How long to keep climbing rope

MTS247

Just curious to find out what people are being taught/told about age of climbing lines, obviously if they are worn or damaged we discard them.
I would be interested to know if there any differences in UK, US and NZ opinions.

Looking through the VTIO guidlines to see if they have said anything

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"Just cause i don't use it, don't make it wrong!"

TrevMcRev

In tree work i think most of the times ropes are "worn" before they are just "too old" Nicked strands, puffs, glazing etc normally leads to retirement before age alone.

I guess the question is...if you found a 5-10 year old brand new rope is it safe to use????

MTS247

Petzl stuff has a 10 year max life, and i thought harness's were the same.

The tree motion instructions say that it may only last 3 months - 1 Year under normal use

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"Just cause i don't use it, don't make it wrong!"

R.Boreal

I just swapped out the "eye-to-eye" prusik on my rope bridge setup. (Actually tied in 2 DFL's, not spliced.)

I have been using this same piece of New England's HRC for my friction hitches for about 3 years, or maybe 600+ climbs. Some rec, some work. Icy conditions, wet - all weather. Doesn't look too bad for all that use, really. It's still safe to climb with. I wouldn't hesitate to use the old piece for tensioning a speed line or as a stop for my double pulleys. Only actual degradation that is visible is the slight fraying, center, foto "HRC_02". Otherwise, just feels a little flat in the darkly stained sections where the DFL's were tied to my blue Kong fixed-eye carabiner. The Kongs have a nicely rounded shape, easy on the cord.

I like HRC a lot. I usually tie it in either a VT or a Schwab over 16 strand and 12 strand 1/2" ropes, with a ISC Fixe pulley.

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Victor Lindsay

I think it was wise to swape out that cord R.B.

FlashD

I have been told that 1 year, for a rope seeing hard, daily climbing is a good rule of thumb. I'm not saying that a rope is not good for more than a year and using your own judgement is the best way to decide. What it comes down to is, as you're inspecting your rope, is there anything that makes you say, "huh, is that okay?" then you're probably getting to a point where you should replace it. In the grand scheme of things, if you just buy a new rope every year or year and a half, it's not that bad. $100-$150 is far better than the cost if you make a poor judgement call.

R.Boreal I imagine that if you cut that piece of hrc open and checked out the core, you'd probably be surprised how worn out that rope is. Tech cords have a tendency to be self abrasive, the issue being that the worn out part is on the inside and can't really be seen.

jim1nz

I get 2 years max. This is always using a ropeguide. After about a year ill use the other end of the rope. Cheers

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SPEED ALWAYS FOLLOWS TECHNIQUE

R.Boreal

Yeah, treating the material kindly helps. I don't descend at speed on my friction knots. I always swap out for a Fig.8 and use that if it's a long way down.

Re: cutting it open and having a look inside - tempting! But at the price of HRC I'll use it for non-life support for awhile before doing that.

I have another climbing line, about 120 ft. of Samson gold streak, that I have subjected to dynamic loading such as blocking down 500+ lb. pieces on a bight using a steel 8 as belay from the top. Not total shock, but tough on it just the same. It's got obvious glazing, I can feel it. So that's now a utility line, and it's old to begin with, about 6 yrs, but I've only just begun to use it for rigging. It's been kept clean, and always coiled and stored when not in use. So these can last awhile.

I have thicker 5/8" poly bullrigger that I tried using, but the length was insufficient lowering on a bight, and it gained a bit of speed rolling off the lawn - ended up patching concrete. (insert one of those wide-eyed smilies here) Next rope purchase will be poly bullrigger in a suitable length, and then the gold streak will be reduced to inspiring lean and tying up brush for a loader to lift out of my pickup.

I hope glazing alone on the kernmantle is not grounds to retire a climbing line, because I have 190 ft. of red/white/blue from American Arborist supplies that zinged thru a crotch of a neighboring tree during felling.
It doesn't feel sexy anymore, but it's 190 ft.!! That's a lot to lose, especially if it's still okay. With the kernmantle, as was mentioned earlier, most of the time your eyes (or hands) will tell you when it's serious. A good reason to flake or coil your lifelines yourself.

__________________
I'm not smug, but I do feel elevated.