Best grigri compatible static rope for top rope anchors/heavy use

Title. Looking for decently affordable, durable, grigri compatible static rope, mainly for building top rope anchors, but also for practicing systems on, jugging, and way farther on down the line maybe some top rope soloing. 

Sterling Rope 7/16" SuperStatic2

An adaptable static rope designed to excel in many applications, our 7/16" SuperStatic2 provides consistent interaction with a wide range of gear. Ideal for technical rescues, rope access and mountain operations when used as a main or belay line.

I use this static rope for setting top rope anchors and top rope solo laps. Very durable and easy to handle! I use a (gri gri 2) or a (gri gri +) with the static line and they work great.

Below is a link to Sterling Ropes website:

https://sterlingrope.com/7-16-superstatic2/

Garrett Weaver wrote:

Sterling Rope 7/16" SuperStatic2

An adaptable static rope designed to excel in many applications, our 7/16" SuperStatic2 provides consistent interaction with a wide range of gear. Ideal for technical rescues, rope access and mountain operations when used as a main or belay line.

I use this static rope for setting top rope anchors and top rope solo laps. Very durable and easy to handle! I use a (gri gri 2) or a (gri gri +) with the static line and they work great.

Below is a link to Sterling Ropes website:

https://sterlingrope.com/7-16-superstatic2/

Duly noted! Sidenote- have you ever been to the high falls waterfall? 

I TRS on 10mm Sterling Work Pro.  Polyester sheath is more durable than typical nylon sheath.  Rope is stiff and doesn't handle as nicely as Mammut Performance Static.  If building anchors was my goal, I'd buy the Mammut.  If abrasion resistance is the goal, then the work ropes shine.  I do use the WorkPro for anchors on occasion and it works fine - just a little clunky.

Blue Water protac.
Great static rope that comes in many diameters 9, 10, 10.5, 11, 13.

All diameters a very high sheath mass at around 50%, which is fantastic for wear and abrasion resilience.

There are lots of options here. The Grigri is compatible with any rope within the 8.5 - 11 mm range. To answer what is "best" for the Grigri depends on application. Stiffer and thicker ropes will engage the brake assists more readily. Thinner and softer ropes will allow the rope to feed a bit easier and require a bigger "jerk" to start the camming. 

Mammut Performance Static and Sterling HTP Static are great and my go-to for TR anchors. They have great abrasion resistance and can take abuse. If rigging a personal tether in your TR anchor, a Grigri will cam very easily on these static lines. 

For TR solo'ing, it all depends on your rig. I use a Grigri when I TR solo, and would never TR solo on a static line as it would (a) feed very poorly through the Grigri and (b) a little bit of stretch softens all the falls, even TR falls. My Mammut 9.5 Crag Dry Rope feeds beautiful on a Grigri in a TR solo when you get the tension just right. 

Michael Wolfe wrote:

There are lots of options here. The Grigri is compatible with any rope within the 8.5 - 11 mm range. To answer what is "best" for the Grigri depends on application. Stiffer and thicker ropes will engage the brake assists more readily. Thinner and softer ropes will allow the rope to feed a bit easier and require a bigger "jerk" to start the camming. 

Mammut Performance Static and Sterling HTP Static are great and my go-to for TR anchors. They have great abrasion resistance and can take abuse. If rigging a personal tether in your TR anchor, a Grigri will cam very easily on these static lines. 

For TR solo'ing, it all depends on your rig. I use a Grigri when I TR solo, and would never TR solo on a static line as it would (a) feed very poorly through the Grigri and (b) a little bit of stretch softens all the falls, even TR falls. My Mammut 9.5 Crag Dry Rope feeds beautiful on a Grigri in a TR solo when you get the tension just right. 

Super curious about you getting a grigri to feed well in a TRS setup, that's pretty uncommon. Does the grigri end up slipping much when it engages or does it lock immediately with this rope? Also, which grigri is it? 

I've never been able to get a grigri to self feed on any rope until I was 30-40' up the wall. 

I use Sterling HTP 7/16" (11mm) rope for TR anchors and almost always rig a safety tether with it to use with my Grigri. No issues with feed or camming at this size, it works great and have been really happy with the performance and durability. 

Ricky Harline wrote:

Super curious about you getting a grigri to feed well in a TRS setup, that's pretty uncommon. Does the grigri end up slipping much when it engages or does it lock immediately with this rope? Also, which grigri is it? 

3rd generation Grigri (2019). Microtrax is the primary and the Grigri is the secondary. The two devices are on two indepedant fixed lines. I tension the Microtrax line with something heavy like a water bottle, and tension the Grigri line with a small coil of rope (probably less than 1 lbs) floating off the ground. The Grigri is sensitive to exactly how much weight is tensioning the line. Sometimes this takes a few tries to get it right. It's a conservative TRS setup that feeds great when tuned well. 

I've never seen the Grigri slip when falling. It's the secondary, so it rarely ever catches me. I tie overhands on the Grigri line if good rests allow. 

Michael Wolfe wrote:

3rd generation Grigri (2019). Microtrax is the primary and the Grigri is the secondary. The two devices are on two indepedant fixed lines. I tension the Microtrax line with something heavy like a water bottle, and tension the Grigri line with a small coil of rope (probably less than 1 lbs) floating off the ground. The Grigri is sensitive to exactly how much weight is tensioning the line. Sometimes this takes a few tries to get it right. It's a conservative TRS setup that feeds great when tuned well. 

I've never seen the Grigri slip when falling. It's the secondary, so it rarely ever catches me. I tie overhands on the Grigri line if good rests allow. 

I'm definitely going to play around with this. If you wanted to do a write up and post it to the TRS Facebook group loads of people there would really appreciate it. Lots and lots of people are using other more exotic devices to accomplish what you're achieving here simply with a grigri and I've never heard of someone getting the results you're getting on a grigri. Honestly I'm in love with my TRS setup and even I think your rig sounds better than mine-- I've just not been able to get even close to the self feeding capability you're seeing on your grigri, and from what I gather no one else is either. 

Ricky Harline wrote:

I'm definitely going to play around with this. If you wanted to do a write up and post it to the TRS Facebook group loads of people there would really appreciate it. Lots and lots of people are using other more exotic devices to accomplish what you're achieving here simply with a grigri and I've never heard of someone getting the results you're getting on a grigri. Honestly I'm in love with my TRS setup and even I think your rig sounds better than mine-- I've just not been able to get even close to the self feeding capability you're seeing on your grigri, and from what I gather no one else is either. 

Interesting! My buddy showed me this rig and how to get the tension just right, so I had no idea this was an elusive technique. Maybe there are caveats I'm not seeing. Nonetheless, I'll take some pics/videos next time I'm out TRS'ing and post.

Michael Wolfe wrote:

Interesting! My buddy showed me this rig and how to get the tension just right, so I had no idea this was an elusive technique. Maybe there are caveats I'm not seeing. Nonetheless, I'll take some pics/videos next time I'm out TRS'ing and post.

Your buddy is a TRS wizard.

I would be stoked to see some video of the gri gri feeding well under different speeds of upward progress and varying terrain.
What happens on less than vertical rock with the gri gri line? does it self feed immediately when you start or do you have to tend the line til you get a little bit up? What happens as you get higher and more rope weight is now effectively on the gri gri side?

My gri gri will start self feeding at a certain point when i'm TRSing during development, but it sure doesn't keep up with little faster climbing and certain terrain.

I'm extremely skeptical of a gri gri feeding smooth other than under very specific conditions but would be stoked to be see my skepticism be proven misguided.