Bridge rope construction

Seth McPherson

Seth McPherson

New member
Location
Cincinnati
I’ve always used 16 strand for my bridge. I’ve been told that 24 strand is not recommended and seems to make sense based off its construction. I’m wondering if something like beeline as a bridge is also not recommended. I really just wanted to use it as a secondary lightweight bridge that wouldn’t see too much action, more just to hang things from or the occasional second tie in. Would love to hear what people have used and how it’s help up over time
 

Appropriate Bridge Rope Size

Hello All, I have a Petzl Sequoia Saddle. The hardware will accommodate a second bridge. I own some beautiful Sterling Rope 8mm rope, that is smaller than the original. How does one determine whether I can use this rope as a second bridge? What are the specs for the bridge on climbing...
www.treebuzz.com
 
Seth McPherson said:
I’ve always used 16 strand for my bridge. I’ve been told that 24 strand is not recommended and seems to make sense based off its construction. I’m wondering if something like beeline as a bridge is also not recommended. I really just wanted to use it as a secondary lightweight bridge that wouldn’t see too much action, more just to hang things from or the occasional second tie in. Would love to hear what people have used and how it’s help up over time
Click to expand...
Seth,

A bit of a loaded question. For an accurate answer we would need to know what harness. If fact it gets even easier. If you want a second bridge, just get another of the manufacture’s original.

OEM is always the best decision. It may seem silly, but the manufacturers really do spend a good bit of time and thought selecting and testing the bridge.

The weight savings?? We are talking about a short piece of rope here. I cannot see it being a real factor.

Tony
 
Tony said:
Seth,

A bit of a loaded question. For an accurate answer we would need to know what harness. If fact it gets even easier. If you want a second bridge, just get another of the manufacture’s original.

OEM is always the best decision. It may seem silly, but the manufacturers really do spend a good bit of time and thought selecting and testing the bridge.

The weight savings?? We are talking about a short piece of rope here. I cannot see it being a real factor.

Tony
Click to expand...
It’s the monkey beaver, the bridge feeds through two paw shaped rock exotica rigging plates. Comes with Samson arbormaster rbw as the stock bridge. The rigging plates can be oriented to accommodate 2 bridges, which I prefer. My issue is that 2 1/2” ropes in there gets kind of clunky (so it’s not really the weight, I worded it incorrectly). I’m really just looking for a small diameter rope that can be used occasionally as a second bridge if I need it, but most often I use the second bridge to hang big saws or heavy rigging equipment from. Sorry about the lack of information and incorrect wording on the original post
 
@Seth McPherson
Bee line is a terrible rope bridge. The material its core is made of is very different than that of a a traditional double braid arborist rope. It's HMPE (....maybe just butchered the acronym...) material which is much more slippery. So the core of the rope in your knot has a (very extremely small) chance of slipping out of the knot, making g the knot small enough (now being just cover) to slip thru hardware. This is why one sees stitches on the Treemotion rope bridge. Same material, just a different construction for the finished rope bridge product. Globe 3000 for a bridge has a tighter cover than beeline.
Double braid ropes like Samson velocity or Yale 11.7mm ropes, or tachyon, work just fine. As mentioned, manufacturer preference is best in the event you're questioning it, but the Buckingham ergovation was sold with a double braid bridge. Close to 3" tails on the knots that hold it on place (if they're jammed against rigging plates) is recommended.
Things like Tritech (these technora rope covers) eat thru hardware sliding back and forth on it, so also not a great rope bridge choice.
New tribe used Teufelburger Platinum because the core and cover are joined. Kinda neat. Never really cared for it over anything myself.
 
Seth McPherson said:
I’ve always used 16 strand for my bridge. I’ve been told that 24 strand is not recommended and seems to make sense based off its construction. I’m wondering if something like beeline as a bridge is also not recommended. I really just wanted to use it as a secondary lightweight bridge that wouldn’t see too much action, more just to hang things from or the occasional second tie in. Would love to hear what people have used and how it’s help up over time
Click to expand...
I don't worry about it.Using 8 mm rope in loop configurtion.
 
CutHighnLetFly said:
@Seth McPherson
Bee line is a terrible rope bridge. The material its core is made of is very different than that of a a traditional double braid arborist rope. It's HMPE (....maybe just butchered the acronym...) material which is much more slippery. So the core of the rope in your knot has a (very extremely small) chance of slipping out of the knot, making g the knot small enough (now being just cover) to slip thru hardware. This is why one sees stitches on the Treemotion rope bridge. Same material, just a different construction for the finished rope bridge product. Globe 3000 for a bridge has a tighter cover than beeline.
Double braid ropes like Samson velocity or Yale 11.7mm ropes, or tachyon, work just fine. As mentioned, manufacturer preference is best in the event you're questioning it, but the Buckingham ergovation was sold with a double braid bridge. Close to 3" tails on the knots that hold it on place (if they're jammed against rigging plates) is recommended.
Things like Tritech (these technora rope covers) eat thru hardware sliding back and forth on it, so also not a great rope bridge choice.
New tribe used Teufelburger Platinum because the core and cover are joined. Kinda neat. Never really cared for it over anything myself.
Click to expand...
Thank you, great information here
 
colb said:
Platinum has a sensible construction. Outer sheath is slightly interwoven with inner core to mitigate milking.
Click to expand...

Platinum line takes away the potential problem of the core slipping through whatever stopper knots are used to anchor each side of the bridge, I believe it is the only advantage.

I think New Tribe started using it when they developed the Onyx harness as a way to avoid the legal/safety issues Teufleberger had around people buying their 10mm Dyneema core bridge by the foot instead of paying for the stock bridge which was stitched through the core on each end to prevent slippage through the anchor knots. Anyone who has spliced Dyneema core cordage knows how slippery it is through the cover.

Polyester cover with a braided Dyneema core makes a very strong and flex fatigue resistant harness bridge allowing for the smaller 10mm diameter cordage (used for the OG Treemorion) as opposed to arborist line polyester double-braids which are 11mm or greater to meet generally accepted work at height strength requirements.

Several full or partial bridge failures happened with climbers using 10mm Beeline, the core material is not flex fatigue resistant and is dangerous for use as bridge cordage.
-AJ
 
I know there's been a few Beeline bridges that have failed, but they might have been 8 mm and not 10 mm.
 
Bridges get intense focal point loading so there's not much forgiveness if the fiber is strong but tends to be more brittle out of the box like Vectran. Fine for hitch cord because load is distributed, not constantly on the "edge" of whatever a climber is using for their bridge connecter.

Kevlar is a good example of a "high modulus" fiber that is extremely strong but does not handle focal point flex well. Dyneema (as core, it is sensitive to heat and friction) and polyester fibers handle bridge use very well.
-AJ
 
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