Retiring ropes??

Post by **superjen** » Thu May 20, 2004 9:17 pm

What is a good time to retire a climbing rope?

Post by **dhoyne** » Thu May 20, 2004 9:55 pm

When the core is exposed. Or when it breaks in half. Or when there's flat spots. Or when the outside is so fuzzy it won't go thru your belay device.

Or you could be overly safe and retire it when it shows some wear.

Post by **ynot** » Thu May 20, 2004 9:58 pm

Or when your partner starts making fun of it.

Post by **gulliver** » Thu May 20, 2004 10:07 pm

Do any of you climb with a rope sometimes where someone is always joking about that one fuzzy spot? yet it never gets retired? There was one in the mix that was impaled on a crampon that kept popping up, and you always eyed that spot.

Post by **Eagleman** » Thu May 20, 2004 10:19 pm

my usual climbing partner has a nice black spot on one end of his rope where he got motor oil on it. We just dont lead on that end.

Post by **squeezindlemmon** » Thu May 20, 2004 10:25 pm

We put a knot on the rope right on the spot where it is frayed/worn out. When there are hundreds of knots on the rope and we can barely thread it through anything, we retire it.

jk.

We usually factor in the number of lead falls that the rope has been subjected to. People tend to ignore this. The rope might not be physically worn but ropes are also rated to take only a certain number of lead falls.

Keep the info/label that came with your rope when you purchase it. Always comes in handy. It also usually has info on rope care.

Post by **Eagleman** » Thu May 20, 2004 10:59 pm

The number of falls a rope is rated to take it rated at one specific spot. Its hard to tell whether a rope is worn out by the number of falls. Usually the ends of the rope get worn the most so when this happens we ususally just cut off the 10 or 15 feet at the end of the rope that is worn really bad. you just have to remeber that you did so you dont try to lower off something that is too tall for the rope. Just recently my rope was almost sliced through, theres a substancial amount of core showing right in the middle of the rope

Post by **jefflehmkuhl** » Fri May 21, 2004 12:25 am

Stop bitching about my rope damnit!!!

The thing is fine, why won't you believe me???

Post by **rmcfall** » Fri May 21, 2004 5:05 am

retire it when it doesn't stretch as much as you'd like it to. That is, when you fall and it isn't as forgiving as it would be otherwise. Pretty subjective really. Don't worry about it "breaking."

Post by **J-Rock** » Fri May 21, 2004 12:21 pm

When the rope becomes so fuzzy that I can see the core I usually retire it. For regular weekend use this will usually take a year or two. Perhaps longer if you keep the rope clean and shorter if you climb lots of multi-pitch trad.