Climbing Ropes

Your rope is probably the most important link in the climber's safety chain, because of this care should be taken in choosing the right one and looking after it. Hopefully this guide will help…

Climbing ropes have developed from the old hemp plated ones your granddad has in his attic to complicated core and mantel constructions, which are dynamic and made from colorful nylon.
When you are buying your first rope or replacing/upgrading an old one you first need to decide what type you need. Climbing ropes are basically categorized into three main types, single, double (or half) and twin.


Single ropes, designed to be used on their own, are normally used for top roping, indoor climbing, sport climbing and simple leading up relatively straight lines. They currently range between 8.9mm and 11mm in thickness.


Double ropes are also known as half ropes. They are designed to be used in pairs and should be clipped alternately when used for leading. Double ropes are normally used for traditional leading and winter climbing. The two ropes allow you to maintain a straighter rope line and thus reduce rope drag. They also allow a longer abseil when retreating from a route. They currently range between about 8mm and 9mm in thickness.


Twin ropes are to be used as a pair with both strands clipped into everything. These ropes allow the lightest system that allows a full-length abseil. Mainly used for winter climbing they also provide a safer system in situations where a rope could get chopped on sharp rope. These are the lightest ropes available and are currently produced as thin as 7.5mm.

When you are looking at a rope and have decided which type you want you will need to compare the performance of the rope and decide what is important to you. The following statistics will be quoted alongside all ropes and they will hopefully allow you to work out which rope would be most suited to your style of climbing.

Diameter:
In general the thicker the rope the better abrasion resistance and the longer the rope will last. Thicker ropes (up to about 11mm) are easier to hold a fall on as there is more resistance through a belay plate but harder to thread through some belay plates. A thicker rope is also heavier and will feel a bit stiffer.

Length:
The standard length of most ropes used in the UK is 50m. 50m will therefore cope well with most UK cragging. A lot of Europeans however use a 60m or even 70m ropes so if your planning a sun rock trip check the routes aren't going to leave you stranded 10m off the ground. Longer ropes are heavier, more expensive and take up more space but can allow you to abseil off routes more easily and join shorter pitches together.

Weight:
Normally lighter ropes are better. Easier to carry and less rope drag but normally the lightest ropes are also less durable and more expensive.
Number of Bobbins:
This is the number of threads used in the construction of the sheaf of the rope. For an equivalent diameter of rope a higher number of bobbins give better dynamic characteristics and handle more smoothly. Fewer bobbins used in the construction mean that the treads are thicker, thicker threads are more durable but don't feel as nice to use.

Impact force:
This is the force experienced by the climber in a fall, it is tested differently for the three types of rope and the standards are shown below.

Values required by the Standard:
• Single rope: Impact force lower than 12kN holding the first factor 1.77 fall with a mass of 80kg.
• Double rope: Impact force lower than 8kn holding the first factor 1.77 fall with a mass of 55kg.
• Twin rope: Impact force lower than 12kN holding the first factor 1.77 fall with a mass of 80kg,on two strands.

The impact force printed in the technical notice must not be lower than the poorest result found by the certifying laboratory.

Number of falls:
To satisfy the Standards, single rope must withstand 5 successive factor 1.77 falls with a mass of 80kg; double rope 5 successive falls with a mass of 55kg; twin ropes 12 successive falls with a mass of 80kg on two strands.
The number of falls shown on the technical notice must not be higher than the poorest result found by the certifying laboratory.

Dynamic elongation:
This test measures the stretch after the first fall. To pass the standard the rope must stretch by less than 40%. You should be aware that when using a rope for the first time the stretch experienced on the first fall will be much greater than on subsequent falls, don't try the hard lead with a near ground fall possibility with a brand new rope!

Static elongation:
This test measures the stretch of the rope under a static load of 80kg it must not exceed 10% for single rope, 12% for double rope, and 10% for two strands of twin rope together.

The last thing to consider is if you need the rope to be dry treated or not. All rope manufactures use some kind of dry treatment option on most of their ropes. The dry treatment is an extra synthetic treatment of the individual threads before the rope is woven. It reduces the amount of water the rope can soak up and is thus almost essential for winter climbing as it reduces the amount your rope freezes. It also appears to make the rope more durable so it prolongs the life of your rope. It is always more expensive though.

Once you have chosen your rope make sure you look after it properly. Please read the gear care guide.