New Rope Recommendations
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Rope buying has always been a frustrating endeavor. The opportunities to try out a rope before you buy it are limited to what your climbing partners have available, rope manufacturers do a poor job of explaining the nuanced differences in their ropes, and the number of good, and extensively comparative rope reviews on the internet are seriously lacking. |
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I see why buying a new rope is frustrating for you! Analysis paralysis. |
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Sterling Ion 9.4 Bi-Pattern 70m. Workhorse rope for me. |
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Mammut Infinity duodess dry (sheath and core) bi-colored 70m is pricey but hits all of your criteria and is well worth it in my experience and from what I've heard from many other trad climbers I know. I only bought mine last season and didn't use it a ton, but I hear from others that it's quite durable. Keep an eye out for a 20-25% off sale and go for it. |
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I've had a couple stingers and a booster and both held up well. I always get the Golden dry models... I do not believe they have bi-color options tho? For the past season I've been using a Eidelweis bicolor double dry 9.6. I don't remember the name at this moment. Holding up well, handles great, and more price point for a bicolor/double dry. If money were not a factor I'd go Sterling or BlueWater tho. They seem to hold up a little longer from my experience. |
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I pretty much only use Mammut, positive experience after another. Great feel and workability and long term durability (possibly because I dont mind 10+mm ropes - thicker ropes are notoriously durable - any reason you're looking to go so much (hah a millimeter) thinner?). The bi pattern is a really nice and welcome feature if you can swing it. |
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Logan Schiff wrote:Mammut Infinity duodess dry (sheath and core) bi-colored 70m is pricey but hits all of your criteria and is well worth it in my experience and from what I've heard from many other trad climbers I know. I only bought mine last season and didn't use it a ton, but I hear from others that it's quite durable. Keep an eye out for a 20-25% off sale and go for it.+1 Love the 9.5 infinity duodess 70m |
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I recently got a Petzl Arial (9.5) and it is silky smooth, supple and overall I'm liking it very much. Can't talk to durability yet obviously. |
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Andy Hansen wrote:Sterling Ion 9.4 Bi-Pattern 70m. Workhorse rope for me.That's a damn good rope. |
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Guys, thanks. Thus far helpful input. Big negatives I've heard on Petzl is their rope sheath isn't super durable. The granite at Vedauwoo is...abrasive, and less than kind to weaker sheaths, so that's a pretty important consideration for me. |
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Gold Plated Rocket Pony wrote: +1 Love the 9.5 infinity duodess 70mBest rope I've ever owned, for sure. A partner of mine has their (I think it's called) Revolution 9.2 in a 60, we really liked that also, I've climbed about 30 pitches on that one and liked it a lot. |
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Sagar Gondalia wrote: I definitely get that people like the Sterling Ion 9.4, but those of you with that experience, can you elaborate a little more? Rope buying is (for me at least) super preferential / nuanced, so I'm curious as to why you like the ion? What are the properties about it that have proven it to be so favorable?Handles well, reasonably durable for its thickness, generally well-made. It is a pretty soft/supple rope, which you'll like since it sounds like you don't like stiff ropes. Doesn't seem to kink. The sheath has a somewhat unique texture to it--somewhat hard to describe--but I like it. |
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Hey Sagar, |
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Another enthusiastic vote for the Mammut Infinity 9.5. I bought the 60m 2 years and easily 200+ pitches ago and it's still going strong. I liked it so much that I recently bought the 70m bicolor. |
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I just keep buying the Sterling 9.8 evolution velocity ropes 62 g/m. |
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I had a sterling 9.4 70m which I really liked before it was stolen. To replace it I got a Roca IO 70m 9.4 which I really like. Definitely been abusing it since September and it's still in great shape. Roca is distributed by Fixe in the States and the IO is super cheap right now, like $155 bucks for the 70m. |
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Had great experience recently with Edlewise 1:1 sheath wave... bomber ropes IMO! I have had several bad ropes from sterling recently. |
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I just bought a 70M 9.7mm Blue Water Lightning Pro (bi-pattern and dry treated) for single and mutli-pitch trad climbing. It's actually on sale here: backcountry.com/blue-water-… |
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I bought three 9.4 ropes last year from three different companies. Petzl, Edelweiss, and Sterling. I've used Sterling ropes for a while now but wanted to see what other manufacturers had to offer. What I've learned while rotating these ropes in service is that so far the only major difference I've noticed is feel. The Edelweiss feels the stiffest and least fuzzy, which I like. The Petzl is the most supple with a little bit of fuzz and the Sterling is the most fuzzy but still feels pretty supple. I think Petzl may have moved beyond their previous durability issues. Sterling is always solid but really nobody makes a bad rope and when they do it's usually all over the web (Petzl a few years ago). The only thing that matters is personal preference of feel as it breaks in which you can kind of get the gist of by people's comments here and online reviews. |
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Edelrid, Edelrid, Edelrid. For all the reasons you mentioned and so many more. |
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Known supple ropes |