trad or leading. You're likely to kill someone, or yourself." His eyes and face focused and serious.

"Oh, yeah," I respond, slightly embarrassed. "I suppose I could have guessed that."

"But," he says, cocking his head to the skies. "I mean. It's fine for top roping."

His buddy calls for him, he turns, and in an instant he is clinking and clanking along and he is gone and I'm left holding this shit and piss and acid ridden rope thinking, "what?"

Question: Is top roping that much less stressful for a rope that when people retire their ropes from leading they are comfortable TR'ing with it?

Yes. Unless you know something has compromised the strength of your rope (cuts, acid...) your retired lead rope is almost certainly good for top-roping.

to include a shot core???

to include a shot core???

I meant it as the core of the rope was like a wet noodle.

I just found this...

Word: “Core Shot” (n)
Definition: An unfortunate event in which the sheathe of a kernmantel rope either abrades or severs/separates to the extent that your rope core is visible

Ah, WTH! Totally off. My bad. I guess I'm looking for another term? Help me out guys?

The real issue is the fact that ropes become less dynamic over time. That means that when you take a lead fall it will be more jarring, hurt more, and put more load on your gear.

When you're toproping however, the falls are generally short with a lot of rope out to absorb the force (i.e. low fall factors), so having a less dynamic rope doesn't matter. Personally I'm fine to TR on a static rope as long as I have an attentive belayer who doesn't let slack build up in the system because even a static rope has some stretch to it.

In short, as long as a rope looks okay (i.e. sheath is still intact), hasn't been exposed to acids or other chemicals that may degrade it, and is less than probably 30 years old, it will be just fine for TR.

what they said above ... if it looks ok, hasnt been exposed to chemicals, feels ok, and hasnt been left in the sun since moses left eqypt ... yr fine

if it stills stretches well id still lead on it if i had to ...

for more on climbing ropes ...

http://theuiaa.org/...f_Climbing_Ropes.pdf

ropes dont last me years if its my main rope ... they MAY last me a year ... it all depends on how much u use em

The real issue is the fact that ropes become less dynamic over time. That means that when you take a lead fall it will be more jarring, hurt more, and put more load on your gear.

When you're toproping however, the falls are generally short with a lot of rope out to absorb the force (i.e. low fall factors), so having a less dynamic rope doesn't matter. Personally I'm fine to TR on a static rope as long as I have an attentive belayer who doesn't let slack build up in the system because even a static rope has some stretch to it.

In short, as long as a rope looks okay (i.e. sheath is still intact), hasn't been exposed to acids or other chemicals that may degrade it, and is less than probably 30 years old, it will be just fine for TR.

TimeSpiral, you have already spoken about your concerns with this rope on another thread. How can you seriously think about using it when you are obviously so worried about it? People have already advised you to get rid of the rope.
Do you even know if the rope is dynamic or static?

I am just about to retire a rope that is just over a year old. It looks perfect but I know its taken some various large falls and in a year its done a serious amount of work.
I won't buy a rope unless it is new with a UIAA seal of approval.

Does every new rope come with an UIAA seal or is that an attribute I need to be looking for when shopping?