How climbing rope is made
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I got a new Sterling Evoution 9.8 mm rope and decided to do some research on how they were made and what the strength ratings meant. Also found some good websites that describe impact forces and fall factors. Here's the link to the write-up: |
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Just a heads up, your linked post confuses impact force with the static strength of the rope. |
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Steve86 wrote:Just a heads up, your linked post confuses impact force with the static strength of the rope.I could see that being confusing. I tried to explain in the post that the weight (rope strength conversion area) was generated from a falling (dynamic) force that is not equal to the static weight (of the climber or object). |
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No, I don't think you get it. That's not a strength rating at all, dynamic or static. It's a resulting force from dropping a weight onto it. It's a measure of how "soft" a rope catches, and has NOTHING to do with strength. |
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Yeah, if you would ever think about climbing on a rope with a breaking strength of 8.8kn you should think about it a second time. |
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The post still makes it seem like you don't know what impact force really means. |
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Thanks for the feedback, I will make sure to fix the post. I misunderstood the impact force rating of the rope. |
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John Wilder wrote:Most sport climbers will go for the lowest impact force possible, as a soft catch is wanted since they tend to fall alot more than the average trad climber. A trad climber, on the other hand, will often go for a rope that is known for its durability (and usually has a somewhat higher impact force).I've generally heard the opposite: trad climbers don't fall as often and when they do they're usually more "serious" falls and at the mercy of their protection, so they'll take a rope with a lower fall count in exchange for a lower impact force to minimize the risk of their protection from failing. Sport climbers fall a lot, which favors durability, and the severity of their falls are usually very low: low fall factors, very dynamic belays (belayer usually not anchored into anything to restrict upwards pull like multi-pitch trad climbers do), and falling onto bomber gear (bolts) with little risk of it pulling. And of course, the less your rope stretches the less you'll have to climb back up when you fall! Of course it's just personal preference though. I use the same rope for both sport and trad and haven't really given much thought about its ratings... |
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post updated, thanks for the heads up. I looked up the kN rating for gear and got it confused with carabiner strength ratings. I looked up the UIAA standards for rope and found a lot of useful information that helped me get the info correct. |
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Ian Stewart wrote: I've generally heard the opposite: trad climbers don't fall as often and when they do they're usually more "serious" falls and at the mercy of their protection, so they'll take a rope with a lower fall count in exchange for a lower impact force to minimize the risk of their protection from failing.Are you sure lower impact force = lower fall count? Many models of Beal ropes have very high fall count & lower impact force, but are notoriously non-durable. Sterling ropes, on the other hand, tend to have low fall count & middle of the road impact force but with durable sheathe (their 9.2 & 9.4 not-withstanding). Rope durability depends on use. Long trad routes tend to wear out the sheathe whereas frequent sport fall can result in core shot or rope stiffening too much for comfort (increased fall force). |
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Like Ian, I don't have separate ropes for sport and trad, even if perhaps this would be useful. Too expensive. Instead, like most climbers I know, I have my newer rope, which I will still lead on, and my older rope, which used to be my lead rope until it got too old/took too many falls/I could afford a new one. Now the older rope goes on toproping trips with the kids, and the one that used to be the older rope before that is a rug. So there is a pipeline for ropes in my house, just like the pipeline for us (school-work-social security-death). |