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I am debating on what would be the best material for a cordelette. I have heard about perlon and 5.5 spectra by bluewater. I have also been told that 6mm static cord from mammut or sterling will work fine. Anyway, i have heard a variety of materials to use. If some climers out there could give me some ideas as to what is acceptable...cord diameter, static line or spectra...etc, my budget is a little slim, so perlon and spectra may be out of my budget at the moment, unlesss those two ropes are my only acceptable options. Also, I was doing the calculations and 6mm sterling static line which is what I was told by a chick at Quest Outdoors to use for a cordellete would be fine, however at 7.7kn it seems to only be able to withstand about 1600lbs, I also know that belay anchors are subject to up to 2000lbs of tension at times...please anyone I need some real help here. thanks

Check out this website: http://xmission.com/%7etmoyer/testing/

Look at the section entitled Comparitive Testing for High Strength Cord. This testing was done by the Salt Lake City Search and Rescue at the Black Diamond testing facility. The testing was done to look at cord for use in search and rescue operations, however, they do make pertinient comparisons to the use of the cord in a climbing setting. The document is in .pdf format so you'll need something like Adobe Acrobat Reader (which is free if you don't have it).

The document is pretty informative and goes into great detail. One item of note, many of the products tested were found to fail around 7+ kn. One suggestion was that perhaps loads applied to anchors, even during falls, were not as substantial as typically thought. (It was a thought).

a nice cordelette comes with bluewater ropes now. most people from the gym i climb at throw it out b/c they dont know what it's for. it's thick 4-sure but is a nice freebie

Be sure to get enough cord. 22 feet or so.

Be sure to tie the ends together using the tried and true double dog-knot.

Twine? Shoestrings? Dental floss? Fishing line?

Mgear has 5.5 Spectra/Titan (can't remember which) for about $15.00 a roll. It's about 18 feet. That material is stiffer and more difficult to work with at first but will break-in over time.
Whatever material you choose be sure to tighten the knot with full body weight.

Al

If you are throughly paranoid about your knot tying abalities, mountain tools makes a web-o-lette. http://www.mtntools.com/cat/mt/webolette/webolette.html

Sunshine wrote:Be sure to tie the ends together using the tried and true double dog-knot.

Otherwise known as the double fisherman's.

dhoyne wrote:

Sunshine wrote:Be sure to tie the ends together using the tried and true double dog-knot.

Otherwise known as the double fisherman's.

Nope, the double-dog is much stronger.


Wes