About to pull the trigger on my first rope and draws...thoughts/opinions?

OK, so here's what I've narrowed it down to for ropes:

Sterling Evolution Velocity (9.8)
Sterling Biathlon Pro (bi-pattern version of the 10.1 Marathon Pro)
BlueWater Lightning Pro (9.7)
BlueWater Eliminator (10.2)

As you can see, I'm trying to stay around 10mm, +/- 3mm or so. All ropes would be the bi-pattern, dry, 70m variety. I like these ropes because of the low impact force, among other reasons.

As far as draws go...EMS is currently running a great sale on BD gear, so I think I'll get a dozen Firewires for $15.60 each, +$14 shipping (still less than $17 per draw, which is at least $2 cheaper than anywhere else I've seen them). The other one I was considering was the Mammut Element Keylock, which Bentgate has for $15.26 after the 10% volume discount.

Thoughts?

I just sold a 6pk of firewires last weekend to a friend. I didn't like the way they clipped for a reason i can't quite describe. Just didn't seem to be as nice as the petzl spirits so they didn't get much use. Or maybe i'm more comfortable with a solid gate(?) eh... who knows.. Just a thought.

But if you're set on the BD's, gear express has the Quicksilvers on sale for $14/ea (free shipping over $50) here. Not sure how set you are on the wiregates...

here's the spirits, btw:

Well, there's potential for me to be using these biners on ice, so I'd prefer to go with wiregates.

And yes, BlueWater does make all of their ropes in bi-color.

How about some Wild Country Xenon Lites for $16 a draw? Seems about your price range. If you are looking to dim down the price I would go with the climb axe ones... They are super light and real cheap. I imagine they are exactly like mad rock ones, which I have never had a problem with. I use Trango Superflies, but those can be pricey.

climbaxe.com/climbaxeveri-l…

For quickdraws, I use the Wild Country WildWires. They're light, wiregates, easy to clip (at least for me) and you can find them inexpensively. A quick google search comes up with a few selling them for for $12 each! Backcountry.com is offering them w/ free shipping right now too.

Just a thought. I haven't used the BD Firewires so I don't know how they compare. Your mileage may vary. etc.

As for the ropes, I've only ever had two ropes that stood out as being better than any others. I don't take lots of whippers, so maybe I don't notice the difference in how soft the catch is among various ropes. For me the key factors are durability and ease of use.

The two ropes that stood out were an Edelweiss (stratos?) and a Sterling Marathon; both lasted far longer than any other rope I've ever had. I'm not sure on the name of the Edelweiss rope. It was the one they advertised as being the only rope that could handle a fall over a sharp edge. It felt like I was climbing with a piece of steel cable--stiff through the device, and while clipping. The Sterling Marathon behaved like any other rope, but took for ever to show signs of wear, despite many trips to the desert (usually destroys my ropes).

-Rich

I friend of mine thinks the mammut element biners are the best thing since sliced bread. He is trying to turn all his rack over to those. I tend to agree that they are quite the deal for the money.

In my perfect world, a draw has a lightweight keylock on the bolt end and a bent wire on the rope end. I find wires easier to clip and keylocks easier to manage in terms of snags/running through chains etc.

I've got some hotwire biners, which is what is on a firewire, and I'm not all that jazzed on them. They are fine, but seem unnecesarily large and cumbersome.

Just my 2 cents. I would probably go with the mammut element draws. And, then,as my need for more biners came, buy bent wires. Then I could swap out the rope end on the draw for a wire, and take the mammut keylock and stick it on a cam. Best of both worlds.

Cheers,
Evan

Trango Smooth wire quick draws. PMI arete 9.7

Sterling makes the best ropes I've ever used. I have 70m in both but neither are bicolor. The Evolution is a TINY bit stiffer than the Marathon but only to help rope drag... it still handles beautifully.

I'm a HUGE fan of Wild Country and DMM biners. I have a full rack of Heliums, but they might be out of your price range. Some other people have suggested some great WC draws.

The DMM Aero Wire draw is on sale at Backcountry.com and would be worth the extra money in my oppinion. CAMP also makes some great wire draws.

I HATE not having a keylock nose so I like the WC Helium and DMM Shield but they are both over 20 bucks a draw, as is the Petzl Spirit which I also love.

BD Positrons are also onsale at Backcountry.com and are in your price range. Not my favorite draw but they are nice and will last.

check out the CAMP Orbit draws camp-usa.com/products/categ… I have a few of these and like them a lot.

backcountrygear.com/climbin…

These guys always seem to have sales on quickdraws, with some good deals going on now. I picked up a bunch of Metolius Infernos last year on the cheap. There are some DMM's, wildcountry's, BD, CAMP, and even the Petzl spirit express pointed out earlier...all on sale now. Free shipping too.

Ended up getting the Firewires and the Velocity, both from gearexpress. Thanks for all the input!