|
tdellaringa
May 25, 2014, 4:18 PM
Post #1 of 12
(6957 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jul 10, 2010
Posts: 13
|
Hi, you all helped me with my swing a couple years ago - specifically knots on the ropes. I've had this version up for a couple years. I wanted to see if you all thought the integrity of the ropes was still good. It looks like it's okay to me, but I want some experts to weigh in.
The key is the loop connected to the top there. The carabiner (?) is actually attached to the eyebolt in the tree, so the rope doesn't bear the friction of the swinging.
There's a smidge bit of fray on part of the lower knot, but it all seems fairly intact. Let me know what you think.
|
|
|
|
|
Urban_Cowboy
May 25, 2014, 7:49 PM
Post #2 of 12
(6922 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Feb 3, 2009
Posts: 219
|
Looks fine, hang it back up and swing away.
|
|
|
|
|
billcoe_
May 26, 2014, 3:30 AM
Post #3 of 12
(6851 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jun 30, 2002
Posts: 4694
|
None of us here would know how to answer that. You need to answer a lot of other questions first. What would be the effect of a failure? Like, If i was a short length of rope over water, failure would likely mean a splash and you get wet, but little else. If this was the rope swing out of the alcove off El Cap, failure would be a guaranteed fatality.
Frankly, I think you'd need to know what the initial strength was. That looks like some sort of polyrope, not a thing we would be familiar with as it's more at home for boating as the line will float, and not something one would utilize in a strength application where a person might get hurt in the event of a failure. Is rope that expensive you can't just replace it? The old rule of thumb would apply here to me, in disagreement with the previous poster: "WHEN IN DOUBT, THROW IT OUT."
|
|
|
|
|
marc801
May 26, 2014, 5:40 AM
Post #4 of 12
(6827 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Aug 1, 2005
Posts: 2806
|
tdellaringa wrote: Hi, you all helped me with my swing a couple years ago - specifically knots on the ropes. I've had this version up for a couple years. I wanted to see if you all thought the integrity of the ropes was still good. It looks like it's okay to me, but I want some experts to weigh in. The key is the loop connected to the top there. The carabiner (?) is actually attached to the eyebolt in the tree, so the rope doesn't bear the friction of the swinging. There's a smidge bit of fray on part of the lower knot, but it all seems fairly intact. Let me know what you think. [image]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/48702/IMG_20140525_111323.jpg[/image] [image]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/48702/IMG_20140525_111334.jpg[/image]
This is the wrong kind of rope to use for anything other than tying up boats.
Look at the friction burn marks at the top of your loop in the second image.
|
|
|
|
|
iknowfear
May 26, 2014, 11:09 AM
Post #5 of 12
(6799 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Sep 8, 2004
Posts: 670
|
tdellaringa wrote: Hi, you all helped me with my swing a couple years ago - specifically knots on the ropes. I've had this version up for a couple years. I wanted to see if you all thought the integrity of the ropes was still good. It looks like it's okay to me, but I want some experts to weigh in. The key is the loop connected to the top there. The carabiner (?) is actually attached to the eyebolt in the tree, so the rope doesn't bear the friction of the swinging. There's a smidge bit of fray on part of the lower knot, but it all seems fairly intact. Let me know what you think. [image]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/48702/IMG_20140525_111323.jpg[/image] [image]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/48702/IMG_20140525_111334.jpg[/image]
This was the original knot thread (for anyone interested in the suggestions given, and what was implemented): http://www.rockclimbing.com/...rum.cgi?post=2372717
|
|
|
|
|
sungam
May 26, 2014, 11:26 AM
Post #6 of 12
(6793 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jun 24, 2004
Posts: 26804
|
I'd say retie it with the (at least what appears to be) damaged section cut off or at least outside the majority of the knot.
As stated in the other thread, something like this
Will help reduce wear on the rope.
That rope doesn't seem horrifically worn (though it's pretty much impossible to tell from a photo) but it's obviously taking some damage and will shit out eventually.
If you can't fit it in the loop tie a bigger loop, I guess.
|
|
|
|
|
tdellaringa
May 26, 2014, 2:25 PM
Post #7 of 12
(6768 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jul 10, 2010
Posts: 13
|
The usage is for a tree swing, and yeah, if it failed there would likely be injury. The branch to the swing is about 12 feet, and you can swing wider/faster than on a typical playground swing.
I believe that rope costs me around $45 at home depot. It's some kind of poly nylon braid from what I recall, but I can replace it.
From the other thread I tried various ways to get something around the rope, but none of the ideas really worked for my application. That is why I ended up with the metal clasps (whatever they are called) going through the eyebolt. That seemed to work well.
Is there some kind of better rope for this? I thought the folks in the last thread said the rope I got was adequate. It did seem to work well and lasted two years with no problems up to this point.
I have to replace the wooden swing part too, so if I have to replace the rope now is the time to do it.
|
|
|
|
|
billcoe_
May 26, 2014, 6:42 PM
Post #8 of 12
(6731 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jun 30, 2002
Posts: 4694
|
tdellaringa wrote: The usage is for a tree swing, and yeah, if it failed there would likely be injury. The branch to the swing is about 12 feet, and you can swing wider/faster than on a typical playground swing. I believe that rope costs me around $45 at home depot. It's some kind of poly nylon braid from what I recall, but I can replace it. From the other thread I tried various ways to get something around the rope, but none of the ideas really worked for my application. That is why I ended up with the metal clasps (whatever they are called) going through the eyebolt. That seemed to work well. Is there some kind of better rope for this? I thought the folks in the last thread said the rope I got was adequate. It did seem to work well and lasted two years with no problems up to this point. I have to replace the wooden swing part too, so if I have to replace the rope now is the time to do it.
Replace it. With good rope this time. You overpaid if you spent $45 for that crap.
Here's some musings to answer your questions. I'm not a "professional" although I have been paid for things like this, and you get what you pay for, so here's some free thoughts and advice:-) REI has PMI static 11mm, for .85 cents a foot. http://www.rei.com/...ort-11mm-static-rope Strength is 26.9kilonewtons, so well over 5000 lbs before it would break. Riggers use 1/4 of the ultimate strength (ie, breaking strength) as the "working load", so as long as you don't load that 5000 lb rope (you can do the math to convert kn to lbs, it's actually higher than 5,000 but I'm making it simplified for ease of conveyance) any more than 1000 lbs, you are within what is considered normal safe guidelines. Consider that last sentence again vis a vis what the strength of your line is. What is the strength of yours? I'd guess less than 1/4 of that. On a good day. You may be able to get that info from Home Depot on the rope display, or sus something close from a site like this: http://www.boatsafe.com/...nespike/safeload.htm This type of static rope I linked at REI gets used by rescuers to hang their ass's off of cliffs, cavers too. They wouldn't use the crap you were using unless it was to tie up their boats or their dogs. If it was me, I'd just replace it with good stuff ASAP. It's really difficult to say what it would take to break your POS polypropylene rope at this point, it may be fine for years to come. You didn't say how large it is, which is a factor - along with how much sunlight it gets, and how much use it gets, etc etc. However, cutting to the chase here: a broken arm might run $5000-$10000 to fix, and you can replace a lot of rope for that kind of scratch.
Good luck!
|
|
|
|
|
tdellaringa
May 26, 2014, 8:10 PM
Post #9 of 12
(6712 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jul 10, 2010
Posts: 13
|
The stuff I have now is like 3/4" diameter. You make good points, and I'll grab that rope at REI instead. It seems weird going to a smaller diameter rope that is actually stronger :)
Yeah the most weight that gets on this thing is me, which would be like 210 pounds. We use it all summer, it's mostly in the shade. It's affixed to a huge 100 year old tree.
|
|
|
|
|
hobo_climber
May 26, 2014, 9:02 PM
Post #10 of 12
(6705 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jan 30, 2007
Posts: 75
|
Man i'm glad I don't live in the states where I have to be constantly paranoid about the cost of someone *potentially* hurting themselves.
|
|
|
|
|
6pacfershur
May 28, 2014, 1:51 AM
Post #11 of 12
(6548 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jun 23, 2010
Posts: 254
|
billcoe_ wrote: None of us here would know how to answer that......That looks like some sort of polyrope, not a thing we would be familiar with....
and yet you respond with a large paragraph telling him/her what to do
|
|
|
|
|
billcoe_
May 29, 2014, 9:01 PM
Post #12 of 12
(6372 views)
Shortcut
Registered: Jun 30, 2002
Posts: 4694
|
Yeah. Couldn't help myself.
I tie my boat anchor with that shit. It holds the boat, can't tell you how strong it is. Would I want my neighbors kid to get hurt when it snaps on him?
No is the correct answer there. No.
|
|
|
|
|
|
