New Rope Recommendations

Have you use the Booster and Tiger? Any preference? Does the Tiger actually feel thicker? It weighs less.

Which Edelrids are supple that you know of?

jdejace wrote:Have you use the Booster and Tiger? Any preference? Does the Tiger actually feel thicker? It weighs less. Which Edelrids are supple that you know of?

ive used both ... i have a booster shipping in right now

they feel more or less the same to me

the tiger is unicore if that matters, but most beals and the tendon ambition series stay supple and soft even after extensive use

if you want durability go with mammut or maxim, the tradeoff is the stiffness and a harder catch ... my 9.5mm infinity feels stiffer than any beal/tendon rope

if you want soft catches and suppleness go with beal/tendon

the edelrid boa/python are exceptional supple, however ive had durability issues with the python as have some folks i know

that said ANY rope can die if use the wrong way or with some bad luck ...

;)

Thanks for the reply!

The Bluewater Dominator is fucking radical! I strongly recommend it. It's my go-to rope for pretty much everything. I have taken hundreds of whips on mine and it's still strong. The Beal ropes are really nice, they are light for their diameter, but be aware they stretch like crazy. Really. I have been only 5' past the bolt, fell and taken a damn near 30 footer because there was lots of rope in the system and the rope stretched so much. I am not a fan of high stretch ropes because they make it far easier to deck or hit a ledge. But if you dont mind the stretch, they are great and they provide a nice, soft catch.

Another really good option is the Maxim Glider 9.5mm. That's probably the best 9.5mm rope out there IMO.

Mammut infinity is sweet because it's a good balance of weight to durability (IMO). I used mine for pretty much what you described (mostly trad, occasional sport) and it lasted several hundred pitches before I went to jtree and finally killed it.

I now have a sterling velocity 9.8 which is noticeably heavier but also more bomber. Prob put 100 pitches or so on it at jtree and it's showing little if any wear (dirty as hell but that's another story). I probably wouldn't take it into the alpine but for your average single / multi-pitch Cragging day it's great.

Mmmmm, why not go with the Beal Joker? 9.1, it's for single/double/twin use and golden dry. I love mine. They've held up SUPER well for 2 yrs now... Going on 3...

20 kN wrote:The Beal ropes are really nice, they are light for their diameter, but be aware they stretch like crazy. Really. I have been only 5' past the bolt, fell and taken a damn near 30 footer because there was lots of rope in the system and the rope stretched so much. I am not a fan of high stretch ropes because they make it far easier to deck or hit a ledge. But if you dont mind the stretch, they are great and they provide a nice, soft catch. Another really good option is the Maxim Glider 9.5mm. That's probably the best 9.5mm rope out there IMO.

the belaying with beals and other stretchy ropes is a bit different than a lower stretch rope like a maxim ... you tend to keep much less slack in the system until the climber is higher up ... if the climb is a bit ledgy then the slack should be kept to an absolute minimum ... and if you have your second on belay, pull in the slack tight

of course the advantage is that in a climb with high friction or where the belayer is anchored down, its easier on the gear and the climber

for moderate/ledgy climbs a lower stretch maxim/mammut/edelrid may be a good idea ... also if you are worried about the second falling ... as the difference between the maxim pinnacle (5% static elongation) and the beal booster (9.7%) is around 10 feet on a 70m pitch for static stretch alone

the question to ask yourself is are you more worried about hitting a ledge (or your second hitting one) ... or getting spiked into the wall and/or gear pulling where you cant give an active belay

if the former get a maxim, if the latter get a beal ... or their equivalents

remember also that as ropes get used theyll often get less stretchy

;)

jmeizis wrote:The more I climb the more I think I can get up and down almost anything with a 50m rope and some minor shenanigans.

I like your thinking :-)

Aside from single pitch sport and Alpine faces I am not at all convinced about the trend to ever longer ropes...