Making Eye-Splices on Older Ropes

treesandsurf

treesandsurf

Location
Hawaii
I have just been practicing making eye-splices and I have several older climbing lines, some really worn and some in pretty good shape.

Was wondering if I should attempt to make an eye-splice on some of these 16-strand ropes that have been broken in? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

jp
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I say go for it. I've had really good luck and have never found a used 16 strand i couldn't splice.

If things get really tight: Make that first mark at like 40", not 28. Then follow the rest of the directions as normal. You will have a 12" additional tail to work with.

The taper will get to be 6 strands. Work your way down and carefully snip and removes half of each of those strands. You'll make the last foot of the tail thinner, but still preserve the braid so things don't get TOO out of control.

Proceeding with the thinner tail should allow you to finish the rest of the splice.

Let us know how it goes and bring pictures!

love
nick
 
Thanks Nick! That's good news; if I get good enough at this splicing thing I'm gonna convert all my old lines... I'll take pics and post asap.

jp
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I spliced a used piece of Blue Streak once and just about sent it through the chipper. Because the cover had a little more fuzz than new, it was that much harder to bury the tail. I don't want to argue with Nick, who has a lot more splicing experience than I, but I'll just say I think new rope will be easier to splice than the older stuff.

good luck,
keith
 
[ QUOTE ]
I spliced a used piece of Blue Streak once and just about sent it through the chipper. Because the cover had a little more fuzz than new, it was that much harder to bury the tail. I don't want to argue with Nick, who has a lot more splicing experience than I, but I'll just say I think new rope will be easier to splice than the older stuff.

good luck,
keith

[/ QUOTE ]

Keith is 100% correct. The used IS wayyyyy harder. It is not good for learning. Figuring out what goes where can be hard enough, much less trying to figure how to overcome the difficulties of it being used/old/fuzzy.

Old 16 strand can be spliced, but a brand new rope is best for learning on.

inztrees- The splicing video by Brion Toss is VERY good. The new DVD doesn't have the 16 strand splice on it, but the VHS does. I'm not sure which sherrill carries.

love
nick
 
I had the same experience as Babberney, with SB Hy-Vee. It was my first attempted splice, and I pulled on a splice wand, on and off, for weeks, wondering if I was just getting feeble, or what! Thanks for the tip, Nick.
 
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I would like to learn to splice rope is the video from sherril any good

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I'm with Nick...Toss video and wand are awsome! but I didn't know that the CD was missing the 16 strand.

Between the NER instructions and the toss video I figured it out rather quickly.

One thought though, if you are buying your ropes (especially 16 strand) in pre-cut lengths it is probably less expensive (and way quicker) to have them professionally spliced.

I'm no pro but fancy myself adequate on the 16 strand and it still takes me well over hour per splice. Time better spent elsewhere IMO.

I also splice my own eyes in All-Gear's Pro lite 24. That takes me about 20 minutes, 45 if I really go slow. Again, might be cheaper/easier to have it come that way.

Of course if you cut your rope off the reel that is a different story.

Used 16 strand sends me over the deep end and haven't tried the used 24 strand stuff.

Tenex and other 12 strands I do new used and ancient. No problem there.

For the 12 strands though I'd reccomend a traditional, or tree saver, fid.

rope makers also have great instructions.

Hey Nick! One problem have is the "fid length" conversions to find the "bury length".

I know there are "rules of thumb" but I'd like exact conversions.

Any thoughts?
 
here is a pic of my first splice using double braid rope...

I haven't stitched it yet because I don't have the needle, I have to go down and pick one up
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jp
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Wow, didn't know old lines were harder...when I tried splicing my first time using an old climbing line the eye came out pretty well but took forever to do and was pretty difficult...I figured I must be missing something.

Live and learn on TB!
 
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Hey Nick! One problem have is the "fid length" conversions to find the "bury length".

I know there are "rules of thumb" but I'd like exact conversions.

Any thoughts?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not sure I quite understand the question. If you are burying a fid's worth of tail, the fid needs to exit a fid and a half down the rope, to account for the bunching up of the outside cover when you bury something inside it.

IS this what you meant?

love
nick
 
are you talking about how much of the rope to actually bury? I think on the brion toss video he mentioned a cool trick to use to figure out how much to bury. I think it goes: if you have a 1/2" rope, you convert that into the diameter in /16, so a 1/2" would be 8/16". Now take the amount out of 16 (which would be 8), divide it by half of itself (4) and add it to the original amount (4+8=12), so in this case you bury 12". Does that makes sense?

jp
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i have found that if you are going to splice an old rope(i try to stay away from this....it's too hard! my hands hurt!) it helps to soak the rope in water for a few minutes..... makes it easier, but messy.
 
Alright, the first one is done. Leon (rumination) came by this afternoon and helped with this splice. It's a 16-strand yellow jacket (?) climbing line that had been climbed on maybe two dozen times, it's a short 40ft line I don't use much. He also showed me the yale whipping which was pretty cool to learn.

The small mark you see on the eye is a marking from the pen. The sixteen strand is a whole lot more work than the double-braid!

jp
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This line was a bit more difficult, and required more massaging, but it worked! It's my main line I'm climbing with right now, 120' blue streak, about 6 months old and pretty broken in.

The brion toss video DOES have the 16-strand eye-splice, it's labeled arborist rope on the second disc.

jp
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Whenever I splice, I rent a movie and so that way I can feel like I am double tasking. I get entertained and get some splices. Splicing in the summer it is hard to find the time.
 
[ QUOTE ]

The brion toss video DOES have the 16-strand eye-splice, it's labeled arborist rope on the second disc.

jp

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That is very, very good to hear!

Nice looking splice
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love
nick
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Okay, I had a pretty good challenge last weekend. I offered to splice my bosses very old (2005) VERY broken in blue streak, 120' he climbs on several times a week since he's had it. Gritty and muddy, the works with this one.

Besides having pulled apart my snare on the wand, and having to repair (thanks Leon
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), the splice turned out pretty well. It definitely required more massaging and took a lot longer, especially the final tuck at the end (with core and cover together).

But, I feel the mythbuster crew has destroyed this myth. It is harder I think, but definitely possible!

jp
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