Anyone climbed on a Cousin Trestec Basaltic 9.4 rope?

Found myself a deal. I know that Cousin Trestec is a respected french manufacture - though I just learned that. I'm fairly sure they make some other companies ropes. Trying to figure out if this rope is nice / durable enough to spring for it. I've never had a 9.4, I'm more of a fat rope guy.

Royal

Yes, I've heard the same thing about them making petzl ropes.

I don't think they do have a US distributer. Found the deal on the clymb, which I'm not a fan of - their deals seem generally shitty, but $120 for a $240 seems decent.

I've climbed on some friends skinny petzl ropes and they seemed nice. Not sure how they were long term.

The best rope I ever owned was a Cousin 9.9mm rope I bought in 1997. Thing still looks brand new, although I don't use it any more. I purchased the thing when I was climbing 130 days a year or so. It had a 3 over 3 sheath and the thing was rock solid.

Patrick Mulligan wrote:It had a 3 over 3 sheath and the thing was rock solid.

Strange. I have only seen two over two and one over one. Did the thing feel like a steel cable? I would envision wrapping those many strands over each other would make the rope quite bumpy. Any pics?

I also spied that deal! And mine just arrived. It's blue, and it has a middle mark, and it's a 2 over 2 weave. That's about all I know. I'll find out more this weekend.

nkane
Sep 19, 2013

I also spied that deal! And mine just arrived. It's blue, and it has a middle mark, and it's a 2 over 2 weave. That's about all I know. I'll find out more this weekend.

any updates?

I own the 70 M and it has seen about a weeks worth of climbing at the crag. The specs were perfect for what I was looking for, but couldn't find information regarding the treatment. I had also read some place that Cousin manufactured Petzl ropes and this specific one shared the same specs at the Petzl Fuse, so I thought I would inquire on both fronts. After the month-long summer holiday in France, I received a response:

Yes , we are manufacturer of Fuse 9.4 Petzl .
Basaltic and Fuse are improved by a Long Life Treatment .

Overall, I'm a fan. Hope this helps.

---new to the forum

I'm fat. 10.2 is my 'skinny' rope for any leads now days.

nkane and I used his new 9.4 in the valley and it is a great rope. soft hand yet solid feeling. worked out the kinks with some long rappels. great deal.

20 kN wrote: Strange. I have only seen two over two and one over one. Did the thing feel like a steel cable? I would envision wrapping those many strands over each other would make the rope quite bumpy. Any pics?

Sorry man, wasn't tracking the thread. It was very stiff when purchased, but broke in perfectly over a couple of weeks and was by far the toughest rope I've ever owned. Keep in mind it was a 60m 9.9mm rope purchased when 60's were just hitting the market in force and sub 10mm ropes were rare. I had friends at the time that were freaked out by how thin it was especially when we began running pitches together for full ropelengths. It developed very little fuzz - still looks pretty new (see pic) and was tougher than hell. I abused the thing for 5 years. Although it probably only saw 15-20 falls and was rarely used toproping over that period of time it was used hundreds of times. I cut it into 4 equal lengths for use as slacklines, fixed lines, etc. I still have two which I use frequently for various tasks and they still look new.
Cousin 9.9

i also bought this rope on the clymb and took it out for the first time yesterday. it came back after catching no lead falls and no obvious abuse with 2 massive core shots. do people think i should contact the manufacturer? i realize a 9.4 is a skinny rope not meant to be a workhorse but after a single excursion to wind up unusable is a bit ridiculous i feel.