Climbing rope

[scubadude1188]

I'm new to arborist work and I wanted to know what a good type of rope and length of rope would be good to buy for my first rope.

 

[mattfr12]

i work for a company and all we use thier is poison ivy or saftey blue wich are both great ropes but when i do my own work baileys has a deal going on right now on dragonfly wich is like 99.00$ for 150 foot with a free rope bag i got 2 of them and they work great only thing i dont like is its a skinny rope and harder to grip than like a 12mm rope its 11mm. but when you put a friction hitch in it it grips like no other. my poison ivy will slip a little when im at work but this one is hard to get to slip i have to loosen my blakes hitch up to get it to come down.

 

[hornett22]

i like arbormaster or high vee

i have big mitts so i don't care for the smaller diameter ropes.it's personal preference like everything else.

it's just my opinion but i don't see any point in buying it in less than 200'.sometimes you might find yourself in a bind and have to buy it locally.all i see in my area is 120' or 150'.

 

[2FatGuys]

I also have big hands. I have tried the smaller ropes, but get tired of maintaining a tighter grip on them. They would be fine for mechanical use (ascenders, etc) but I just haven't gotten used to them for friction knot and manual use.

My preferance is Arbormaster rope. It comes in 3 colors, so you can keep ropes sorted by age or use multi ropes of the same type while visually keeping them separate. It is a 13mm rope, so easy to grasp. It doesn't milk (cover doesn't move linearly along inner strands). It is spliceable. It is rated at 8100# (ultimate strength, not working load).

As far as length, only you know what is best for the work you will be doing. I keep a pair of 150 foot ropes on hand, as well as some shorter lengths. I don't want to haul 200 feet of rope when I don't need it. That translates to extra weight and also extra time when you need to work with "the other end". My shorter lengths are pieces that have been scavenged from ropes where localized damage dictated retiring a portion of a rope. They come in handy for redirects or secondary tie in points or additional flip lines. I use a few of them as shorter climbing lines when working smaller trees (again to save weight).

 

[Davey Dog]

True blue 50', 100', 150', 300'. Great ropes in all situations.

Safety blue, High Vee 100', 200', 300'. Good starter ropes.

I have been looking at some of the newer smaller ropes, but all my gear is built around the ropes I have now.... I dont mind the bigger ropes, I have big hands.

The length of rope you will need is determined by the height of the trees you climb. I am constantly wishing I had a 350'... sad huh. I dont get to climb many small trees. Our average tree is around 120' and anywhere from 30' - 70" dbh. those are just averages.

 

[hornett22]

i keep mine in a round rope bag.

I also have big hands. I have tried the smaller ropes, but get tired of maintaining a tighter grip on them. They would be fine for mechanical use (ascenders, etc) but I just haven't gotten used to them for friction knot and manual use.

My preferance is Arbormaster rope. It comes in 3 colors, so you can keep ropes sorted by age or use multi ropes of the same type while visually keeping them separate. It is a 13mm rope, so easy to grasp. It doesn't milk (cover doesn't move linearly along inner strands). It is spliceable. It is rated at 8100# (ultimate strength, not working load).

As far as length, only you know what is best for the work you will be doing. I keep a pair of 150 foot ropes on hand, as well as some shorter lengths. I don't want to haul 200 feet of rope when I don't need it. That translates to extra weight and also extra time when you need to work with "the other end". My shorter lengths are pieces that have been scavenged from ropes where localized damage dictated retiring a portion of a rope. They come in handy for redirects or secondary tie in points or additional flip lines. I use a few of them as shorter climbing lines when working smaller trees (again to save weight).

i only pull what i need.i leave the bag at the bottom of the tree most times.

 

[pbtree]

120ft. of Saftey Blue High Vee!

It's easy to tell from a bull rope. A good learners rope. I still use it!

What he said...

 

[beowulf343]

As to length, depends on what you are going to be doing. Back in my trimming days i liked 150' or better. Was always tied into the highest point. But doing removals, probably don't need more than 100'. I still like the 150' on removals, but that's because i use my climbing line as a flipline and thus can cut chunks off the end without loosing the use of my rope. By the time i've cut 60' off, time for a new rope. But 75' will usually get me out of the stems.