Hot ropes melting

Tom Dunlap

Tom Dunlap

Here from the beginning
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Retired in Minneapolis
Today I went with a buddy to help him with a rec climb. there were about thirth kids, ages 11-13. What fun!

Yesterday was pretty hot too. Somewhere around 100 degrees. On the drive up my buddy mentioned that he felt like the air temp had something to do with the ropes getting hot and the tails glazing. He said that the ropes were hot to the touch.

Has anyone ever experienced ropes acting differently in extreme or cold for that matter?

From NER website:

HEAT:
Melting point of Polyester is 480°F with progressive strength loss above 300°F.

Melting point of Polyolefin is 330°F, with progressive strength loss above 200°F

Since we never expect the air temp to effect ropes at say, 80 degrees and they have a much higher melting point. It's really hard for me to think that a rise of 20 degrees in ambient temperature there would be any problem.

Any experiences?
 
I used to climb in 105+ degrees in Texas and can't say that I remember noticing any glazing issues. Back in those days I was using NE Safety Blue with a taut line hitch.
 
Nuthin down'ere; but we do conjoin the heat with high humidty. Actually, i visualize the opposite; as a possible problem from changing the 'temperature states'(?) from cold/less flexible to heating to much higher temperature and possibly charachteristics, very quickly as it bends over branch etc. especially.
 
Tom, if you're talking about the hitch line, I could see that, after a fast descent or even several moderate descents. That's why I switched to HRC. I don't descend fast, but both the Ultratech and the Sta-Set that I previously used would start to glaze after a few descents.

I haven't had a problem with my climbing line glazing in normal use. It gets hot to the touch, but no glaze. I use to use ArborMaster 1/2", but am using 11mm KM III Max now.

Jim
 
Mahk, just for clarification, I use the KM III Max, not the KM III. The Max is more abrasion resistant. I don't know if there are any other differences.

I use SRT mostly, but when I use DdRT, I still use the KM III Max. I like it a lot.

Jim
 
Yes, I use some Safety Blue 16 strand/white and some Yale XTC. For the rec climbers, 3 over 2 Blake's. Repeated slow but often jerky descents, occasionally very overweight climbers.

-Harv
 
Personally I remove my split-tail system and hook on my Pirana so there is no burn...

Tom, we're always hot so I can't input anything other than I got tired of burning up my Ultra Tech.
 
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