Sterling Ropes - PSA
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I recently bought a brand new sterling velocity 70 m bi-pattern rope and after climbing on it a few times I did a rap requiring a FULL 70 m. I pulled it to the center mark and rapped. When I got to the bottom I noticed the ends were WAY off - like 10' off - good thing I tied knots! At first I chalked it up to rope stretch or slippage or who knows what. But after a few more uses and raps I continued to notice the difference in lengths. So I finally measured it and the middle mark is off by 8 ft. I measured it myself and brought it in to a climbing shop and they measured it the same length too. |
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take a sharpie, mark the true middle of the rope. |
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Mammut or Edelrid, dude. Worth it. |
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This is just a PSA to people with similar ropes to check as it may be some manufacturing defect, not a question of how to mark the middle yourself. The problem is people shouldn't be spending close to $300 for a rope where the middle mark is off by 8 ft. |
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FOR ALL: Do not mark your middle mark with tape. That's all. |
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Did you measure the entire rope? How long is is? |
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I have several sterling bi-pattern ropes with one side longer than the other. They are all also longer than the specified length. |
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Never liked middle marks..I always match the ends |
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mpech wrote:take a sharpie, mark the true middle of the rope. alternatively, put a piece of climbing tape there. change it periodically. once you chop your rope, make a new sharpie mark or move the piece of tape. problem solved.I highly advise you to not use a standard sharpie or any other salvent based permanent marker, it degrades the rope fibers and will cause the rope to fail in that spot. This is the response I recieved from Edelweiss when asking about center marking; The safest is to use an ink marker without chemicals, the Béal Rope Marker for example or a laundry marker. Or you can roll tight a small length of 1mm cord around the middle of the rope, that works fine as well. And here is a response from Bluewater about center marking; "What is the beta on marking pens? Marking pens are fine to use on ropes as long as they are water based laundry markers. Years ago solvent based markers were the norm. Some of the solvents used in these old pens could reduce the strength of the sheath strands marked. These days most pens are water based so this is not as much of an issue as in years passed. We recommend a Sharpie "rub a dub" laundry marking pen. Why does BlueWater not use factory middle marks on dynamic ropes? Factory middle marks are ok until one end of the rope gets chopped off. Then the factory mark is no longer in the middle. Hmmm- look at the back of any telephone book here in the great Nation of America. If an end user gets hurts because their mark is no longer in the middle what would one expect to happen? We prefer the end user to make all marks so they are intimately familiar with which of the marks on their rope is the correct center mark. This can be accomplished by different styles of marking using a series of bands so the correct mark can be identified. A unique marking also helps to better identify ownership on your rope as well as the rest of your gear!" Then again, this thread is about Sterling not correctly center marking a rope, that is the main issue here. You should send your rope back to Sterling if you can. |
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Tom Sherman wrote:FOR ALL: Do not mark your middle mark with tape. That's all.I laughed out loud at this... but only because I once tried the tape middle mark. |
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Super Fluke wrote: I highly advise you to not use a standard sharpie or any other salvent based permanent marker, it degrades the rope fibers and will cause the rope to fail in that spot. This is the response I recieved from Edelweiss when asking about center marking; The safest is to use an ink marker without chemicals, the Béal Rope Marker for example or a laundry marker. Or you can roll tight a small length of 1mm cord around the middle of the rope, that works fine as well. And here is a response from Bluewater about center marking; "What is the beta on marking pens? Marking pens are fine to use on ropes as long as they are water based laundry markers. Years ago solvent based markers were the norm. Some of the solvents used in these old pens could reduce the strength of the sheath strands marked. These days most pens are water based so this is not as much of an issue as in years passed. We recommend a Sharpie "rub a dub" laundry marking pen. Why does BlueWater not use factory middle marks on dynamic ropes? Factory middle marks are ok until one end of the rope gets chopped off. Then the factory mark is no longer in the middle. Hmmm- look at the back of any telephone book here in the great Nation of America. If an end user gets hurts because their mark is no longer in the middle what would one expect to happen? We prefer the end user to make all marks so they are intimately familiar with which of the marks on their rope is the correct center mark. This can be accomplished by different styles of marking using a series of bands so the correct mark can be identified. A unique marking also helps to better identify ownership on your rope as well as the rest of your gear!" Then again, this thread is about Sterling not correctly center marking a rope, that is the main issue here. You should send your rope back to Sterling if you can.Blue water says to use Rub a dub sharpie marker to mark the middle of the rope. bluewaterropes.com/faqs/ |
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the tape middle mark works great, in my opinion. Wrap some normal climbing tape very tightly around the middle of the rope. It usually lasts a month or so (depending on how much you climb/rappel). The tape is especially useful when you are rapping in the dark-- it gives a physical indication of the middle of the rope... |
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Yeah... but if that piece of tape slips and you're relying on it... |
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I'd just say thanks for the long rope and be done with it. |
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BD did some informal testing and the ropes always broke at the knot. Conclusion was that damage from sharpies was insignificant. |
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Also I think short ropes happen. I had one from a different manufacturer that was short by about the same amount. I was told that as a QC measure ropes were weighed not measured. They gave me a new one. |
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Thanks for all of the advice about how to properly mark the center of my rope. Again, getting back to the original point, a brand new rope had a middle mark that was off by 8 ft. and is not a "long" 70 meters, it's nearly spot on at 70 meters. |
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Lots of sidebar shenanigans going on here. |
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I had a somewhat similar situation with them.. Bought a new Helix and it had a minor issue with the rope near the end. It had a little bend in it which seemed strange on a brand new rope. |
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Mr. Stevens wrote:He says the UIAA allows up to 1 meter of difference for the middle mark.... And since 8ft = 2.4 meters I think you should tell him the rope isn't close to UIAA compliant. |
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I have a 70m bicolor Helix 9.5mm with around a half dozen days climbing on it. The color change on it is within an inch of half way. I tested by flaking from both ends simultaneously and had the same result both times I tested it. An eight foot difference would be enough for me to raise hell with Sterling over it. |