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Old gear destruction 10-Nov-2014 At 10:56:26 AM mikllaw

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Experiment:- I had a static rope of unknown age ( I have never used or owned a new static, this might be the remains of rope given to me in 1997, retired from window cleaning) with a small rip in the sheath (diagonal, 30 mm long) that the core bulged out of. From interest I kept using it, abseilling then jumaring to prep route. I was also clipped to a double overhand knot tied about 6m below the damage as a backup. After 3 uses I was jumaring up and when I got the top jumar to the damage, the sheath ripped. I took a 1.5m slide till the sheath bunched (possibly on the knot below). Further jumaring wouldn't work as the core flattens into spaghetti (I cou;ld have prusicced on the 4mm string I keep on my harness). I abseilled down without much further sheath slippage, even when undoing the overhand knot that may have jammed the sheath. Phil Box suggested that I hand stitch some tape over the hole and keep using it...

SO what interested me about the dodgy static rope was just how fragile the sheath was. Is this environmental exposure (UV, oxidation, increasing crystalinity with age) and mechanical damage (abrasion, fatigue), and do these 2 factor potentiate each other?

Anyway, I bought a new static and it's been soft, shiny, and manageable. And doesn't squeak and spit dust when I rap.
Cross -posted from the Rope Test Lab Facebook page