Your rope is your most vital bit of kit and making the right choice of rope can be a bit tricky when you are new to out door climbing. If you make a poor choice you may find this very expensive bit of kit suffers damage more then another rope would have in the environment you are climbing in.
There are many types of rope to pick from when you go shopping. You have size and diameter to consider, weight of the rope and how much stretch in a fall. Some ropes will absorb some of the forces generated when you fall supporting your body more when the rope stops your fall. Some climbs will be too short for the rope to have as much stretch to it, meaning it has to catch you faster. One last choice to make is between regular (classic), dry and superdry ropes.
You will want to take in the conditions of the rock you are climbing on. Some places ask for a certain type of rope to be used in order to protect the rock face. On a rock like sandstone you need to think about how that sand is going to wear your rope.
No one can actually just say go out and buy x y and z for outdoor climbing and advise the right rope for you so I am not going to do that. My suggestion is to investigate the conditions you are planning to climb in and talk to local experts.
Find out how far you are going to have to walk to get to the rock face, if its not far you may be able to ignore the weight of the rope.
Does the site have any suggested requirements?
What kind of damage is the rope likely to be exposed to like sand or wet weather?
When you have all this info collected you can use it to ask a sales person at your favorite climbing stores what they have and what they suggest. I would not recommend buying from the first sales person you talk to to be honest. If you shop around you can sometimes find real bargains and can even blag those bargains by playing one store off the other. Not everyone is comfortable haggling or pushing that nice sales person to make a deal and I can sympathize (I don’t really like doing it). If you can muster up the courage to give it a go just remember the sales person is out to make the sale and would rather make it then lose the sale to a competitor.
We may well have to make some posts about how we got a great price on light weight quick draws but that isn’t for this one!
If you want to read my hubpages rope review article click here
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