Ultralight rope possibilities...

TREEfool

TREEfool

Participating member
Location
Sioux Falls, SD
I will be buying a new rope soon and want to make sure I do it right. At the moment I use 100' of PMI ez Bend.

My number one priority is light weight since I usually backpack long distances with my rope. I remember reading a thread about climbers using 9mm PMI and other skinny stuff but I can't locate it and am unsure if they were joking. I also want the rope to be the most dynamic static rope possible.

My concerns: I climb SRT with RADS and don't think my grgri2 will confidently hold 9mm rope. My grigri2 did not stop my falls when rope soloing (rock) with a 8.4 dynamic rope so I doubt .6 would make a difference.

What are your thoughts and rope recommendations?

.

EDIT: This rope will only be used for tree climbing.
 
Me personally, I don't climb on anything less than ten mil. I did just get a nine mil lanyard, and even that freaks me out a bit. I don't think ( read as could be dead wrong) there is a tree oriented dynamic ten mil. Lots of eleven mil. Choices though. I have never used rock rope, so I don't know how it stacks up to tree rope.
 
Fluffy,

As Tree Access said, you could use Sterling HTP. However, if you are planning to use this for both Tree Climbing and on Rocks, this would NOT be a good idea because it is a low-stretch rope. In this case, you might be better off with a Rock rope like a Marathon or Fusion series from Sterling:

http://www.sterlingrope.com/category/149345/OutdoorRecreation

If you have deeper questions, you may want to call up Sterling, New England, or Beal. They make ropes for both Arborists and Rock climbing.

-Michael
 
Sorry, no this will NOT be used for rock climbing! I have plenty of dynamic ropes for that. I am looking for a static rope with stretch in case I put myself in a situation where I fall with slack in the line during a tree climb (I understand that I should never be in this situation).

So the htp has even lower stretch than my current rope which made me notice that PMI makes dynamic ropes that are super low stretch ( 7.5 at 10% mbs). Does anyone climb srt on a rope like that? Standards say that a static rope is anything under 6% elongation so 7% is just above the static rope threshold.
 
7% stretch is very dynamic in the arborist world, I can't even think of a climbing line that dynamic. Climbing on that would be like a rubber-band. I would say that 3-4% is the norm for double braids, and 16 strand climb lines. I think ANSII says that arborist rope shouldn't be any more than 7% stretch at 540lbs.

Bluemoon (or Poision Ivy) has less than 2% stretch. That's for a double braid. Tachyon is also a low stretch DB. The braided cored Kernmanles have in the neighborhood of 3% stretch. 16 Strand is about 3% as well. By definition, all arborist climbing lines are STATIC lines.

However, all 16, and DB ropes made for arborist climb lines are sometimes called dynamic, and Kernmantles are sometimes called static. It's confusing and blurry.

For an SRT rope people generaly seek out the lower elingations (using the arborist scale). So I'd go for a low stretch Double braid, or a kernmantle such as HTP or Kernmaster.
 
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7% stretch... Climbing on that would be like a rubber-band.

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Thanks that is what I was wondering about. So I am going to shoot for a 9mm with 3%. I don't think kernmantle vs braid should be a concern in my decision, should it?
 
Greetings,
It is personal experience as a mountain guide that the last item in your haul bag that you want to reduce via diameter reduction is your lifeline. I can imagine that differences in rope manufactures, length of rope, treatment of the rope (Dry), and diameter is about a small as a 32oz. water bottle.

I would reconsider what you are taking with you on theses long treks and not on the weight of your lifeline.

I have ascended over 6,500 vertical feet in Yosemite Valley and the last thing I was to do is scrimp on my rope. Take a poop before you head out on your trek, that will reduce some weight you will be carrying...lol.

Donny
 
just out of curiosity, what rope were you using that was 8.4mm? I rock climb also and thought anything that small was normally a half rope.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Greetings,
It is personal experience as a mountain guide that the last item in your haul bag that you want to reduce via diameter reduction is your lifeline. I can imagine that differences in rope manufactures, length of rope, treatment of the rope (Dry), and diameter is about a small as a 32oz. water bottle.

I would reconsider what you are taking with you on theses long treks and not on the weight of your lifeline.

I have ascended over 6,500 vertical feet in Yosemite Valley and the last thing I was to do is scrimp on my rope. Take a poop before you head out on your trek, that will reduce some weight you will be carrying...lol.

Donny

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You know, you are very right. The weight diffrence between 100' of PMI ez bend and the 9mm sterling is 1.8 lbs. I probably could "take a poop" that would save me that weight. Haha.

Thank you for your input.
 
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just out of curiosity, what rope were you using that was 8.4mm? I rock climb also and thought anything that small was normally a half rope.

[/ QUOTE ]

It was a halfrope. I had a set of half ropes and just retired my single and I was currious if my grigri would lock off on a fall so I did some testing and it didnt stop my fall. Maybe if I had been higher and there was more weight on the brake end but I wasn't willing to test that theory, haha.
 
Yoyoman thanks for the video! I hate how much my grigri and ascender weigh and have pondered the idea of using a munter hitch for UL descending but I could never think of a good technique, until now!

Holy crap I can't wait for my next opportunity to climb with members on this forum. It is insane how much I don't know!

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fall faster next time it should grab eventually, haha

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Hahaha
 
I have a good friend who does tree vole surveys in old growth trees and has to pack his gear into really inaccessible sections of forest all the time. He uses 9 mil static line and loves it. Another thing he does to cut weight sometimes is using a long length of small amsteel as the back side of the ascent line. He says it is terrifying to look at because of how small it is, but it works good.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I have a good friend who does tree vole surveys in old growth trees and has to pack his gear into really inaccessible sections of forest all the time. He uses 9 mil static line and loves it. Another thing he does to cut weight sometimes is using a long length of small amsteel as the back side of the ascent line. He says it is terrifying to look at because of how small it is, but it works good.

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Excuse my niaveness, what do you mean by "backside of ascent line"?
 
I think he is referring to the basal anchor side of your ascent line (Ryan can correct me if I'm wrong).

New England's "The Fly" is pretty light rope. I carried a hank of it with me in a back pack when I traveled to CA and OR.
 
[ QUOTE ]
... Another thing he does to cut weight sometimes is using a long length of small amsteel as the back side of the ascent line. He says it is terrifying to look at because of how small it is, but it works good.

[/ QUOTE ]


Sorry but I have to post another video after reading your comment. I've been hiking into some areas and traveling and try to cut down on the weight when I can as well. In this case I have 200' of fly, (it is a little stretchy but also light) I then use 160' of Sterling 5.9mm power cord on the other side of a base anchor. You could never climb on it but it works for the other side of the base anchor.
This tree is 193' tall, 156' to the first branch and 175' TIP and in the tropics of Costa Rica.



at time 1:51 and I think the link will take you there I'm pretty high, looking down into the the jungle below and looking at that 5.9mm line knowing my life is suspended on it. Makes you pucker a little.
 
Tree guys are stuck on the ropes being too small

I climb on a 70meter serenity 8.7mm, and use a 8.3 mammut glacier line to simul climb. Double it for 50' between climbers...perfect.

Most trees I've climbed don't have sharp edges.....I don't see the problem with a skinny rope

With that said, these aren't static ropes....http is good option just heavy
 
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