Hello, everyone! I just finished the BTCC with Peter this weekend. I brought the Samson Velocity 150' climbing line with me. It was brand new, still in the bag and a GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT! The Blake's Hitch grabbed so tightly that I had to use both hands and my full weight on the rope to descend. You could see that the outer rope was separating from the core and bunching up below the hitch.

When I got home, I set up a DRT system from an eyebolt in my ceiling to practice my knots. I hooked in and found that the hitch got so tight that it wouldn't budge no matter how hard I pulled. My full weight (165 lbs) with two hands could not move the hitch. I stood up and rolled it free. Had I been climbing, I would have been stuck!

Has anyone else had experience with the Velocity climbing line?

There's an article on Treebuzz.com some time ago about it's disappointing qualities and some suggestions to overcome some of them. You might do a search there.
I would double check with the supplier to see if it could be returned. Don't assume it can't.
I vaguely recall that you could work a hitch or piece of sandpaper over the whole line, a small section at a time, to remove the coating, then wash it with a mild detergent in a front load washer. This will remove the mfr. coating they use to make it so sticky.

Originally posted by Branch Mgr
When I got home, I set up a DRT system from an eyebolt in my ceiling to practice my knots. I hooked in and found that the hitch got so tight that it wouldn't budge no matter how hard I pulled. My full weight (165 lbs) with two hands could not move the hitch. I stood up and rolled it free. Had I been climbing, I would have been stuck!

Had you been climbing, you could have released the hitch in a similar manner. You could have footlocked the rope, or stood in a footloop, to remove your weight from the hitch. Then you could release the hitch.

Originally posted by J~Bird
Watch out for too small of a bend radius in eyeblots. Ropes don't like sharp angles or a tight bend radius at the TIP.

Was thinking the same thing when I read it. Maybe put a screwlink and a load rated pulley on the eyebolt.

I have a length of Velocity that I use for my adjustable lanyard. Works great for that, it's light-weight and strong. The stickiness seems to have worn off with regular use.
-moss

Was the Blakes binding up from the sticky goo, or was it from the rope milking. I know that's a crummy rope, but there are some people that like it (not me). Maybe you just need to milk the rope out a bit, then try climbing on it.

Just return it and get Blaze!

love
nick

I saw this discussed somewhere else also but can't find it

what kind of tape is used at the ends after the milking is done off the rope?

learnin'

slingshot

Electric tape works great.
-moss

Moss, i appreciate the help, i thought there was a special taped used but i got plenty of that..


slingshot

JUst electrical tape and a lighter to clean the end up a bit and seal the tape so it doesn't come off very easy. You could probally tip the ends in liquid rubber like you would your throw bags to make them last longer. Not sure but would be good to try out though.

does anyone know about the amount of milking needing done on SPORLINE from New Tribe??

is it bad for that or prettty good?

slinsghot

I never handled Sportline but I think it's safe to say there would be zero milking involved with a 12-strand arborist rope. I own a couple of 16-strand ropes and they don't milk or if they have I never noticed it.

The type of ropes that have potential to milk are the newer style arborist ropes with kernmantle construction like Fly, Poison Ivy, Blaze or Velocity. These are 24-strand ropes with a distinct sheath and core. Sometimes there is uneven stretch between the sheath and core resulting in milking. Milking is expected and not a bad thing, just part of breaking in the rope.

I'm not the most expert on ropes so I'll welcome any corrections to what I've written above.
-moss

glad to here it because that is probably what I'm going to get jusst because of $$ right now (if the wife don't mind) and I've read a couple other posts that said it was good for diff. styles and good for beginners.

thanks for all the help
stuck at work...and cold:(
slingshot

Yale Sportline was one of the first (static) lines I ever climbed on. It never milked an inch! I don’t think it is mechanically possible for a rope using that type of construction to “milk”.

Be aware that it is 7/16 line and will feel like climbing a thread if your used to the big stuff such as Arbormaster.

I use 7/16 Sportline for rigging treeboats and other such contraptions while in the canopy. I have had to un-tie some brutally loaded knots, never a problem.

If your looking to buy a 12 strand line, Sportline is well worth the price. I’ve gotten a ton of good use out of mine!

As for taping the ends of your lines. . .
As stated above, it does work well. The tape also comes in various colors.
(3M/Scotch 35 series tape products).

I use (for instance) blue on one end of the rope and white on the other so I am aware if I am unknowingly always working the same end of the line.
Also. . .
Using different colors on rope helps to identify line lengths of the same type rope when cut pieces of line are stored together in the same bag.

Moss, you were spot-on with what you said about the milking. Sportline can't milk because there is no core. FWIW, the popular 16-strand arborist climbing rope used to milk a LOT more, but the manufacturers eventually got the rope machines tuned to minimize milking.

As far as taping is concerned, yes anything will do. If you DO melt it, let me offer a tip. Melting fuses the cover and core together, so DON'T melt the ends of a new rope. You're going to need to milk the rope first. This is best accomplished by just climbing on the rope a few times, and as the rope bunches up below your hitch, reach down and push the bunching along toward the end of the rope. On your final descent, when you get to the ground, if you have a lot of rope left, keep weight in your harness and start walking away from your TIP to milk the rest of the rope.

You'll have to do this a few times before the rope will be truly balanced. Even then, it might still milk a tiny bit more with use. When melting, I go to the (uspliced) end of the rope, and pull the core out of the end of the rope, then snip off 2"- 4" of the core. Suck the core back in, then just whip, lock stitch, tape, dip, or melt just the cover.

This gives your rope the ability to continue milking if need be.

And as a side note, if we were to make a list of rope characteristics to consider when buying a new line, (diameter, construction, spliceablity, manufacturer, color, price, hand, strength, etc) I'd put milk-factor WAYYYYY down at the bottom. Milking is only an inconvenience those first few climbs. If it continues to be a problem, it's because you're not getting it taken care of right away.

love
nick, the rope dork.