Gear

Hi!
I am trying to figure out which rope to buy. I would be my first one and is for beginner stuff.
So far I have come across Mammut Alto, Mammut tusk & Beal Edlinger, all 50m.
I somehow would prefere nr 1 or 3 because their diametre is 10 or above but maybe it doesn't matter. Anybody any suggestions?
Thanks

Do you mean beginner stuff indoors or out?

Thinner ropes generally wont last as long, they wont take as many lead falls and the thinner sheath is more prone to abrasion and unless weight is a big issue the thicker ropes give better value for money. If you are only climbing indoors then maybe abrasion is not an issue but if you are going to climb on say lovley Yorkshire :-) Grit stone its some thing to thing about.

However none of the ropes you have sugested would be bad choices but a little more information about what sort os climbing you are planning to do over the life time of the rope might help people to give you better advice.

Also get a nice pretty coloured one, very important that is ;-)

Seriously though its good to have a rope that will stand out from the rock cos I have seen some colours that would almost camoflage it.

I use a 50m Edelrid live wire 10.5mm hyperdry for general cragging.

My partner has spent ages looking and just ordered a 50m Beal 9.7mm (I think!) but it aint arrived yet.

I thought of using it out (& in) side, mainly Scotland (which will be quite a variety of rock ...). I just came across another one from Edelrid - Discovery 10.3. If all of them are reasonable, I guess, I am going to check out the colour and price offers and go for the best I can get. Thanks for the help!

Thinner diameters are lighter. And lots of scottish climbs have a long walk-in! I bought a Mammot tusk as my first rope and thought it was fine - still use it indoors but moved on to twins outdoors pretty quickly.

Jules, why do you want a rope that stands out from the rock? The rope drag usually tells me the d**n thing is still there!

I have just started leading outdoors and went straight for double ropes. (BTW, sorry to be pedantic, but there is a distinction between double and twin ropes. AFAIK, twin ropes are designed in such a way that they both have to clipped in to each bit of protection - unlike half ropes that are commonly used in pairs but clipping different gear with each rope.) I suppose if I were richer I would have possibly bought a single rope for some kinds of cragging and half ropes for other stuff - but given the cost issue I thought that it would be best to buy half ropes as they give more flexibility. In any case, it seems to me that many crags have at least some routes that wander, even if most of the routes are straight up and down and shortish. I'd just spend ages agonising about which ropes to take with me, and then probably end up lugging half ropes and a single rope into the boot of the car and carting them around, only to have yet more dilemmas as I set off to walk to the crag. The indecision could cripple me.

I went for 8.5s as I am quite keen on mountain routes and my back is b*ggered up enough as it is really. But, yes, I suppose the trade off is durability. Also, to add to what Jules said about colour, it's important that the two ropes are distinct colours (if you use two). Most shops will make sure that you get two nicely contrasting colours if you buy a pair deal, but it's worth bearing in mind.

I'd recommend having a look at Needlesports webpages, btw, as they have some good (well, I think so anyway) basic info about ropes on there.

If my climbing partner is reading this my ropes are half ropes not twins, and one day I'll get the terminolgy straight. Thanks for correcting the mistake Cath.

Terminology even.

If you have a regular climbing partner and you intend to climb with double ropes - more versatile for protecting traverses, longer abseils etc - then you should definitely think about buying a half rope each, 60 metre 8.5s if you fancy doing big mountain routes maybe. If you do, it may sound obvious, but buy different coloured ropes to avoid confusion on the crag...

The thing is, I haven't a clue about neither twin nor double robes. Secondly, I guess, it's just me, who is going to buy it. Additionally, I could (sorry for that) misuse the robe for normal hiking as well to give my dad some security + I would use it smaller rocks to practise by myself to get the techniques right. Somehow, I do find half robes more appealing due to the weight but then, being a beginner, I rather start with something straightforward, which can be used for nearly everything and once I got that right, I go off & buy those ropes, which are the best for what I like doing.

OK, single ropes are usually 10.5mm or 11mm in diameter and the standard length is 50 metres, though you can also buy them in 60 metre lengths. A single rope has been designed to be strong enough to take repeated shock loadings in a situation where it's the only rope, so you safely use it to lead, abseil, climb sports routes or climb a the wall.

Double ropes are generally 8.5mm or 9mm. They're designed to be used together so the lead climber is tied into and belayed from both ropes simultaneously. It means that it's possible to protect traverses and used properly can reduce rope drag on zig-zagging routes.

As a beginner, you're probably best off with a single rope as it's easier to handle and, hey, you just need the one. If at some point in the future, you find yourself climbing with people using a double rope system, you can always buy a half rope then.

There's some useful rope information at the BMC web site which may help clarify what all the technical standards actually mean.

sorry, I wrote that a bit doggy. I know what the different robes are but I have only used single robes so far and for the stuff I do or we sometimes do, single robes do the trick. As I said, once I feel comfortable travelling around with my single rope, I can start thinking about other type of ropes + by then I should have tried and used them with others.

Just on the subject of rope length, Jon D seems to be advocating 60m ropes. I'd certainly concur with that if you ever intend to climb in France, Italy, Switzerland etc etc. 60m seems to be the standard over there and thus many sports climbing routes and alpine absail points are set up for that rope length. I've ended up in some scarey situations with a too short 50m rope, prompting me to buy a 60m, although I've never found the need to use it in the UK.