Reputable brand?

Ok hopefully I didn’t start an argument here on who’s right or wrong, but I think I got my answer. 

So to switch gears a little bit what are your thoughts on the Beal Virus 10mm rope? Verses the Eldweiss Element 10.2mm?

If the Beal is a Unicore rope, buy it; an excellent safety innovation in rope construction from Beal. 

Tamiban Gueterstan wrote:

 foreign direct investment from China is much more concerning than outsourcing to China,

Any moreso than American direct investment in foreign theaters?

Tamiban Gueterstan wrote:

Can you explain where in rules this is the case? Everything for UIAA safety label application seems to read that a test report from a UIAA lab OR a quality certificate need be presented, referencing section 3.7. Section 3.7 lists acceptable quality certifications as CE 11A for final product and 11B for process, but then describes simplified procedures for quality certified organizations, suggesting it is optional. In the FAQ under "I am a certified organization as per UIAA requirements... what benefits are available to me?" the answer is just the benefits of Section 3.7 which are just simplified procedures for recertification. Where is the requirement for CE 11A and 11B otherwise required for the safety label? Is there another CE quality standard that applies regardless outside of 11A and 11B?

11A or 11B are required for the CE  mark (which is required for the Safety Label). 11A is performed/ audited externally for each product but if you have already a system like ISO9001 in place the entire company already has an externally controlled system in place so is also accepted. The company then no longer has to provide the yearly audit for each product to the UIAA.

Jason Zevenbergen wrote:

https://www.theuiaa.org/safety/safety-standards/certified-equipment/

Armbury has a number of products that are currently UIAA certified, including several dynamic ropes. I agree that this is likely re-branded gear from a Chinese factory that supplies name brands, but it does appear to be properly certified.

I purchased a closeout $100ish Blue Water 9.7 Lightning Pro (at least that's what they said it was) on Ebay a couple years back. Within a summer of fairly moderate use it got 2 core shots, fairly significant sheath abrasion, and became far too stretchy to even be safe as a gym rope. Point being, UIAA and CE standards are not a complete assessment of rope quality.

The real question is if you want your money to support cultural genocide or cutting-edge gear development.

I also got an Armbury rope Blizzard 9.8, 70m. Only used 2 climbing trips and the rope is already clearly failing in structure. Usually a rope has a strong enough core that it shouldn't bend so easily to be flat.  With my Mammut classic crag 10.2, used for 5 years with 5 climbing trips a year and the core was better than this rope.