150' or 200'?

It'll have to do with the trees your climbing. In Toronto, I could run with 150' but here in NJ I've found the 200 was better. Never a question of having enough rope to get to the ground.
 
I have never understood trying to make do with just one rope. They are not that expensive and last a long time. For me, it would be the same as trying to get by with just one saw.
 
GregManning said:
When you order rope, generally there is a manufacturing measurement tolerance. My experience is that it ends up on the short side. (but does depend on vendor)
If you order a "tight eye" etc., that is generally subtracted from the original length.
[Rope frequently comes on 600' coils. Vendors want to cut it into equal segments. If you order 150' w/ a tight-eye; they cut 150' & then make a tight-eye. You get a few feet less than you thought.]
I have measured hundreds & hundreds of ropes at Tree Climbing Comps that were significantly short of the customer's intended length.

A recommended double-over-hand stopper knot on the tail, 1' or more from the end, will use up more length.

If you order "long", and an end is damaged while working/climbing, and then needs to be cut it off, you still have a usable rope length.

Specify in the order the "finished length". (Then measure it when you get it !)

i.e. Order Long.
Click to expand...

Greg, thanks so much for this post. I had not considered the logic of the reason for giving a customer a "200 foot" rope with a spliced eye that was actually shorter than requested, namely, the need to be able to cut even lengths off of a spool of rope, in order to limit waste.

I also did not know that it was possible to specify a "finished length". Asking for that would seem to me to be "goring the ox" of the vendor on at least two counts. Namely, you are forcing them to cut an uneven length off of a spool of rope, which hurts their ability to sell the next section as a full length. The second count is that you are asking for more product than they typically provide at a normal price.

Since everything is negotiable, and people will do anything for you if the price is right, do you end up paying a premium for these "specified length" ropes? Or do you specify it by just buying all of your ropes "by the foot", and end up paying the premium in that fashion? I'm just guessing, but I would think the vendors would sell "rope by the foot" at a price that is higher per foot than what you'd pay for a "standard length" rope.

Thanks again for your very informative post.

Tim
 
I'm just a rec climber, and don't have a lot of climbing lines. (currently 4, plus 3 different ascent lines)

However, I have never had resistance from a vendor when specifying a "finished length".
In fact those ropes were nearly always longer.
I guess they (correctly) didn't want me to be shorted.
Never had a request for price increase. Although I had offered to pay for the extra feet required.
Many times, for specific ropes, spool "left-over pieces" can be made into lanyards, etc.
 
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DSMc said:
I would go with 150'. It is the length that I use most often. You really don't want an extra 50' of rope to move around if you don't need to as you will find yourself not using some redirect options if yarding and tossing are a hassle. You can always add extra length by attaching a second line when more is needed.
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Dave, thanks for this post. The possible negative impact on one's ability to climb effectively due to the added work a longer rope may require is something I had not even considered.

If you did have to add a length of rope at some point, this is where a device that can be quickly taken off and put back on a rope would really come in handy. As in, Rope Runner, Bulldog Bone, etc. Otherwise, whenever you were to come to the point where the two ropes meet, you'd have the onerous task of switching a slower type of system from one rope to another.

I'm nowhere near as facile as you are at changing my hitches over while up in a tree, like you'd have to do with a Rope Wrench or Hitch Hiker. I guess a Petzl Rig would be a nice tool to have hanging off of my harness, to provide a quick, secure method of attachment to the rope, while the hitch based system is being switched over in its slower fashion.

I can hear people now. "Just buy the Rope Runner, for gosh sakes. Problem solved." Same for Bulldog Bone.

Tim
 
Tim, I should clarify that if I have to add rope length it is a forethought and added to the tied off end of a base anchor, so passing the knot with my climbing tool is not an issue.
 
gmcttr said:
I'm a recreational climber and mostly climb with tie in points 75'-85' up. I find myself using a 200' rope more often than my shorter ropes. It's needed if using a basal anchor and when using a cinched canopy anchor, it provides it's own pull down leg without needing a throw line tied on to do the removal from ground.

In both cases the the length of the climbing side of the rope can be adjusted during setup so you don't have more rope than needed to be pulled through redirects.

I also usually have a DdRT setup on the end of the removal leg when I use a canopy anchor for SRT and a 200' rope is very beneficial for this use. I can pull it up if needed for a second climbing system.
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Wow, gmcttr, what a great post! A lot of great info in a short amount of space. The highlighted section is a great argument in favor of a 200 foot rope. I typically use a base tie SRT system, and how much I've left on the ground, in the bag, was usually based on how much I thought I would need to have there if someone needed to lower me down. Once I get high enough, though, there is no longer enough rope there at the bottom to allow me to make it all the way, and a second rope would need to be added anyway.

So, just to make that obvious, I'd often leave very little at the bottom, but leave an alpine butterfly with a biner attached, as a place to clip in a 2nd rope in an emergency. I'd never given a thought to the possibility that all of that extra rope available on my climbing side could be a hindrance.

Thanks for the tips about using the rope itself as a "pull-down leg", and adding a DdRT system at the bottom of it. Both great ideas.

Tim
 
DSMc said:
Tim, I should clarify that if I have to add rope length it is a forethought and added to the tied off end of a base anchor, so passing the knot with my climbing tool is not an issue.
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Dave, thanks for this quick response. This makes more sense to me now. Much appreciated.

Tim
 
GregManning said:
I'm just a rec climber, and don't have a lot of climbing lines. (currently 4, plus 3 different ascent lines)

However, I have never had resistance from a vendor when specifying a "finished length".
In fact those ropes were nearly always longer.
I guess they (correctly) didn't want me to be shorted.
Never had a request for price increase. Although I had offered to pay for the extra feet required.
Many times, for specific ropes, spool "left-over pieces" can be made into lanyards, etc.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this quick response, Greg. It's nice to know that they'll actually go a bit out of their way to please a customer, just to keep them coming back. I don't know if it is appropriate or not, but a vendor that would do something like that deserves a mention. Maybe they'd rather you didn't, though, since it might increase the volume of requests they get for that.

I would not want to ruin a good deal for you. Thanks again for your response.

Tim
 
GregManning said:
...Many times, for specific ropes, spool "left-over pieces" can be made into lanyards, etc.
Click to expand...

Exactly. We frequently order odd 15'-30' lengths for long lanyards as well so the spools are rarely going to be cut in even lengths.

TimBr said:
...Thanks for the tips about using the rope itself as a "pull-down leg", and adding a DdRT system at the bottom of it. Both great ideas....
Click to expand...

I learned that from yoyoman. Here's his explanation of it...http://www.treebuzz.com/forum/threads/the-backbone-of-my-climbing-system.30067/
 
TimBr said:
Thanks for this quick response, Greg. It's nice to know that they'll actually go a bit out of their way to please a customer, just to keep them coming back. I don't know if it is appropriate or not, but a vendor that would do something like that deserves a mention.
Click to expand...

Actually I don't think that kind of service would be unusual for any business that does "in-house" splicing.
I've had 3 different shops accommodate special requests. (original ABR, Knot & Rope, At-Height)
I'd be very surprised if you called TreeStuff, Sherrill, etc & they would not do a custom job.
If you call & they don't want it; move on to the next one.

Now, a shop that only sells "ready-made" ropes could be a different story.
They might accept a custom order, but add on shipping, etc.
Typically, they want to make large orders to minimize shipping costs.

Note: Make sure you request a "tight-eye" splice. Otherwise you may end up with a large one.
 
Personally, I have been using shorter lengths recently because I've gone to rigging my own triple threat type system, but using quick links instead of a ring. This way, I can keep a dynamic line on the back side, and use more static ropes on the working side. Also, as a rope wears out, I just have to replace that part instead of the whole schebang. I climb taller trees (lots of tall pine in my area), so I keep 125' lengths on the working side to accommodate a) enough length on tall crowded pines and b) enough for whatever redirects I want on the live oaks.

To each their own, but I'd rather not have to guess whether I have enough rope to reach the ground if I use such and such as a redirect.
 
I climbed a white oak yesterday and with the smaller trees close to it interfering with my throw line placement, I could only hit a crouch 70' up which I couldn't get isolated for a canopy anchor. Guesstimating how much rope I'd need when advancing the PSP, I left about 10' of extra rope on the basal anchor side. I used two long lanyards to advance above the PSP, pulled up the climb rope and isolated it on a crouch at 95'. When I got back to ground, I found an "extra" 2' of rope of the climbing side on the ground.

I placed a preset isolated throw line as I pulled down the climbing rope for the next climb. It was a good day to have a 200' rope.
 
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