Chopping the ends off an old rope = new rope?

Last weekend I noticed that my rope (60m, 10.1mm) is getting pretty squishy near the ends. Given that it is 3 ½ years old and has seen 4 big walls and lots of cragging and sport climbing over that time, I’ve decided that it is time to retire the cord. However, I have heard that cutting off 5-10m on each end leaves you with an almost new (albeit short) rope. This implies that the wear on a rope resulting from falls is highly localized at the spot where the rope is snagged by the carabiner. It would seem to me (based on nothing) that during a fall the majority of stress on a rope would be at a single point but that a certain amount would still be distributed along the entire length of the cord. Can anyone correct/improve my understanding on this? How ‘new’ would my rope be if I cut off 5-10 meters on each end?

Thanks!

From my experience I think the rule of thumb is retire a rope that has been used regularly 2-3 times a week after two years. I cut my ends if the sheath is shot or something near the end, but I would say your going on 4 years of regular use retire it....

Jake Sahl wrote:cutting off 5-10m on each end leaves you with an almost new (albeit short) rope.

just know that you can only get away with this about a half-dozen times before you are left with nothing

Sterling only gives there ropes a shelf life of 5 years that's with no use, and with occasional use 1-2 years and 3-6 months of extensive use. These numbers are probably on the safe side but I think it answers your question, buy a new rope....

Locker wrote:"cutting off 5-10m on each end leaves you with an almost new (albeit short) rope." Uh... No it doesn't! It leaves you with a rope of the exact same age, only shorter.

Bingo :D

In my experience, rope age is generally less important than rope wear. As such, don't worry so much about # of years (unless that # is getting close to 10, due to possible nylon degradation), but rather inspect the rope itself for flat spots, squishiness, or obvious sheath wear/damage. You could use a rope for trad climbs for 3.5 years and still have it be in great shape if you rarely/never fell and usually walked off of routes. On the other hand, you can totally trash a rope in 3.5 months (or less than that) of heavy-duty hangdogging on sharp fixed gear.

Whether chopping the ends of your rope will help really just depends on the distribution of wear. If the wear on you rope comes from big walling (i.e. jugging), trad routes, lowering off of cragging routes, etc, then the wear will likely be fairly distributed throughout the rope. You'll just have to inspect your rope...is the middle worn almost as much as the ends? In this case, chopping the ends won't mean much; just buy a new rope.

From sport climbing a lot, you can get wear that concentrates severely in the ~3 meters on either end. This wear comes mostly from working moves, taking on the rope, pulling back up after falling, frequent short falls, etc. In this wear mode, you can have the ends of the rope be totally blown out after one season, while the middle of the rope is almost pristine. Chopping a few meters off of each end will give you a like-new, but shorter rope. For this reason, buying a 70 or even an 80 for sport climbing is wise, since you can trim it many times and still have a length >60 meters.

If you do trim a rope--especially a rope that is already only 60 meters-- be extremely vigilant about knotting the ends, espeically when lowering off of sport climbs. It is easy to forget to tell a partner that the rope is <60m, and then get dropped when lowering off a 30 m route.

Ben Beckerich wrote: Nope. Here's an email from Sterling, regarding a factory coiled rope I found at the bottom of one of my rope bins.... Ben, That’s great! It’s always nice to find new gear you didn’t know you had. The R32 is the machine it was made on. The next six digits are the date it was made on. In this case 10/15/08 October 15, 2008 The last digits are the people who cut it to length , inspected it and dry treated it for you. So, it’s a little under 5 years old. Assuming it has been stored well it should be just fine to use. Please be sure to inspect it thoroughly before you get out on it. Enjoy! Matt Andrews Climbing & Outdoor Market Manager Sterling Rope Co., Inc. 1-800-788-7673 ext 3106

Your right I re read my reference max shelf of 10 years in a sealed no sunlight environment, and a maximum use life of 5 years no matter what... sterlingrope.com/media/docu… Thanks for the correction...

Note the op stated he has done lots of "cragging and sport climbing" on his rope. Assuming he did climb a good amount of sport climbs I would assume the rope has caught a good amount of falls. I would retire it 3 1/2 years in for sure.

Locker wrote:"cutting off 5-10m on each end leaves you with an almost new (albeit short) rope." Uh... No it doesn't! It leaves you with a rope of the exact same age, only shorter.

well yes, but considering that the vast majority of wear on the rope is at the knot and, if sport climbing, the last 6 or so feet from short falls/dogging, by cutting the ends you have a rope with a lot less wear.

In the gym I worked at we chopped the end off our ropes all the time when they got soft. It doesn't leave you with a new rope, but it makes it so you don't need an absurd amount of tail when you time in. You need to make sure what you are tying in with is solid. If there aren't any soft spots or anything wrong with the middle of your rope then their is no reason to retire it. Use common sense.

I always buy 70s and cut them down to sixties, then 50s, then gym ropes, etc. I usually throw a rope out after about 5 years, depending on condition. If it's still shiny and supple in the middle with no soft spots, I'd keep climbing on it.

1. it doesnt give you a "new" rope ... each time you take a whipper, or even rap or TR on a rope you wear it out ... the stretchiness of a rope keeps getting reduced over usage time ...

2. a rope will last MUCH longer than a few years ... as long as it passes a visual and tactile inspection it wont break short of chemicals ... period ... it may get cut but thats another story

3. for uses like TR, fixed line and rapping you can use ropes much longer than 5+ years ... leading is another story as you want that stretchiness when you take whippers

theuiaa.org/upload_area/fil…


In practice, today’s ropes will neither
break in the attachment knot, nor at the
karabiner of a running belay, where the
rope is pivoted in the case of a drop, nor
in the partner belay, no matter what be-
lay method is used: the HMS knot, the
figure-of-eight, or any type of brake
plate. And in the free rope length a rope
will not break in any case.
These facts also hold for 10- or even
15-year-old ropes. This has been
proved by many tests of such old ropes
(not even 25-year-old ropes and one
30-year-old rope broke in tests in accor-
dance with the standard; they still held
at least one drop; this means that they
will not break in practice, unless loaded
over a sharp edge, in which case they
may break).
If the reader does not believe these
statements and becomes anxious if his
used rope is strong enough or not, he
should use it for bottom lowering, or
abseiling, or on glaciers. In these cases
a rope will not break, because of the
low load.

now that said ... the ends do wear out faster since yr whipping in knots, and that area tends to be the most abraded part as well

but the rest of your rope is NOT new

;)

Thanks for the replies!

To clarify, I am certainly buying a new rope for trad, sport climbing, etc. I'm more wondering whether this is a suitable rope to lead on in the gym once I chop it down to 40m or 50m. Except for the ends, the rope has no visible signs of wear beyond general fuzziness. I know how to visually inspect ropes from time spent working in a climbing gym. I am mainly curious about invisible signs of wear on parts of the rope that have never caught a fall (i.e. the middle 40m).

Jake Sahl wrote:Thanks for the replies! To clarify, I am certainly buying a new rope for trad, sport climbing, etc. I'm more wondering whether this is a suitable rope to lead on in the gym once I chop it down to 40m or 50m. Except for the ends, the rope has no visible signs of wear beyond general fuzziness. I know how to visually inspect ropes from time spent working in a climbing gym. I am mainly curious about invisible signs of wear on parts of the rope that have never caught a fall (i.e. the middle 40m).

how stretchy is it still ...

go on TR and bounce on it a bit ... is there alot of stretch?

the ability to give a dynamic belay in a gym also helps reduce the impact force on the climber

ropes that arent stretchy anymore arent the best for leading ... the forces are higher ... which even in the gym could mean a sore back or a nasty swing into the wall if your partner screws up giving a dynamic belay

;)

Allen Sanderson wrote: Bingo :D

You now have a 'short rope'. Nothing new about it. Inspect the rest of it for any damages. I use ropes a couple years old, cut down to short ropes for climbs that are 40 ft. or less. Also nice for toprope use in areas where you just hate to toss out more rope than you need to with a good newer rope. I think alot of climbers have cut off the ends for one reason or another, just so you MARK it as shorter. Even 10 ft. off the end could mess up your rap or lowering if unknown.

Jake Sahl wrote:I'm more wondering whether this is a suitable rope to lead on in the gym once I chop it down to 40m or 50m. Except for the ends, the rope has no visible signs of wear beyond general fuzziness. I know how to visually inspect ropes from time spent working in a climbing gym. I am mainly curious about invisible signs of wear on parts of the rope that have never caught a fall (i.e. the middle 40m).

Go through your rope inch by inch. Press the rope and feel for bulges or soft spots. Also go through your rope inch by inch folding it on itself. If the rope is flat and pressed against itself instead of being rounded its time to toss it. Hopefully that second part made sense. Ropes dont last forever, just buy a cheap 10 mil rope to last you a lot of years if you just sport climb.

Anyone know of any studies concerning loss of elastic strain (ie: elongation or whatever the climbing industry calls it) vs. use. Measuring strain is pretty easy.

I have found that my rope lasts maybe twice as long since most of my partners insist on using their rope