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Things You Should Know Before Buying Climbing Rope

By Matt GerholdLast update: 2023-03-05

Hundreds of climbing ropes, all the different brands for you to choose from, but how to find the right one is also based on many factors such as thickness and length, or type of rope, how to choose climbing ropes for beginners?

Based on the factors we give below, you can understand the basics of choosing the right climbing rope for your climbing needs by narrowing it down from the rope beam.

1. Types of climbing ropes

Talking about ropes for climbing, it is divided into two main types of ropes including dynamic and static. The dynamic rope is always designed to stretch to help the climber avoid falling.

For stationary ropes with little pull, this rope is very effective for lowering an injured climber, climbing a rope, or pulling on a load. Note, static daay is not used to climb or climb with lead.

Besides, if you want to find a dynamic rope for climbing, there are three types on the market:

Static ropes for climbing

Things You Should Know Before Buying Climbing Rope

Great for use in cases like rescue, caving, climbing fixed line with people on high and pulling loads. With the above concept, the static rope has the ability to not strain the rope if you want to knock down an injured hiker, ride a rope or pull a load with a rope. Do not use static ropes for climbing or climbing with lead.

Half Ropes for climbing

Things You Should Know Before Buying Climbing Rope

The half-rope type is ideal for climbing on high-altitude hike, rock-climbing and ice-climbing routes.

Half ropes when in use you have to use two ropes. When moving on a cliff, you need to clip one wire to the left guard and the other to the right guard. If done correctly, they will allow the ropes to run parallel and straight, thereby reducing rope resistance on wandering roads. Also, when you tie two ropes together when rappelling goes twice as far with a single string they provide redundancy if a rope gets damaged by falling or being cut by rocks.

However, half rope still requires you with a lot of skills and good mind to handle the situation. On top of that, generally the combined mass of the two wires is heavier so the solution here is that you need to transmit the weight while two people use one wire.

In addition, we can use half ropes like double ropes to use them and have a 1/2 circled symbol on each end. But still, it is still based on the purpose of use to choose.

Twin ropes for climbing

Things You Should Know Before Buying Climbing Rope

The twin ropes are suitable for trekking on multi-tier rocky routes, rock climbing and ice climbing. Similar to the structure of a half rope, double rope also consists of two ropes. But with a double rope, you always clip two ropes through each guard. This will have more zippers. On the plus side, they tend to be thinner, making the cord light and less bulky. Plus, two ropes provide redundancy if one rope is damaged by falling or cut by rocks. In addition, double ropes also need a lot of skill and effort for you to climb and cling with two ropes.

On the other hand, the combined mass of two heavy ropes, some twin ropes are also considered half ropes, as they help you use either technique. To identify a double rope by a double rope, there is a circled infinity symbol (∞) at each end.

Single rope for climbing

Things You Should Know Before Buying Climbing Rope

This type of rope is dedicated to commercial climbing, sport climbing, big wall climbing and top climbing. Single rope is designed to be single wire, and has only one wire, most climbers buy single rope. Besides, single rope also comes in a variety of diameters and lengths, making them suitable for many types of climbing and easier to handle when climbing. However, there are some single ropes rated half or double ropes that allow you to perform any of the three climbing techniques. Usually, single strands are marked with a circle at each end of the string.

2. Climbing rope diameter

If chosen by climbers, the thin ropes are preferred for their convenience and lightness. However, they can be less durable and require the skill of the acacia to fix them. On the other hand, they are thick in diameter to be wear resistant. But the selection is also based on many factors and the terrain you want to climb. For terrain with mountain peaks near home, thick wire should be used. If you are hiking to climb a lot of heights, a thinner and lighter rope is a good thing.

  • Single ropes up to 9.4mm: These ropes are usually very light, making them ideal for long mountain treks. In contrast, single-piece ropes are not much drop resistant and they are difficult to handle, less durable. It is worth noting that a thin wire can move quickly through the strapping devices, so an experienced strapping person is required.
  • Single ropes 9.5 - 9.9mm: This range is suitable for use anywhere, including everyday activities and mountain sports. They are light enough and durable enough to easily handle climbing cliffs.
  • Single ropes 10mm or more: Ideal for climbing in the gym, frequent peaks, on sports routes and massive wall climbing. Often these types of climbing can wear out the ropes quickly, so be sure to have thicker and more durable climbing ropes.
  • Half ropes and double ropes: Double muscle rope about 7-8mm in diameter; and a half rope, about 8-9mm.
  • Static climbing ropes: Typically this is 9-13mm in diameter and measured in inches.

3. Climbing rope length

In general, the diameter of mountain acacia rope is from 30m to 80m in length. But the length of 60m is the standard level.

Outdoor climbing ropes

Things You Should Know Before Buying Climbing Rope

Before choosing a length for a climbing rope, you need to consider that it is sufficiently long enough that half the length of the rope is equal to or greater than the route or elevation where you will climb.

Indoor climbing ropes

Ropes used indoors will be shorter, about 35m long, mainly for climbing in the gym. Remember to make sure that the rope will be long enough to lower the climber.

Static climbing ropes

Things You Should Know Before Buying Climbing Rope

Mainly intended for rescue, cave exploration, and stationary climbing jobs often have lifts and towing loads of various lengths and can support your every step of the exact length.

4. Climbing rope weight

Things You Should Know Before Buying Climbing Rope

Most of the weight of a climbing rope is based on its diameter and length. If the rope is thin it will be lighter, but sometimes the inner structure is heavier than a thick rope.

And the standard for the weight of the liana is grams per meter like 60 g/m. Use the number of grams per meter and length of the string to calculate the overall weight of the string. On the other hand, the weight of a static rope is based on weight per foot.

5. Features

Dry treatment for climbing ropes

When it comes to inclement weather, one string needs to be dried before continuing the different rains. In fact, when a rope absorbs water, it will be heavy and less able to withstand a fall. If they are dried immediately, the capacity of the rope is much more likely. If the wire absorbs water, they will be hard and difficult to control.

The price of the dry treated ropes will be higher as you need to consider whether or not to dry it. If it's just for the sport climbing, a normal rope will suffice. But ice climbing, mountain climbing or commercial climbing at high altitude, bad weather is easy to happen, so having dry treated ropes is always a priority. Usually dry cords have a dry core and a dry shell, or both. Ropes with enough of these two ropes provide good moisture protection

Middle mark climbing shoes

Things You Should Know Before Buying Climbing Rope

Most ropes have a middle mark, they are black in color to make it easy to identify the middle part of the rope. And this is very important when rappelling.

Bicolors of climbing ropes

Things You Should Know Before Buying Climbing Rope

On the market there are a number of ropes of two colors due to a variation of the weave tring to distinguish the two halves of the rope and a fixed middle mark.

Conclusion

What you need to look for in order to select climbing vines are shared by us above. However, regardless of what you want them to be, where you want them to function. Overall, there are many different types of strings and brands to choose from, which we'd like to remind you of is based on the feel of what you like about that string. For example you can buy a single 60m rope with a diameter of 10. 0mm and a weight of about 62g per meter. Thank you for watching our news

"I'm Matt, love travelling, sports especially climbing. The more I climb, the more resilient I am, that's not only apply for my hobbies but also true for everything in my life. I'd love to be here, a part of Gearinstant to share my experience, guides, tips and especially any gears that work for you."


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