I want to mark middle of rope with thread.

I saw a friend sewed a piece of dental floss to mark middle of rope it was nice because you could actually see and feel the small bump. Has anyone done it? What type of thread? In which way did you stitch it? Thank you all!

just wrap it with dental floss. works great, lasts long enough, easy to replace, and wont damage the rope like dyes or stitching.

So just to wrap it? No stitching ha....I will definitely try that. Any particular brand of floss?

Mitch Zimmerman wrote:So just to wrap it? No stitching ha....I will definitely try that. Any particular brand of floss?

tootie frootie flavored is pretty nice

Do they come in different colors? Florescent? I guess im going on a treasure hunt tomorrow ;) Thanx guys!

wow

Why didn't you ask your "friend"?

I have never seen any evidence that stitching the middle of a rope damages it. Can you offer any reasons why it would be damaging? I have tried whipping with various threads and patterns. It always slides eventually. Right now I have dental floss with a few stitches through the sheath. It's shredded and torn, but still in the same place after two seasons.

I see no reason that stitching will harm the rope. You're just sliding thread between existing fibers, not severing anything.

The one problem could be that you'll separate some fibers and raise them above the rest of the sheath, making them recieve more abrasion. But, it's the middle of the rope, which sees little wear compared to the ends anyway, and the wrapped portion will provide more protection.

My method is to use a heavy-duty polyester thread. The easiest source is upholsterly thread. I wrap the rope with it for at least half an inch, and on every wrap I stitch a little bit of the sheath into it to hold everything in place. To finish it off I punch it right through the core a couple times, which holds much better than a knot.

This method results in a highly visible mark that always catches my attention when it goes through my hand.

It tends to ice up in wet winter conditions.

Loosening the sheath sounds like a bad idea. I imagine the Metolius marks are added during manufacturing. Some of the older Metolius ropes I have, the thread gets warn to where it isn't highly visible any more. I like this for a rope marker. backcountrygear.com/beal-ro…

I've done this and it wore off quicker than marking the middle with a sharpie.

I've done it but haven't climbed much since I did, so I can't comment on longevity.

Make sure you use a blunt needle, like one used for cross stitching. That way you can be sure it won't sever any fibers.

im pretty paranoid about sand getting beneath the sheath and damaging the core...the thought of sticking a NEEDLE into my rope in any way makes me cringe. it just doesnt seem like a good idea to stick ANYTHING through ANY part of your rope, IMO

just a fleeting thought, what about that Rit liquid dye? just dying a clear splotch in the middle seems like an ok idea, but is there any possibility that the dye could be corrosive or something?

the obvious solution: buy a rope with the middle already marked...

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that you may as well be safer and not put it through the core. It will last about as long either way, I'd think.

Its marked with black manic marker

Ben Flores wrote:im pretty paranoid about sand getting beneath the sheath and damaging the core.

Don't even worry about it. From On Rope:

Jim Kovach, in an exhaustive 8 month study in Ohio, and reported to/by ITRS (International Technical Rescue Symposium) including using rope as a doormat for months, and then driving over the same rope while it lay on beds of broken chards of bricks and a glazer’s pile of broken glass. Then the rope was pull tested! Although the kernmantle showed minor signs of wear, in testing no loss of strength was seen. There is no evidence that stepping on a rope will grind dirt past the kernmantle into the core.

That also means that you, overly stern lady at the Austin REI in 1998, can stop berating people for stepping on the rope with their socked feet on a clean crash mat.

Nice. You have a link to the study?

Matt Glue wrote:Nice. You have a link to the study?

No, but you could probably Google it from the info in the blurb and get in touch with the guy that did it.

There no reason to worry about stitching a thread through the rope,geez .

If it bothers you that much just buy a rope w/ a fricken middle mark.

Then all you have to worry about is if the manufacture got it right ,if they didn't you'll have a few seconds to think about it before you ground out.

Ether way YOUR GONA DIE!!!!!!!!!

Im getting florescent thread and stitching it