Oxlow Cavern

[paul]

Three went down Oxlow Cavern (we were the only ones so there was nobody to upset about crticising their rigging...) on Saturday.

On the 4th pitch Phil, who unfortunately is deaf and wears hearing aids, displayed his "novel" method of passing deviations by unclipping the krab and chucking the sling away with contempt!

Got most of way down West Swirl passage and found rope had run out! Doh! I strongly believe our club ropes have shrunk up to 20% (confirmed by the tackle officer afterwards). Decided not to trust the in-situ rope as it is of uncertain age and state. Then had concerns on whether rope I had for next pitch would be long enough as it was marked the same length as the requirement for the pitch. Decided to give up and exit. Doh and double Doh!

I can see a day spent re-measuring and re-marking club ropes coming - at least for on lot we bought 200+m of which was supposedly "pre-shrunk" and was unaffacted by shrinkage...

 

[SamT]

Thats a shame - I would have been tempted to use the insitu rope. There is a coiled up tail at the end, - this just reaches the pitch head - its not like your putting much weight on the rope on that slope.

As a point of interest - did you follow my advise and run a long rope all the way down the preceeding pitches and down. if so, was it an 80 or a 100. (or a 100 that had shrunk to an 80).

 

[paul]

Thats a shame - I would have been tempted to use the insitu rope. There is a coiled up tail at the end, - this just reaches the pitch head - its not like your putting much weight on the rope on that slope.

Normally true, but with the amount of stones being kicked down by a member of the group coming down from above, I was concerned that the rope may come in for more of a "pull" than normal should they slip!

As a point of interest - did you follow my advise and run a long rope all the way down the preceeding pitches and down. if so, was it an 80 or a 100. (or a 100 that had shrunk to an 80).

I wanted to split the ropes between us so used shorter lengths as per the Rigging Guide. It was a rope marked 55m but turned out to be more like 35 to 40m!

The cave will be there next time - as it has been in the past. Next time I'll make sure the ropes are long enough. Even if I had followed your advice and taken a rope marked 100m, it probably would have been only 75 or 80m...

 

[diggerdog adam]

Paul, intreasting, 2 years ago i bought 40mts of lanex 10mm after 3 uses it shrank down to about 34mts this too was ment to be pre shrunk was yours lanex by any chance?

By the way love the rope allthough it has gone very stiff with hardly any signs of ware (used most week ends over Oct - Aprill )

Sorry to change the thred

Cheers Ad

 

[paul]

Paul, intreasting, 2 years ago i bought 40mts of lanex 10mm after 3 uses it shrank down to about 34mts this too was ment to be pre shrunk was yours lanex by any chance?

Yes - some was Lanex. My club bought loads of Lanex for a Berger trip a couple of years ago and cut lots of pre-measured lengths (luckily slightly over the required length). The tackle master has reported some lengths have indeed shrunk 10% or so.

 

[Deep-Penetration]

Hullo,
As the tackle officer Paul spoke about, i can confirm that it was Lanex rope used for this trip..
While lanex is a beautiful rope when its new, after a few uses it becomes very stiff and shrinks by a mile..
One of our ropes was intended to be a hundred meter length so was soaked in water over night then cut at exactly 120m.. the rope has been in service for about two years and presently measures (when last checked a few weeks ago) exactly 94m :shock:
I don't think i'll be buying any more..
Tim