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Topic Date User

Old but unused rope - still okay or not? 29-Jun-2014 At 5:12:11 PM DMWdesign

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On 27/11/2003 shmalec wrote:
>chop a coupla metres off the end of it. Tie one end to UIAA certified big
>mother weight. Tie other end to (insert your choice of tall strong ancor)
>and drop repeatedly until failure or satisfaction is achieved.

I have a similar dilemma about old ropes. I am a canyoner but probably only do about 5 canyons per year. I have just retired my previous set of Edelrid 9mm superstatics after 15 years use. It was a hard decision as they seemed perfectly OK, but I did not want to tempt fate and maybe something was deteriorating within the rope that was not obvious looking at the rope exterior.

But, i'll tell you a story about rope strength. A couple of years ago when living on a country property, I was digging small boulders out of our driveway. For the final pull-out I used a 30 year old 9mm dynamic climbing rope (bought in a bushwalking shop in Melbourne) that I used a few times for abseiling. I tied the rope around the rock and attached it to the back of my Nissan Navara 4WD. There was no way i could budge that rock. The car kept stalling and i gave up because i didn't want to burn the clutch out. The rope did not break.