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Dwhitt1981
Oct 10, 2011, 4:26 PM
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I'm looking for a rope and just trying to see how long the life is on them. We do nothing but top roping. So how long will it last or when will I need to replace it? I've been told something like 3 or 5 years but not sure. Thanks
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marc801
Oct 10, 2011, 5:12 PM
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Dwhitt1981 wrote: I'm looking for a rope and just trying to see how long the life is on them. We do nothing but top roping. So how long will it last or when will I need to replace it? I've been told something like 3 or 5 years but not sure. Thanks
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tolman_paul
Oct 10, 2011, 6:31 PM
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That depends on how frequently you climb, how abrasive the rock you climb on, how carefully the rope is directed, how much the rope is hung on.
If you're climbing frequently, I would be highly suprised if you got 3-5 years out of a rope.
Worst case would be a somebody hanging on the rope as it's resting on a sharp edge and getting core shot in a single trip. More likley is in a year or two of heavy use the sheeth get's more and more fuzzed up until its time to retire it.
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Dwhitt1981
Oct 10, 2011, 7:13 PM
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I'm not sure how much we will use it but I'm thinking at least two times a month or so. As for the type of climbing it's only top roping for now at Cherekee rock village ( sandrock ). It's on here in the north alabama part of the routes guide.
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bearbreeder
Oct 10, 2011, 7:30 PM
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as long as it aint damaged, and looks fine ...
now id personally be iffy about climbing on a 15 year old rope on TR, but thats my own fear speaking
get a nice thick 10mm+ rope for TR, and itll basically last you many years till the sheath gets damaged or fuzzes up too much for you to put through yr belay device
http://www.theuiaa.org/...f_Climbing_Ropes.pdf
In practice, today’s ropes will neither
break in the attachment knot, nor at the
karabiner of a running belay, where the
rope is pivoted in the case of a drop, nor
in the partner belay, no matter what be-
lay method is used: the HMS knot, the
figure-of-eight, or any type of brake
plate. And in the free rope length a rope
will not break in any case.
These facts also hold for 10- or even
15-year-old ropes. This has been
proved by many tests of such old ropes
(not even 25-year-old ropes and one
30-year-old rope broke in tests in accor-
dance with the standard; they still held
at least one drop; this means that they
will not break in practice, unless loaded
over a sharp edge, in which case they
may break).
If the reader does not believe these
statements and becomes anxious if his
used rope is strong enough or not, he
should use it for bottom lowering, or
abseiling, or on glaciers. In these cases
a rope will not break, because of the
low load.
.....
But all acids are very dangerous!
During the 17 years quoted above with
only one rope breaking at a sharp rock
edge (at Hörndlwand), there have been
four (!) rope breakages in Germany and
Austria proven to be due to the influ-
ence of sulphuric acid (liquid from bat-
teries?). By now, also in Britain several
such rope breakages became known,
and in the US and in Canada one each.
In all cases, other than Britain, it was
due to sulphuric acid. In the British
cases, wherever the acid was known, it
was also found to be sulphuric. How-
ever, in all cases except one nobody
could find out how the sulphuric acid
came into contact with the rope; in the
one case, it can be assumed that it was
battery acid, because the rope had been
stored in a camper van of a German
mountain rescue team for some years.
The damage by any acid has the prob-
lem that it cannot be recognized on the
rope; there is no visible indication of its
presence.
The PPE1) Regulations in the EU
(European Union) require the manufac-
turer’s indication of time of use in the
instructions for use. Such indications
may be as follows: “Four years if rarely
used, two years if often used, one year
or even less if very often used.” Of
course, the question arises, what is
“rarely used” and “often used”.
Of course, every indication of time of
use is just a rough estimate like a house
number. Why?
If a rope is not loaded over a rock
edge by a fall, even a 10- or 15-year-old
rope will not break (influence of sharp
edges and any acid of course excluded).
However, if a practically brand-new
rope is loaded over a sharp rock edge
within the minimum time of use indi-
cated by the manufacturer, it may break
at the first drop. One such case has been
documented: Arope of the mountain
troops of the German army broke on the
first fall in the Laserzwand in the Dolo-
mites (1981), on investigation found to
be cut over a sharp rock edge. It was
known from the log book that the rope
had been used only for 10 hours and
that it had not been loaded by a fall dur-
ing this period. The army mountain
guide fell to his death.
This shows the doubtfulness of any
indication of time of use for ropes.
Conclusion: If you want to survive
whilst climbing and mountaineering,
please do no fall so that your rope
comes tight over a sharp rock edge, and
do not touch the rope with any acid!
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chilli
Oct 10, 2011, 8:41 PM
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Mike! I've missed you're posts and vids, my man! 
I see you're stepping up the production/editing with the green-screen. Nice touch with the gloves in front of the mountain (that's funny; as is the bit about rope color). Despite our disagreements, I've always appreciated your humor. Stay well, brother.
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Rmsyll2
Oct 11, 2011, 3:17 PM
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Another consideration is damage from sunlight, higher out west and lower latitudes. That means that number and nature of ascents are not the only sources of loss of strength. I commonly see ropes hung for hours, so they are being used up without being used.
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marc801
Oct 11, 2011, 5:32 PM
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Rmsyll2 wrote: Another consideration is damage from sunlight, higher out west and lower latitudes. That means that number and nature of ascents are not the only sources of loss of strength. I commonly see ropes hung for hours, so they are being used up without being used. .
A search would reveal:
http://www.rockclimbing.com/...um.cgi?post=2541662;
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jae8908
Oct 11, 2011, 11:03 PM
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Dwhitt1981 wrote: I'm not sure how much we will use it but I'm thinking at least two times a month or so. As for the type of climbing it's only top roping for now at Cherekee rock village ( sandrock ). It's on here in the north alabama part of the routes guide.
At Sandrock the most important thing with top roping is making sure you have webbing long enough to set up without the rope rubbing on ledges just under the anchors. Or if you anchor from trees or horns, make sure that the webbing is long enough to reach over the ledge without the rope rubbing. Always pad the trees or edges where the webbing runs over especially if it is sharp. Climbing at Sandrock and top roping everything, twice a month or so, I think that you should get ten years out of a rope. Don't go cheap though, buy a good quality rope in a large diameter(10-11mm). At Sandrock you can top rope everything with a 60 meter rope except Comfortably Numb (which you actually can climb but the ends don't touch the ground with a 60m rope). Get a good rope bag and try to keep the rope out of the dirt too much, this will help with the life of the rope. Always inspect your rope before or after climbing (doesn't matter which as long as its a habit that you do every time) to be sure the core feels right. Good luck!
btw, I'm going to Sandrock this weekend for some sport climbing.
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Dwhitt1981
Oct 12, 2011, 7:48 PM
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Thanks for the help. I have never done any sport climbing. Just top rope and maybe 5 times total I guess lol. But PM me with the info on time and stuff and I'll let you know if we can make it. Thanks again
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njrox
Oct 12, 2011, 8:03 PM
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so many variables with regards to anyone's rope. it really all depends. there's a lot of friction and abrasion in top-roping. keep an eye on the sheeth and be sure to extend over edges. take good care of your rope and always inspect it.
do you have a rope? not going to recommend one, but defintely look for a thicker rope (10mm+) and one with a stronger sheeth and perhaps dry treatment. there are "top-roping ropes".
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Kartessa
Oct 12, 2011, 9:58 PM
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Dwhitt1981 wrote: Thanks for the help. I have never done any sport climbing. Just top rope and maybe 5 times total I guess lol. But PM me with the info on time and stuff and I'll let you know if we can make it. Thanks again
way to go Jae, you just bought yourself a posse of topropers.
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jae8908
Oct 13, 2011, 1:34 AM
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Kartessa wrote: Dwhitt1981 wrote: Thanks for the help. I have never done any sport climbing. Just top rope and maybe 5 times total I guess lol. But PM me with the info on time and stuff and I'll let you know if we can make it. Thanks again way to go Jae, you just bought yourself a posse of topropers.
Lol. well here's the long story. My boss is taking a group up for a top rope/ anchor building class. I can pin the top ropers with her. Me and 4 other guys are going up for some sporting.
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shockabuku
Oct 13, 2011, 1:43 PM
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If I was buying a rope to TR with, and not lead with, I would consider a low stretch rope (like often used in gyms) especially if I was often going to TR things where I would use the whole rope length. A dynamic climbing rope can hav e an unexpected amount of stretch over its entire length.
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Dwhitt1981
Oct 13, 2011, 2:02 PM
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Cool Thanks. I think the shops around here carry sterling mainly but if we don't make it to climb this weekend then I'm going to do some shopping around.
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jae8908
Oct 13, 2011, 4:13 PM
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don't buy sterling. We use Sterling ropes at USA Rockwall and they do not last very long. We are using their 10.4 mm gym rope too. Horrible sheath slippage and life. Core starts showing deformities after a few months and we have to retire them. My girlfriends bluewater accelerator is nice. I have a Mammut Eiger and when I have to retire it I'll buy another one.
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Dwhitt1981
Oct 13, 2011, 4:44 PM
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I'll see what everyone carrys. I have never really looked that close before. Thanks for the input.
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