As
with many sports, gear can get pretty specialized:
- Skiers fill up their storage rooms with a variety of ski types for a wide range of conditions.
- The sheds of cyclists are often over stuffed with road, cross, town, mountain, you name it bikes
- We won’t even begin to address the amount of tackle avid anglers gather over the years
Rope specs
Climbing
ropes come in an array of lengths, diameters and handling characteristics. What
you predominantly intend on using your rope for will help you narrow things down
a bit.
Here’s
a general (note the word GENERAL) guideline to the spec ranges ropes can come
in:
Type
|
Diameter
|
Weight g/m
|
Fall rating
(# of UIAA falls)
|
Workhorse Single Ropes
|
10.1-11mm
|
65-77
|
10-17
|
All-Around Single Ropes
|
9.5-10mm
|
60-64
|
7-9
|
Skinny Single Ropes
|
8.9-9.4mm
|
52-59
|
5-6
|
Half Ropes
|
8-9mm
|
41-53
|
6-16
|
Twin Ropes
|
7-8mm
|
37-42
|
12-19
|
What type of rope is best for your needs?
The
workhorse
A
workhorse is just that – durable, hardworking and tough. These ropes are great
for areas with sharp rock edges and are the easiest to hold. The drawbacks? They can run less smoothly
through your belay device and they tend to be heavy.
The
all-around
An
all-around rope is the most common type of rope used for sport, trad and alpine
climbing because they are of average weight, diameter and fall rating.
Skinny
Skinny
ropes are for situations where weight matters:
- long routes with lots of belays
- alpine routes where you are coiling extra rope around your shoulder
- on-sights and red-points
Since
a fall can be harder to catch with a skinny rope, make sure your belay device
can supply lots of friction and is rated for the smaller diameter of a skinny
rope. Practicing catching a fall in a safe situation (ie: the gym) will help you
get the feel.
Half
ropes
Half
ropes are ideal for routes where the protection is not in a straight line or
the route wanders. The more your rope meanders back and forth, the bigger the
rope drag. By clipping each rope alternately, you can minimize rope drag.
You
can also minimize the potential length of a fall by taking up slack in the rope
that’s running from the piece of pro that’s the farthest away. Double belay
distances and the extra protection of two separate ropes in the case that one
is severed are additional benefits.
The
downside is the extra weight of carrying two ropes. Make sure you never clip
both ropes to the same piece of pro because it doubles the amount of fall force
on both your and the pro.
Twin
ropes
Twin
ropes are best for ice climbing and wandering routes with lots of belays. While
they are lighter and less bulky that half ropes, you need to clip both ropes
into each piece of pro, which can cause more rope drag.
Let’s
go climbing!
While
this blog has– hopefully – helped you understand the basics around the types
shapes and sizes of climbing ropes, it’s no substitute for expert advice,
experience and training.
If
you are new to climbing, seek out a professional or an experienced friend to
learn more about how climbing ropes are used and which type is best suited for
which purpose.
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