Oh, no!! I felt some lumps in my rope while descending.

[evo]

I’ll add that I’ve had pitch glue the cover to the core. And shards of wood pierce the line and break off in the rope..

Since you don’t feel safe using this rope as a climbing line, and due to Tony’s excellent point if it shouldn’t be used as a rigging line. Slice the cover open and post up some photos of what you find

 

[Mowerr]

Not long ago somebody was on here complaining of the same issue with the same rope.
I could be mistaken but I know it was one of the Samson v series ropes.

 

[ARLO]

In my experience nearly all ropes develop some unevenness after they have been climbed on for a while. I generally attribute this to all of the ascenders/descenders that we run up and down the rope when climbing, which tends to flatten out the core and create some movement of the core inside the cover. Unless the core is beginning to bulge out of the cover I don't pay much attention to any of this because our climbing ropes are so overbuilt that they simply do not break unless they are cut or used for tow ropes. So, unless the unevenness is causing problems with your ascenders/descenders I would just say "climb on grasshopper." But my other piece of advice is to replace any piece of gear that makes you nervous, even if somebody like me says it is fine.

 

[Mowerr]

In my experience nearly all ropes develop some unevenness after they have been climbed on for a while. I generally attribute this to all of the ascenders/descenders that we run up and down the rope when climbing, which tends to flatten out the core and create some movement of the core inside the cover. Unless the core is beginning to bulge out of the cover I don't pay much attention to any of this because our climbing ropes are so overbuilt that they simply do not break unless they are cut or used for tow ropes. So, unless the unevenness is causing problems with your ascenders/descenders I would just say "climb on grasshopper." But my other piece of advice is to replace any piece of gear that makes you nervous, even if somebody like me says it is fine.

So much of climbing is mental and keeping your mental state calm, focused, rational, etc...so you don't tweak there nerves dont over work you mentally and physically and so you can make the right decisions whether sending or doing rescues.
A huge part of that is the trust you must have for your gear and climbing systems.
Climbing trees can be tough for people with trust issues in their gear: arbos tend to carry and use more gear, and climb with some of the most complex systems so if you don't research the gear, specs or do whatever it takes to trust the gear then stay low and slow till u go farther.

 

[Winchman]

Success!!

I got a chance this morning to work on the rope. I tied a tight knot twenty feet beyond the two spots, secured the end of the core to a heavy piece of furniture, and pulled the cover back. The tow spots were easy to find, and they were caused by pitch that had soaked through the cover. A quick wash followed by a good rinse removed the pitch. I didn't see anything at all wrong with the core other than those two spots that are now cleared up.

The hard part was getting the cover all the way to the very end. With the aforementioned knot secured to the furniture, I worked the cover from the knot to the end. After a dozen trips, the cover still had an inch to go, and I had stopped making progress. I started working in small sections from the end back to the knot pulling the cover toward the end, and it took four more trips to get the cover all the way to the very end. I whipped the end with some 30-pound braided twine.

Since the new rope hadn't arrived yet, I reassembled the climbing rig, and enjoyed a nice 60-foot climb in an oak to check it out. I didn't notice any lumps or jerking on the way down, so I think the effort this morning was well spent.

Thanks again for the suggestion, Brocky. Now I've got a brand new rope AND a good backup.

 

[ARLO]

Good on you. Just FYI, we deal with pitchy ropes all the time and use GOOP (the white stuff) to soak the pitch loose before washing the rope. It really helps to break up heavy pitch layers.