Rope length measurement device for belaying - do you like that?

Hi all,

I'm a sport climber and have an idea of a device to measure the amount of rope given out by the belayer, so that they know how much rope is available. It would be mostly for more novice climbers, who don't know the area well or are not yet great in estimating the length of a route.

-A midway point on the rope does the job, but you might miss it.
-The tope book should tell you, but it would be good to know how much rope is left in case you're zig-zagging or are in unknown territory.
-Bi-pattered ropes are great, but not many people seem to use them, and you can't see it in the dark.

Would you like such a device or you wouldn't want it?

Thanks,

Gerard

If a belayer doesn't notice the half-way point pass through the device...they probably should be belaying. That said, I'm curious how your proposed device would get the attention of a belayer. I'm picturing some sort of dog collar triggered by the passing of the mid-point through an ATC. I wouldn't use it.

some middle ink marks are a bit stiffer and youll often notice the middle mark going through the device ... especially on a smart

of course with enough wear the mark and stiffness wears away ... but with the reapplication of the beal rope marker ive noticed that the spot you apply it to can get a bit stiffer again ... which is useful

some have said that the pattern change on a duodess rope can be felt through a device .. personally ive never felt this on my mammuts

;)

I'll re-post what I did on supertopo because I'm bored:

I might have liked that back when I started climbing. How much rope is left? Less than last time you asked!

Would it work both ways, taking up and giving out slack?

I guess It would be nice to give one of these to my wife or other friends I con into belaying.

I don't really understand the use for sport climbing, but maybe trad when you're trying to figure out where to build an anchor.

Just add quarter way as well as half way marks to the rope. Job done.

It would be an interesting device, but I doubt anyone would use it. It would have to be lightweight and unnoticeable for the most part. Definitely limited to beginners for the most part, but I can see some uses (rapping in the dark over an edge where one can't see the ends on a windy, chicken-head pocked route?). Seems too specific for me.

Middle marks and bi-colored ropes are poor indicators even visually if one isn't aware of the history of the rope.

If your climbing at a developed sport crag then a 60m will usually do. I pitch that needs a 70m would look unusually long I would think. Could be a nice idea I suppose. Novice climbers need to get in the habit of always knotting the ends of their ropes. This would mitigate A LOT of accidents.

While it may be an alright idea, I don't think it would be feasible as far as production and sales are concerned. While you may be able to market and sale to novice climbers, any experienced climber wouldn't need such a deceive. I could see this being more useful in the industry sector possibly.

If there's ever the slightest bit of doubt, or sometimes just for shits and giggles I use this device. The best thing about it is that it comes with the rope for free.

duh.

On second thought, I suppose a slip knot at the midpoint of the rope would be a pretty fool-proof method. Easy to "untie" while belaying.

I think this is kool but better suited for rappelling. I have done cliff mapping studies where trying to figure out distances on a cliff was obnoxious. This device would account for rope stretch when the rope was weighted and would be ideal. But how are you going to make it work? with a rolling arm that rolls along the rope and keeps count?

I don't think its a good idea because if you do get it people may stop tying knots in the end of their ropes because they think they would know how much rope is left which could lead to more accidents. If they don't stop tying the knot then your device is pretty irrelevant or just an expensive toy.

By the logic above then we should all go back to hip belays and forget about gri gri's it's not a substitution just an added measure like a shunt over a Prussik for rappelling

I want an electronic rope that you can look down at your knot and it tells you that you are at the end of your rope, maybe it'll beep once at 20 feet from end, or send a shock to your junk, or something similar???

I think this is a cool idea. It would definitely be useful on long multipitch trad routes ("How much rope is left?"..."Uh, a small pile!"). No one likes to hit the end of the rope and have to down-climb back to the last good belay stance, although it doesn't happen too often.

I have to agree with the previous post, however; more marks on the rope (perhaps every 10 m or so) would be accurate, low-tech, and very light weight!

Jonathan Dull wrote: Novice climbers need to get in the habit of always knotting the ends of their ropes. This would mitigate A LOT of accidents.

Correction:

All climbers need to get in the habit of always knotting the ends of their ropes. This would mitigate A LOT of accidents.

David Coley wrote:Just add quarter way as well as half way marks to the rope. Job done.

Jonathan Awerbuch wrote: I have to agree with the previous post, however; more marks on the rope (perhaps every 10 m or so) would be accurate, low-tech, and very light weight!

This might be a good idea for a bicolor rope; the pattern change would let you know where the middle is, while the marks would indicate "15 meters left", etc. You would just have to make sure that your partners were also aware to the setup of such a non-standard rope marking system.

It would, however, be a terrible idea for a non-bicolor rope. A mark that could be confused with the middle mark is quite dangerous, since while rapping (in the dark, while tired, etc.) it could be quite easy to accidently center the rope on the 15-meter mark instead of the middle mark. This has happened to people, they have rapped off the short end of the rope, and they have died.