Haul Rope

So what brand, diameter, length rope do you use for hauling?

Do you use a static or dynamic?

I use the Blue Water II 10.5 static. I had a 70M and I am going to buy another. I just want to know what everyone else uses.

Caz

Depending on the situation a dynamic for hauling could fit the bill.
Especially if you think something could happen to your lead line and you need a back up. I'd go with somthing in the 10mm marker for diameter.

Standard haul line for me though is a blue water 10.2mm 60m line.
Holds up well to the abuse. Of course hauling is a bit easier with out have to take the stretch out of the rope.

I have a 9.5mm 60m New England static that has worked out well. It's big enough that I have no worries jugging on it, yet light enough not to be too obnoxious.

On one route we took a dynamic because my partner insisted, but by the end it had a nasty core shot. :( Down the road I'm leaning more towards using my various retired dynamic lines and just plan on trashing them as soon as they cross into mank territory. For now the static has lots of life left in it.

Depends on your hauling situation what kind of haul line you need.

If you are climbing big walls, and hauling tons of stuff, you really should have a static rope because it makes life a lot easier, especially with mechanically advantageous systems. That being said, Kate's haul line on BUBS was dynamic, and it did work ok on a 2:1.

Haul lines take a ton of abuse, and skinny ones wear out too quickly. They are also scary to rappel if you are soloing. Better to go with a burly one, something around 10.5mm or even 11mm, as long as the line is flexible. Beware of stiff caving ropes that are made for jugging, not hauling - you want a nice flexible rope.

You should also buy a long one - 70m. This is handy for linking pitches, fixing pitches, and other big wall rope tricks. Plus the parts of the rope that gets abraded and nicked the most are its ends, and this is what you may want to cut. Actually, I never cut the end of my haul lines off, even when nicked, because I can always tie on above. I like to use my excess haul line as lower-out.

If your loads aren't that heavy, a retired dynamic rope is perfectly acceptable as a haul line. It can also double as a spare lead line should you damage your primary lead rope. If you are soloing, though, you don't need a spare lead rope, cuz if you damage it, you can put the damaged part in the middle of a butterfly, no biggie when soloing.

Cheers,
Pete