Teufelberger epicord

moss said:
Reading through this old thread, I have to laugh a little. Everyone seems to hate whatever cord they used to like. Performance of a new cord is going to be way different than the same cord after months of hard use (of course). I've loved Armor Prus, OP, Beeline, etc, then left them in the dust ;-) My current love is Samson Warpspeed II 9mm.

It's worth noting what the materials are in the cover and core of this stuff, Epicord has a Technora poly blend in the cover, OP is straight polyester, all that matters performance-wise. To make it more interesting OP's poly cover performs differently than the Warpspeed II poly cover, construction and materials and then wear, so many variables.
-AJ
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Ill have to give the warpspeed a try.

I've been using HRC prior to epicord and still love it, just got to put another wrap on my hitch. Its an interesting process trying out different cords in different hitches. Lots of fine tuning
 
So I've come to this old thread after an internet search for "teufelberger epicord heat risk". The reason being that I just bought an epicord E2E to try it out, and then when looking for any max life specs from the manufacturer's web page for my equipment / inspection list I saw first that it says "This product is not CE marked per PPE Regulation – not allowed for PPE use in EU." and then "WARNING: This product can be damaged when exposed to heat. When exposed to temperatures ≥ 70°C, it will sustain a relevant loss in breaking force. This can cause falls from a height, especially in the case of long descents. Therefore, never use epiCORD for rappelling from large heights. Users must assess for each individual case of use whether or not the product is suited for it. The rope must be stored at room temperature and must not be exposed to any heat sources."

70 deg C is "only" 158 deg F -- not THAT high. I don't bomb out of trees as fast as possible, but I don't baby my way down either. So I generate enough heat that it'll burn my hand if I'm not careful. And that's gotta be over 158. So I'm thinking I wasted my money on this, and it might explain the early glazing the creator of this thread mentions.

Am I missing something?

EDIT: adding info source - https://www.teufelberger.com/en/epicord.html
 
I suspect it's mostly a case of CYA because off the polyester blended in the cover and the dyneema present in the core. 40 degC is burning to touch but you're not directly touching the rub surface which is hotter than the outside of the hitch. The only pure kevlar(technora) cords I know are ice tail and HRC - HRC might just be the cover. There may have been some black beeline that was mostly kevlar. But- high modulus like kevlar and vectran have cycles/lifetime wear out issues - probably why most hitch cord is blended. IMO :)

Sorry couldn't give direct answer
 
I'm sure it is a material issue; looking at 12 other hitch cords none of them have any temp warnings. But CYA or not, I can't see using it for life support with that warning when I can't be *sure* it'll never exceed 70 C (and in reality I bet I will take it well over that).

I guess I'll see if it is returnable (it's totally unused; hasn't even left the house or been tied into a hitch) but if not the fault is mine for not reading everything carefully enough before purchasing. In which case I'll find occasional uses for it -- progress capture with pull lines, or some weird rigging.
 
I recently got a 24" e2e of 9.3mm epicord, as recommended by @rico , and I only have a few climbs on it, but so far it's my new favorite. I bombed out of a 60' tree relatively hard on it last week and had no problem with it getting overly damaged, or even feeling hot. I understand your concerns, but based on the construction, I don't share those worries. I rarely bomb out, and haven't done it more than once or twice prior on cordage, usually mechanicals, but it felt so good moving around, I had to give it a go. Silky fucking smooth. That day I was running it on 1/2" Samson Vortex, which I run for MRS/SRS mixed climbing, so it's a bit fuzzy now, but I nearly always finish SRS, and I run a 3:1 Petroacan at 180 lbs.
 
The core has some aramid strands that would survive a total meltdown.
Beeline has a 75/25% Technora and polyester cover, unless it’s the 50/50% of the older 10mm. HRC has a technora, polyester and Nomax cover. Technora, Kevlar, and Twaron are aramids, Kevlar and Twaron, found in Sterlings RIT cords, are very similar and more self abrasive than Technora. Vectran has the heat and cut properties of an aramid, but doesn’t have the self abrading problem.and is in a separate class.
Bailout is another all Technora cord.
IMG_6914.jpeg
Four of the sixteen strands.
 
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Nomex is another trade name aramid. Apologies I just call them kevlar like snowmobile and kleenex, although different mfrs have tweaked the properties. I remember on the all black beeline you could see the uneven dye job.
 
Quintanana said:
Dang I wondered this too…been bombing out with it for a while now and it’s held up. Would be interesting to break test some used e2es
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Heat damage to the cover of a hitch cord is visible on inspection. The core will not be damaged unless the core is exposed. In other words no worries, there is no “invisible damage”.

Epicord is my favorite, no issues with many hours on it.
-AJ
 
Eye to eyes may not suffer the damage that bridges do because the biner or ring on a bridge is always moving around a bit - hence the wear out region - but a hitch is formed and pretty much stays the same during use, hence experiences no "bend" cycles. But, load cycles still yes. I think bend under load cycles are worse.

Also consider that mfrs are taking on the liability of commercial sales so its likely gonna pass muster. The CE standard for EU use may just need an update for epicord to pass there.
 
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Bart_ said:
Eye to eyes may not suffer the damage that bridges do because the biner or ring on a bridge is always moving around a bit - hence the wear out region - but a hitch is formed and pretty much stays the same during use, hence experiences no "bend" cycles. But, load cycles still yes. I think bend under load cycles are worse.

Also consider that mfrs are taking on the liability of commercial sales so its likely gonna pass muster. The CE standard for EU use may just need an update for epicord to pass there.
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Putting a triple attachment swivel pulley on my bridge has been one of the best changes I’ve made in the last few years. Seems like I can just replace the bridge by time cycle rather than visible wear.
 
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