Older rope safe?

I stopped climbing a few years ago due to hurting my back not related to climbing. I have a 200' Bluewater static rope and a 60m Metolius rope that has been stored in rope bags inside a Rubbermaid container. The static rope was probably used about 10 times total and the 60m probably had 20 climbs on it, mostly top rope with one sport lead and no hard falls. They are both about 8-9 years old. Some kids at my church have asked me to take them climbing and rappelling again as I did a couple of years ago. Do you think the ropes are safe to use? I've asked at the local climbing shop; but they don't want to answer, I assume either due to worried about liability, or they want me to buy new ropes. As much as I loved climbing, though I wasn't good at it, I don't want to invest in new ropes, if I can't get much use out of them. The surgeon said its ok for me to belay, just not climb.

People are going to tell you to replace the ropes, not take a chance if they're even a little questionable to you. There are also a number of rope manufacturers who would most likely recommend replacement.

Ultimately, you're going to have to inspect them and make the call yourself. I sounds like, from your description, they would be fine for the type of thing you're doing. Top-rope and rappel, in which case I would think operator error on the kid's part is probably a bigger concern than the ropes, if they have as little wear as you describe, and appear to be in good condition on inspection. I have used older, more used ropes than that for lead, without incident.

I think you're probably fine to use these after inspecting them closely. I've heard 10 years used often as a shelf life for ropes, and you are still within that.

For a few outings, I'd probably use these ropes. If you intend to get back into climbing, think about getting a new rope.

Check this out, too:
theuiaa.org/upload_area/fil…

Best wishes,

Nathan

Thanks for the advice. I always heard that ropes needed to be retired after 5 years. I'll make sure I inspect them if I decide to use them.

Climbers should always inspect their ropes before they climb no matter how old the ropes are. Have you ever tried the tear drop test? Start at the end and fold the rope onto itself. If you can make a tear drop shape in the space between the fold then the rope should be alright. If you fold the rope onto itself and are able to create a straight line between the folds (because every part of the folded rope is touching) then that section of the rope should be cut out.

I might not want to be doing trad leads on the older ropes -- mostly ropes lose their elasticity with age. But, for top-rope climbing and rappelling, unless the ropes have obvious bad spots (core shots, etc), then the ropes will be just fine for that sort of activity. The forces involved in both are quite low (compared to lead falls), so that is why the ropes would still be fine - they won't break, and you don't have to worry about the extra forces on gear.

I'd have no problem TR'ing and rapping on them based on your description.

Taking kids out has other serious concerns, however. Do you know what to do if a child gets her hair caught in the rap device halfway down?

Thanks for everybody's advice.

I appreciate the concern. I've taken kids several times rappelling and climbing as well as I have been working part time at a camp for 15 years on the ropes course where rappelling is one of the activities. I've never had hair getting near the figure 8. I usually always have any girls to pull their hair back first. I usually have them on belay with another rope from the top plus another adult at the bottom. While I have taken kids as young as 8 before, these would be teen and pre-teen. I've been a teacher for 18 years so I'm used to instructing.

JMAT - haven't you ever seen the real movie "Sanctum"?