Choosing Tagline
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I will be using this tagline for retrieving main rope after a rappel. No hauling just rope retrieval. Using biner block ( aka Reepschnur rappel ). Connecting via EDK or double fishermans the rope and the tagline. |
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I use 65 m x 7mm tagline. Anything smaller than that may be hard to pull. If you get stuck rope you are up the creek so I wouldn't use it where you have high probability of a stuck rope, like Red Rock. You may be better off using doubles. |
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I have used the Imlay Canyon Gear 6mm Pull Cord before: |
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Kinda bothered by this statement though, "Imlay Canyon Gear made it sturdy - 2200 lbs worth - but NOT sturdy enough to rappel on." |
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The Phoenix wrote:Kinda bothered by this statement though, "Imlay Canyon Gear made it sturdy - 2200 lbs worth - but NOT sturdy enough to rappel on."Means they engineered it to do the job but didn't test it for that. Guess they don't want the liability hassles or just think its a bad idea to make a practice of. |
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personally i use a 8mm half rope ... if it gets stuck you can lead back up ... |
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Anecdotal, but a buddy of mine who used to use a very thin tag line like that (his was 6mm I think) said tangling was a massive and ongoing pain with such a thin line. Maybe someone with direct experience should confirm that for you, though... |
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Imlay Canyon Gear 6mm Pull Cord here. |
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I just bought a sterling 65m x 7mm... |
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I use a 7mm aramid 70m line. Super light and super strong. |
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Optimistic wrote:Anecdotal, but a buddy of mine who used to use a very thin tag line like that (his was 6mm I think) said tangling was a massive and ongoing pain with such a thin line. Maybe someone with direct experience should confirm that for you, though...bingo. I have a 6mm tagline, and it's constantly tangled or hanging up on low angle terrain. I recently acquired a 8mm static line, and it's much better that the 6 in every way. Has more uses (hauling or simul rapping), and is never tangled. |
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Thanks for the suggestions all. |
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You get more stretch with a 8mm double rope, so teaming it with a 10mm gives unequal stretch ..not a huge problem but it can be a pain..static eliminates this. |
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Roman, why not use a pair of half ropes, or twins? |
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David's question is worth giving a little thought.
You've probably answered some of these. Just. Thought I would get as many down in one place as I can recall. |
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P.S. I am not saying you need to know the answers to all of these types of questions projecting out to 5 years. Just enough to tip the scales for you one way or the other. Maybe you are already there. |
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This is primarily for my Red Rocks trip this March. My partner does not know how to double-rope belay, but im sure we can get that system packed before the trip if need be. Still I would prefer to lead on a thick 10.x rope. |
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IMO doubles are a pain 95% of the time. I know the reasons people use them and in 30+ years of climbing, I have used doubles MAYBE 5 times. |
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john strand wrote:You get more stretch with a 8mm double rope, so teaming it with a 10mm gives unequal stretch ..not a huge problem but it can be a pain..static eliminates this. My 7mm was $81Good deal! Where did you pick that up? |
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Since this is particullary for your trip in March in Red Rocks, what routes are you planning on doing? Do they even require double rope raps? I've found out a lot of routes that required double 60s worked find with a 70 meter..(ie Crimson Chrysalis, levitation 29). Maybe just upgrading to a 70M will work just find. |
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john strand wrote:IMO doubles are a pain 95% of the time...in 30+ years of climbing, I have used doubles MAYBE 5 times.Maybe you find them to be a pain because you never really got used to using them? Granted, 2 ropes are always a bigger hassle than 1. For a routes that follows straight-in crack systems, and which can be either walked off or rapped with 1 rope, taking a single rope is the way to go. However, if you need 2 ropes to get down, I think that doubles are a good choice. Once you get used to it, a double rope system can be less hassle than a single rope and a tagline. Also, there are many benefits to the double rope system, especially with regard to rope drag on wandering pitches. Doubles also are really useful when building the anchor from the lead line(s). I figure that if you are going to have to bring a second rope up with you, you might as well make that rope useful on the way up. A big benefit of a tagline system, however, is that you can use it to haul the pack using the 7 mm tagline and a microtraxion. This isn't practical to apply to easier/slabbier/highly featured routes, since hauling is a pain on that terrain and climbing a 5.7 pitch with a pack on isn't a problem. However, for steeper/harder multipitch routes, it is a godsend to not have to climb with shoes/water/pack weighing you down, but still be able to have food, water, and a belay jacket with you one the route. What I would not do is what the OP is suggesting. A 10+ mm lead line with e 8.5-9 mm tag line? Uggghh. That is a lot of rope weight, both for the approach and the climb, and is overkill for what you need. If you are going to get a new rope system for long routes, think 9.4 mm lead line and 7 mm tagline, or two 8.4 mm doubles. Climbing is more fun when you aren't fighting against a massive amount of rope weight at the end of a pitch. |