Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - General Discussion

General Climbing Discussion

Topic Date User

Rope Question? 11-Aug-2003 At 11:18:17 AM V

Message

On 11/08/2003 dodgy wrote:
>Dug out some more info...
>"Double" ropes are now officially "half" ropes as far as the UIAA is concerned
>(they are also marked "1/2" on the ends. The term double is no longer used
>as it may be confusing (don't think you could ever fix this one).

As far as I know, there are two types of thin climbing rope: "Half" ropes (marked 1/2 as you say) and "Twin" ropes, which are marked with two overlapping circles. I have never seen a Twin, and it seems that they're not very common (perhaps not sold here in Aus?).

>Clyde Soles tested a half rope (one strand) which was rated for seven
>55 Kg falls at 80 Kg. It held one fall and broke on the second one...

That is quite scary... personally I usually climb rock twin-rope style using two half ropes - for two reasons: first, in case one of the ropes is cut on an edge, or by rockfall (this happened to someone I know); second, so that I can grab a big armful of rope and clip a high piece of pro without facing a long fall if I should happen to slip while clipping the draw. Other advantages are that I am always prepared for a 50m rappell, and I can have two simultaneous belayers (useful if they're inexperienced), and can bring up two seconds, each on a separate rope. [Not to mention that I can climb double-rope style if I'm on a climb where the pro is spread out.] Also versatile for alpine situations.

I hadn't thought about inter-rope friction, as mentioned by A5 though... I would like to hear some more opinions on this, as it's almost a certainty that there will be different loads on each rope in the event of a fall. Also I wonder about double-rope technique and long, hard falls - how does a 9mm or smaller rope hold a big fall? I suppose if it broke, you might have slowed down enough for the other rope to hold the fall... any opinions/experience on this?