Rope wear question

Hi, I bought this piece of blaze a little while ago and I really like it, but it feels like it’s wearing fast. But I also haven’t owned too many ropes, so I’m not sure how much wear is acceptable and safe. Can anyone explain how much is too much?

The picture is of each end of the rope. I stopped using the darker end because it looked too worn, but I don’t know for sure. Thanks in advance for any info!!!

P A R A C H U T E

The upper sample is too boogered to climb on. That needs to be cut off.

It's hard to tell about the lower sample. Having that much damage in such a concentrated area is a concern.

Do you know how the damage happened? the upper one looks like a handsaw nick.

Do you climb with a false crotch? If you do your ropes will last a LOT longer.

Tom, the bottom one i think got snagged on something ruff because it just appeared the other day at work. I do use a false crotch when possible. But, i have to admit that I did nick that top one with my hand saw. It looked small at first but has gotten worse. Luckily its about 4 feet from the tail. Will it spread if I dont cut it?

Electro, I'm not sure I understand. Could you explain?

I guess I should have taken your photo more seriously.
Sorry about that.

I’ve seen over-worked lines get quite fuzzy, but watch out for those pulls. I myself use a butane lighter to singe-off the little flecks. . .
but the big pulls and snags would worry me.

I was wondering,
How is it that one end of your line is so worn & dirty and the other end appears rather clean & new? ? ?

Yep, time to get the scissors out.

Comments and such. . .
Putting up a photo of a piece of climbing line that is in such worn & tattered shape, is sure to perk-up the message base. (nice post)

It seems we have generated more questions for you than answers.

I’m no expert:
I recently sent a 150’ hank of Samson Yellow Jacket (poor-man’s ArborMaster) to NickfromWI for a similar evaluation. The line has about 3 years REC use on it. I don’t have the knowledge or experience to be able to judge a climbing line that has reached the autumn of it life. So “Doctor Nick” will examine the rope and shortly thereafter I will pester him with a barrage of phone calls and emails in an attempt to extract some of his knowledge for my own rope safety.

Shipping your line out for a health check-up is probably a bit over the top but the end result is an increase in confidence & rope knowledge.

So Sitka, tell us about the history of that line!

Well Electro,
About 1/2 year ago, Fresco was having a blaze sale, so I bought 100ft for 60$ to try it out and see if I wanted to buy more. I planned on using it just for rec but it was so nice that I started using it at work too. That was a mistake because it seems to have put a lot of wear on it. After pruning a string of pines, that darker end started looking too ruff to climb so I switched to the other end. Now its starting to go as well. Now I'm not sure if I should buy more or get something more durable. Let me reiterate that the picture is take around the last 5 feet of the rope ends.

Rope usage.
The big difference is. . .
You work on-rope and I merely recreate on-rope.
Additionally, as you know, Pine is tough on gear.

In my opinion, if you’re cuttin’ (hand saw or gas) you really should be on some good beefy ½ inch arborist line. For a good heavy duty work line, Samson ArborMaster at 8100# tensile is bullet proof. Unfortunately, it is also heavy and a bit pricey.

11mm line like Fly, Blaze, SportLine, etc… is wonderful for us REC guys but an honest day’s work for a production arborist would probably kill it. Gas, oil, pesticides, saw bites, sweat, it all adds up.

Unfortunately ANSI 133.1 does not set a minimum rope diameter for climbing line. They leave it up to the manufacturer of all things <go figure>

I am not an arborist but I know the job scope well due to the nature of my own employment and some of the friends I keep. I can understand that your work environment can be much harder on line as compared to us REC climber guys.

Eventually, when you get stocked-up on gear, you might want to keep your recreational stuff separate from your work stuff. Then again, most of the arborists I’ve climbed with always seem to “be at work” even when we’re on a REC climb.

Sitka,

I'll second EJ: this is a really good topic for a post - I'd like to see a lot of discussion on this one.

I have two main climbing ropes. A NE Safety Blue that I've climbed on for about a year and a half (rec climbing 1-2/week), and a "Chameleon" from New Tribe that has seen weekly use for a couple of months (the Chameleon is supposed to be basically the same rope as Blaze, but green and blue color). The NE Safety Blue is a bit fuzzy around the ends, but seems to be holding up very nicely. The Chameleon is a lovely light rope that I always grab for hikes in the woods now, but it seems to be getting fuzzy a lot faster than the NESB did. Nothing remotely like the damage you show in your pictures, but I suspect I may retire this rope sooner than the NESB. I use Su sleeves very consistently, but the rope does get rubbed against the trunk some during climbs.

Food for thought. A lot of us new climbers haven't seen a lot of wear on our brand new toys yet, but it'll get to be more of an issue as time goes on.

I have used Blaze almost exclusively since it came out. ( JUST got my second hank!)

I like it at work, and I like it while playing. I use the same for both.

The trade off in the lighter, thinner ropes is that there is less material...so it will have to be replaced sooner than if you were using a thicker (1/2") rope. For me, the replacing is no big deal compared to the advantages (less space used up in my bag, lighter weight, and easier to haul around the tree.

Another way to look at it: 11mm lines are MORE important to people using lines for WORK. They are the ones who are using it day in and day out, and it's the workers who will tire faster from lugging around a heavier rope. And for a lot of working climbers, they might be doing this work until retirement and anything that lessens strain on the body should be embraced.

love
nick

What do yall do about frayed rope ends? Some say tape,wax or melt with lighter. I believe i have read not to burn ends.

i always put tape around the rope where you want it cut then cut thru middle of tape so ends can not fray then melt ends over gas stove.
works for me.