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Topic Date User

double ropes 7-Oct-2002 At 12:57:45 PM oweng

Message

Ive pretty much done all my climbing on double ropes, and would definitly recommend them to anyone who plans to do alot of trad/multipitch climbing. I agree with what the others have said on the subject but would add:

Advantages;
- when pullingup slack to make a clip above waist height, the extra slack in the system will not increase the fall distance, as the other rope will still catch you.
- similarly if you have placed a piece above head height that your not 100% confident in, you can do the move knowing that the slack intoroduced into the system if the piece fails will not lengthen your fall as the other rope will catch you, with the fall being no worse than it would have been had you not placed the suspect piece.
-The extra stretch in the double ropes reduces the impact force a fall places on your protection, making suspect placements less likely to fail.
- If your getting into climbing, and have a regular climbing partner, you can but one double each to reduce the start-up cost.

Disadvantages

- If your not careful with the order of clipping each rope it is possible to get some twisting together of the ropes, which needless to say can cause extra rope drag which can be a bit disconcerting when climbing.
- If climbing a multipitch route in a group of three (which is when double ropes really come into their own), and you want to swing leads, it is necessary to untie one rope from the leader and have the new leader tie in.

Hope this is of some use.