When to Retire a Rope
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- We got a new rope from Trango and thought we would do a video about when to retire a rope. Here are some tips as to when to consider turning your old climbing rope into a rope rug. These are just helpful suggestions, please don't consider these to be 100% bombproof laws but rather a way to inspire you to do more research on your own.
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when to retire a rope....20 minutes? nope
whats wrong with a fuzzy rope, how is that showing damage?
Hey Ryan,
A fuzzy rope is a sign of your outer sheath getting wear and tear. It'll start getting friction burns and start micro fraying. It typically looks like a very fuzzy bloated caterpillar. And obviously, with this much wear and tear, it becomes difficult to belay ( it becomes harder for the rope to pass through the belay device ) and from here more friction is impacted on the core. I hope that helps!
what qualifies as a "fall"? Like if I'm top roping and I slip and the belayer had all the slack already taken out, is that a fall? My rope is rated for 7 falls and I just want to get this clarified before I start using it.
The UIAA falls stat on your rope is the result of a test where they drop an 85kg weight with a fall factor of 1.77 (fall factor = length of fall / length of rope hold the fall) and they do this until the rope fails. An example test for 10m of rope would be the 85kg weight being dropped from 7.7m above where the rope is anchored and then falling 17.7m before the rope stretches to absorb the energy of the fall - this is then repeated immediately until the rope breaks (7 times in the case of your rope). Its also worth noting that after each fall, the fibres are left stretched out and they gradually recover from this, but they are not given time to do this. Basically if you are only top roping your rope will last ages and be more affected by abrasion than the number of falls you take, but you should still check it regularly to be as safe as possible.
I have a question: I understand that you were unable to give an exact number on how many falls a rope can take, but for a 10mm rope, how many roughly? I mean would it be like 30? or 100?
hello Lachie,
Such a difficult question to answer. So many variables go into giving that answer. I really can't say. You have to consider the age of the rope, condition of the rope, the environment it was stored in, etc etc.
I'm so sorry it took so long for me to respond to you and what a horrible answer I'm giving you in return.
But my opinion is that, be safe than sorry when it revolves around your well being. If you feel too many falls have been taken on the rope, retire it and buy another one. Happy climbing!
No problems, thank you!
It's best to look at the manufacturer's recommendations. Different ropes with different weaves and different diameters will take a different amount of larger falls (FF1 and over) and that number is usually listed on the packaging of that rope. If you only are taking smaller fall factors then you are really going more off of frequency of climbing and condition of the sheath. When in doubt always try and find manufacturers recommendations. Basically it's best to focus more on the care of the rope. Always store in proper conditions. Always try and setup anchors to reduce friction on the rope as much as possible while still keeping things overall safe. If you are doing multipitch always try to set things up to avoid those FF1> falls as much as possible. Always try and switch sides of the rope that you are climbing on frequently so that you aren't stressing only one side with knots.
Meant to say FF 1.78 or higher. That is what the UIAA considers to be a severe fall (meant to say that instead of large fall.....huge falls can often have very low fall factors). Still want to avoid over a FF1 though, at the least it can be very jarring.