Steve Connally
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Suffolk, Virginia
Yep it’s was. lol
Courant Squir
- Thread starter Chris Schultz
- Start date
Matias
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Butte County
So, I don't have any type of RR or BDB, but I just tried my new hank of Squir and the zig zag wouldn't grap it at all, which is super weird because it holds on to my 11mm Sterling WorkPro like a dream, and I made sure to get the 11.5mm Squir. I am beyond confused, as the ZZ grabbed the WorkPro from the word go, and on multiple new hanks of it. Definitely stays very round, and responded beautifully to my 8mm beeline
Muggs
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Canuckistan
That's super weird, worked perfectly on my yellow Squir when brand new, still slick, out of the box.
Courant recommends soaking all their lines in cold water for 24 hrs before first use. I've never done it, but maybe that will help. It's supposed to get some of the slick coating off the rope, from the factory...
Matias
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Butte County
Wow. That's very strange. I gotta try before I panic I guess
Sprucinator
New member
- Location
- Northern IL
At the last TCIA I got to speak with the reps at the Courant booth. I told one guy I have a RRP and have heard how good the squir 2 works with it. He said I should just wait for Kalimba to come out because it's just as good but its a 24 strand which opens up options for MRS climbing as well.
Muggs
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Canuckistan
Any luck with the Squir on the zigzag after all?
Matias
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Butte County
I have been going 109% everyday, but this weekend is gonna give me some time to play with ropes. I will definitely update. I have avoided any further use, as I want to figure this out solidly for the future; I am otherwise very impressed with the rope. I milked it five times and only got about a quarter inch of cover off of it, and I usually get a foot and change off a 150'. As I type that it occurs to me that the smoothness/slickness of the coating or residue that's on the rope from the factory might make it harder to milk the cover? In either case, it stays very round and was wonderful with hitch cord in SRS and MRS, so I will use it no matter what, but a fair and proper experiment with some video documentation will commence this weekend.
Willber
New member
- Location
- Milford, NH
Before climbing on Voyager I was able to milk just over 5feet of cover. Removing that 5ft, did keep the rope noticeably more round, upto 30ft from spliced eye, but closer to the free end, it stayed oval, making it too touchy, in inducing bending, due to the oval profile, to easily self tend. And, simply was too oval for ideal.
Unfortunately milking a rope makes the cover braid strands more parallel to the rope, so you lose some grip.
I have yet to climb on the Kalimba I purchased, waiting to milk, soak, then milk.
Have others soaked their Kalimba, or milked it before or after?
Have others found that Squir has a slight trapezoidish profile to it.
Funny seems some are looking for a rope that won't flatten, has high strand cover count, very static, and light weight.
It seems, to have more than 3 carrier strand could be better that even being 32 strand.
A good rope could be 4 carrier in a 24 strand. To eliminate flattening, a tightly wrapped cover over the core might be necessary, most static true kernmantle (most flatten anyway) ropes, cannot be spliced anyway, so why not make a rope that has a very tight cover braided over a partially pre-stretched core. And, to reduce bulk of the sewn eye, have a low profile sewn eye, like the one Edelrid does on their rock climbing ropes.
A nylon cover and core, to save weight. Nylon is plenty abrasion resistant, the Beal rope was used for 3 years showing less than typical wear of the cover, compared to loosely braided polyester covers.
Unfortunately milking a rope makes the cover braid strands more parallel to the rope, so you lose some grip.
I have yet to climb on the Kalimba I purchased, waiting to milk, soak, then milk.
Have others soaked their Kalimba, or milked it before or after?
Have others found that Squir has a slight trapezoidish profile to it.
Funny seems some are looking for a rope that won't flatten, has high strand cover count, very static, and light weight.
It seems, to have more than 3 carrier strand could be better that even being 32 strand.
A good rope could be 4 carrier in a 24 strand. To eliminate flattening, a tightly wrapped cover over the core might be necessary, most static true kernmantle (most flatten anyway) ropes, cannot be spliced anyway, so why not make a rope that has a very tight cover braided over a partially pre-stretched core. And, to reduce bulk of the sewn eye, have a low profile sewn eye, like the one Edelrid does on their rock climbing ropes.
A nylon cover and core, to save weight. Nylon is plenty abrasion resistant, the Beal rope was used for 3 years showing less than typical wear of the cover, compared to loosely braided polyester covers.
Matias
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Butte County
Update on my slippery Squir:
I have been avoiding even handling this rope until I could document the oddity. I tried weeks ago to film myself, but everything was way too shaky. I set it up this morning, and of course this rope is just working perfectly in the zigzag/chicane combo. It slips that tiny bit until the chicane engages, and that happens quicker than on other ropes, but once the top brake engages, it operates very smoothly, maybe smoother than the WorkPro, which is what I was hoping for buying an 11.5mm. I haven't done more than 8' off the ground, and will update once more when I do fly it for real, but it's back on track to becoming my new favorite.
On another tangent, I noticed that the braid looks more like a lower strand count braid with the check shaped picks and the rectangular sections that form them, vs other 32 strand ropes I have seen that seem to all have diamond or square shaped patterns. I don't yet know enough to understand what effect this may or may not have, but I also noticed that despite the Squir have single carrier strands vs the two carrier strands on Kernmaster and WorkPro, it seems to have a smoother jacket. I really wanna learn about these braids and how they were created.
I have been avoiding even handling this rope until I could document the oddity. I tried weeks ago to film myself, but everything was way too shaky. I set it up this morning, and of course this rope is just working perfectly in the zigzag/chicane combo. It slips that tiny bit until the chicane engages, and that happens quicker than on other ropes, but once the top brake engages, it operates very smoothly, maybe smoother than the WorkPro, which is what I was hoping for buying an 11.5mm. I haven't done more than 8' off the ground, and will update once more when I do fly it for real, but it's back on track to becoming my new favorite.
On another tangent, I noticed that the braid looks more like a lower strand count braid with the check shaped picks and the rectangular sections that form them, vs other 32 strand ropes I have seen that seem to all have diamond or square shaped patterns. I don't yet know enough to understand what effect this may or may not have, but I also noticed that despite the Squir have single carrier strands vs the two carrier strands on Kernmaster and WorkPro, it seems to have a smoother jacket. I really wanna learn about these braids and how they were created.
Shadowscape
Been here a while
- Location
- far north
Gotta love milk crates.
Matias
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Butte County
I have 9 in four different colors and two sizes. I haven't found a replacement that has me jumping to switch over the whole system.
I know everyone is all bout the mechanicals these dayz, but that squire sure looks like it would kick ass with some hitch cord.
Matias
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Butte County
I rocked it with an 8mm beeline swabisch and a wrench the one day I worked on it, and it was flawless. A nice broken in handsplice
Matias
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Butte County
I have been pleased so far, but I haven't gotten to open it up all the way in a tall conifer. Definitely a lot more static than Sterling WorkPro.
Chris Schultz
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Minturn
Ooops. Mine didn’t come with a manual/literature…. I’d be curious to see side by side test.
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Shadowscape
Been here a while
- Location
- far north
My Kalimba came with something that said to soak the rope before using. Don't have the card anymore, and I don't remember for how long it recommended soaking.
I didn't soak mine however. Must be to tighten the jacket, or some such thing. Mine works just fine as is. It will get washed in the spring and I'll see if that changes things, although it may be too late to do any good. Who knows...
In other words, I didn't add a blooming thing to this conversation.
ps: One thing I will add that may be of some use, it appears that the Kalimba I bought was produced by a machine that was a little out of whack on one or more of the strand tensioners for the cover. They don't flow evenly, as though one strand was pulling too tightly when braided. Doesn't seem to affect anything I do though. Just looks odd.
I didn't soak mine however. Must be to tighten the jacket, or some such thing. Mine works just fine as is. It will get washed in the spring and I'll see if that changes things, although it may be too late to do any good. Who knows...
In other words, I didn't add a blooming thing to this conversation.
ps: One thing I will add that may be of some use, it appears that the Kalimba I bought was produced by a machine that was a little out of whack on one or more of the strand tensioners for the cover. They don't flow evenly, as though one strand was pulling too tightly when braided. Doesn't seem to affect anything I do though. Just looks odd.
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misfit
Participating member
- Location
- Baton Rouge
According to the Courant rep in the video above, they advise soaking all their ropes for 24 hours in clean water to "clean the manufacturing residue" and to "harmonize the cover and the core" to get the maximum performance out of the rope. Sounds a little vague, and I don't know why it takes 24 hours.
@Shadowscape , I would be curious to know if you milked the rope and, if so, how much cover did you milk off what length of rope.
Shadowscape
Been here a while
- Location
- far north
On my 60 meter rope I milked about 2 feet off the end, and that was really going at it hard. Not that much. I remember being somewhat impressed.
The Kalimba is about on par with HTP in terms of static. A little too static for my liking, but I do like the way the Zigzag runs on it. Has enough grip, but smooth going.
The odd cover weaving throws me a bit. Seems like the tension on one or more of the weaves is off, but maybe it is done on purpose. Just looks odd to me. Doesn't seem to be a problem at all however. Could be just an odd weave I am not familiar with.
I do like the way the rope performs, just wish it was a little more stretchy than it is. I am a MRS person most of the time and I prefer a tad more shock absorption.
