Red Lizard climbing rope

[peder-d]

Hi.

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a new climbing rope: Red Lizard. As all other ropes for tree climbing it is supposed to be a static rope. Unfortunately is it extremely dynamic. It is impossible to footlock on, and regular climbing is really, really hard as it behaves like an elastic.

Have any of you guys tried this rope and maybe had the same kind of experience?

Peder.

 

[Blinky]

Never heard of it and not turning anything up on google. Got a link of some kind?

 

[TLHamel]

Who makes it? Is it the same as 'Lightning' by Samson?

 

[peder-d]

They sell it here:

http://www.freeworker.de/store/seile/kletterseile/red-lizard.html

I have used it for a week, and it didn't get better - at all! So I bought another rope.

 

[TLHamel]

Hmmm. It's not 'Lightning', but sounds just as bad. Thanks for the info.

 

[peder-d]

What is wrong with the "Lightning" rope?

Do you think you could "strech" the rope, so it becomes more static over time?

 

[TLHamel]

Lightning is super bouncy, like a bungee cord almost. I believe ropes tend to lose some elasticity over time, but probably not enough during the useful life of the rope for us to notice.

 

[peder-d]

That sounds just like my red lizard rope.

After a week of terrible bungee-cord-climbing I bought another Samson Velocity rope. I have two of those now. One as an access rope (for footlocking) and one for climbing. That is the best rope I have ever had. It is really static, works really good with my friction hich and is easy to grib - even when wet/dirty.

I think I will write to the producer of the rope.

 

[NickfromWI]

Looks like a sailing type polyester double braid with a thin, loosely woven cover. I think Blaze, Velocity, Fly, and Poison Ivy keep some of their staticness because of the thicker cover strands. Thicker strands are less stretchy. Thicker ropes, too, for that matter.

I wouldn't sell that rope as a climbing line, I think. The thinner cover wouldn't last as long as what we have available to us now.

love
nick

 

[peder-d]

Hi Nick.

That makes sense. If you squeeze the rope between two fingers you can squeeze it pretty flat, which is almost impossible with the velocity rope.

After just a couple of hours climbing and some long descents, the rope core was clearly melted a little. Some of the tiny strands was broken - just like you can see it on a really old rope.
I compared it to my velocity, which I have been using for 8 month, and the velocity looks new compared to the red lizard.

I think I will stick to the velocity rope in the future.

 

[treehumper]

my instructor always said to make sure you've got all the specs on a rope and know them before buying. This way you're making an informed decision. If the rope didn't perform in the same manner as it was spec'd then I'd be on the phone to the manufacturer.