Rope Life

[Getwet]

What is the safe life of rope?

I presume it depends on many factors eg frequency of use, type of use, maitenance and storage. Having said all this if its looked after and used a couple of times a month what would be its safe lifespan :?:

Thanks

Bob

 

[SamT]

as you say - very much depends on how its been used/stored etc. I think most real rope has a date on the reel - about 5 after manufacture I think, so our club bins its rope after that period - regardless of its state.

everybody has a different tollerance. some people are unhappy on a furry rope, others aren't bothered.

I usually look for burnt/worn sheaths. and the stiffness of the core i.e stiff rope is getting a bit knackered.

Try reading the excellent (rescue) ropework manual - life on a line, free and downloadable at

http://www.draftlight.net/lifeonaline/

 

[kay]

Sorry to revive this topic, but it has suddenly become relevant to me!

So - suppose you have a rope in apparently good condition, with a moderate amount of use (say 4-10 outings a year) which has been kept in good conditions and generally well looked after.

Is there any age after which you would automatically dispose of that rope? SamT - your club says 5 years. What do others say? Would you carry on using an 8 year old rope? Or a 10 year old? Or a 16 year old?

 

[paul]

Have a read of "The strange story of orpheus rope number 10" on OCC Newsletter Volume 38, No. 12 December 2002

 

[Stu]

Sorry to revive this topic, but it has suddenly become relevant to me!

So - suppose you have a rope in apparently good condition, with a moderate amount of use (say 4-10 outings a year) which has been kept in good conditions and generally well looked after.

Is there any age after which you would automatically dispose of that rope? SamT - your club says 5 years. What do others say? Would you carry on using an 8 year old rope? Or a 10 year old? Or a 16 year old?

http://www.ukcaving.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=935&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Scroll down about half way to my post there.

 

[kay]

Scroll down about half way to my post there.

Yes thanks, I'd already read that and added to my pile of evidence. But that brings me to another question - is there anywhere where you can get ropes tested? - I know Bob Mehew has offered at Hidden Earth, but he's a pretty busy guy,and I wondered whether any of the larger clubs had their own rigs and would test other ropes for a small fee.

 

[kay]

Have a read of "The strange story of orpheus rope number 10" on OCC Newsletter Volume 38, No. 12 December 2002

So our 16 year old ropes may well be OK? :wink:
It's basically coming back to 'test them', isn't it? But if a 16 year old rope hadn't been recently tested, would you be happy to trust your life to it?

 

[Stu]

Scroll down about half way to my post there.

Yes thanks, I'd already read that and added to my pile of evidence. But that brings me to another question - is there anywhere where you can get ropes tested? - I know Bob Mehew has offered at Hidden Earth, but he's a pretty busy guy,and I wondered whether any of the larger clubs had their own rigs and would test other ropes for a small fee.

All we have at work is a fairly hefty piece of metalwork...it's called the underneath a balcony!! RSJ girders though... but to be honest that's all you'd need. Nothing fancy. Needs to be a straight downward drop though else the "swing" factor can come into play lessening the force so not a true test.

 

[paul]

Have a read of "The strange story of orpheus rope number 10" on OCC Newsletter Volume 38, No. 12 December 2002

So our 16 year old ropes may well be OK? :wink:
It's basically coming back to 'test them', isn't it? But if a 16 year old rope hadn't been recently tested, would you be happy to trust your life to it?

No - not if it hadn't been recently tested. If it had been and passed, then yes.

Obviously the higher the load a rope can safely take the safer it is when used for hauling or if directly tied on.

Most of the time in SRT you aren't directly tied on. I know that cavers usually think of the rope as Ok as long as it can survive a number of FF2 falls. What they tend to forget is that most of the time, they are attached to that rope by means of a jammer or a descender each of which would fail at a load far, far less than even a weakened, old rope would...

So it isn't only the rope that matters. fon't gorget the conditions of harnesses, cowstails, krabs, descenders and jammers!

 

[hrock]

i thort the jamers failed by cuting the sheth and sliding down the rope if that is the cace then rope condition is important.

rope life for me is not so much to do with time (although this is easy to meshure) but with use and storage washing.

my foot loop is only 11months old but i would not trust it to srt on.

 

[diggerdog adam]

Many discussions have been about this topic and its my guess its one that will never close

my foot loop is only 11months old but i would not trust it to srt on.
...............................................................................................
But as far as foot loops cows tails etc go this is all personal kit and its my veiw that users should be of a responsable nature to retiere them when they feel it is nessaery For eg ive had 2 pairs of cows tails in one year but that dosnt mean that next year they will be replaced.


LOOK AFTER YOUR KIT AND IT WILL LOOK AFTER YOU
thats my moto

If you cant trust your kit replace it !

 

[dunc]

and its my veiw that users should be of a responsable nature to retiere them when they feel it is nessaery

When its fraying and the core is on show is always a good time for me!

rope life for me is not so much to do with time (although this is easy to meshure) but with use and storage washing.. my foot loop is only 11months old but i would not trust it to srt on

Ye, time is not as such the problem but more the usage/storage factor.. In the last 6-7 years (fairly active caving) I've only had two footloops (one still in use and going strong).. I've replaced cowstails more regularly than that though!

 

[paul]

i thort the jamers failed by cuting the sheth and sliding down the rope if that is the cace then rope condition is important.

Yes, falling on a jammer would most likely cut the rope - probably the core as well as the sheath - this would probably happen even on a brand new rope if the fall factor was high!

That's the point I was trying to make: yes, consider the probable strength of the SRT rope bearing in mind its age, condition, past history, etc., etc. but don't forget that other bits of SRT kit equipment are just as important if not more so as the safety factor will be a lot less when compared to the rope (breaking strain against likely force applied in a fall).

I know somebody who has a harness which is 16+ years old and still uses it regularly. If he were to fall when on an SRT rope, I wouldn't have thought that the fact that the rope was only 50% of its original srength would be the most important factor as his harness fails long before the rope does...

 

[Stu]

i thort the jamers failed by cuting the sheth and sliding down the rope if that is the cace then rope condition is important.

rope life for me is not so much to do with time (although this is easy to meshure) but with use and storage washing.

my foot loop is only 11months old but i would not trust it to srt on.

IIRC jammers can also buckle and bend.

 

[kay]

IIRC

Watch out! When I did that, Cap'n Chris (I think it was) did his nut, and exploded into incomprehensibility :wink:

 

[Stu]

IIRC

Watch out! When I did that, Cap'n Chris (I think it was) did his nut, and exploded into incomprehensibility :wink:

:?:

What? Buckled your jammer or wrote in net text?

 

[kay]

What? Buckled your jammer or wrote in net text?

Wrote in net text, like wot I quoted.
I deduced it was frowned upon in web forums. But maybe it was just a personal idiosyncracy.

 

[cap n chris]

AWGTHTHTTA? HTH but AYK IMCO MLAs annoy me but if PBPAC wonder ITAFWWDHAA then they should QUATMUOTF, HHIS, CSG, SMA ( :shock: ) & HAGD. BTW, FTBOMH & IMAO GIWIST GMTA & altho I C&G & FOFL DILLIGAF about this?

u/f SCNR LSHTTARDML, LHM! TAFN.

 

[cap n chris]

Sorry but ATEOTD it SLAGIATT!

 

[Dave H]

OK, very funny, is there a web-page somewhere that will help the rest of us understand this?