The Life Of A Rope?

[chris_girard]

What do you consider the live span of a rope that has been used one or two times and then stored away correcty, but not used for a number of years?

In the book Knots & Ropes for Climbers, the rope manufacturer Blue Water suggests retiring an unused climbing rope after five years. The same for rigging lines.

This makes no sense to me. How can someone who uses a 3/4" bull line one time over a few years be expected to throw it away just because it may not have been used for 5 years?

Have you heard of these guys?

http://www.bluewaterropes.com/home/products.asp?Channel=Occupation

 

[treedimensional]

I looked through their site and ALL I saw was dynamic rope. I don't know IF that type rope has a different shelf life than static rope.

Good question though!

I retired my first climbing line at 5 years. I then (unsuccessfully) cut some off and tried splicing. The core looked like new!

 

[Norm_Hall]

I would consult the rope manufacturer. Some fibers degrade over time even though they are stored in shaded areas.

 

[Blinky]

Dynamic rope is different than static in terms of shelf life, it loses it's capacity to stretch and absorb shock. Brand new dynamic ropes stored for 10 years usually fail on the the first test fall but retain most of their static strength.

paraphrased from 'Wilderness Search and Rescue, T. Setnicka'

 

[southsoundtree]

Bluewater makes rock climbing ropes, and probably other products as well. They are not new to the scene. Can't say how long they have been around, though.

 

[moss]

My first 200 ft. static was a 10.5mm Bluewater II, good rope used on many tall conifer climbs. A little bouncy compared to my favorite static Sterling HTP 10mm.
-moss

 

[Blinky]

Bluewater has been making rope a long time. The original company (named something else) was the original contractor for Greenline (mil spec Goldline). They got into kernmantle with Bluewater and Bluewater II, semi-static ropes for caving and rappelling. They're fairly new to dynamics though.

I think you need to find out about the aged rope's ability to handle shock loads more than it's static strength if it's going to be a rigging line... but really, is it worth the risk? It's a bummer to retire or demote a pristine rigging rope but I think it's a mistake to not retire it. The cost isn't worth the potential outcome were the rope to fail.

The info I paraphrased above was from actual tests of 20 or so dynamic ropes that were stored for 5-10 years by the NPS at Yosemite for search and rescue purposes... they were rated for 5 to 7 falls and they ALL broke on the first test fall.

 

[Colin]

man i'm so glad i read this thread. i was going to go rock climbing this weekend in nashville n i haven't used this rope in 6 years. would any one like to take it and do some testing? i'm think off dropping a haul bag on it. it had one 40' whipper on it n a couple of short fall when it was stored.

 

[Colin]

do you guys think i should re sling my cams too?

 

[Colin]

the gear is all circa 96-97

 

[Blinky]

Are your cams slung with nylon? Maybe. Seems like cheap insurance to me plus you can use dyneema and make everything lighter.

I think I'd definitely retire a five year old lead rope... you're not exactly the wiry waifish type. Honestly, would you want to have to trust that cord for another big screamer?


I didn't know you climbed, NoBivy and I went to Looking Glass on Sunday after the comp and bagged 7 pitches (18 according to the guidebook but we combined a bunch). It was a fun day.
How far are you from Asheville?

 

[Colin]

like 8-9 hours

 

[Blinky]

[ QUOTE ]
like 8-9 hours

[/ QUOTE ]

Dayum, that's like... far.

We'll have to rig up a day on the rock sometime though. That's all I want to do now that I'm too old to attract women.

 

[Colin]

nice! i'm down! give me a bit of notice n i'll see if i can go

 

[Paul Biester]

jealous!

 

[BobT]

[ QUOTE ]
Bluewater has been making rope a long time. The original company (named something else) was the original contractor for Greenline (mil spec Goldline). They got into kernmantle with Bluewater and Bluewater II, semi-static ropes for caving and rappelling. They're fairly new to dynamics though.


[/ QUOTE ]

Bluewater was founded around 1970-1972 by Richard Newell, who was a caver. His family owned a cordage mill in west Georgia. I can't remember the name of the town. They had an agreement with another mill in the same town to sell each other cordage at cost. The other mill made Nilo Bluewater rope. Cavers found that this was a good rope, and Richard supp;ied his cabing friends. I have a duffle with 600 feet of Bluewater that has been used twice. The quality control was not as good as I would like. There are bumps and hockles in the rope.

Richard's family did not want to make this sort of rope, do he bought his own rope braiding machine and started his own business. The first product was Bluewater II static caving rope. There was a Bluewater III made from water-repelant yarns. The product line has expanded considerably.

Goldline was a laid (twisted) rope made by Plymouth Cordage.
Plymoth was bought by Columbia and there may have been some mergers since. Cavers liked it for it abrasion resistance, but not for its spinning.

Where are the Yosemite NPS test data available?