2DTop
ArboristSite Lurker
Please recommend ropes for wilderness climbing where light weight is important. Can you really safely climb on 9mm ropes? Thanks
Rope for wilderness climbing
- Thread starter 2DTop
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Sure. I saw some 9.4mm Petzl dynamic rope in the local climbers supply store the other day that met all the UIAA standards. Usually comes in 60m hanks for about $200 a pop.
Are you going to use it to get up into your hemlocks?
2DTop
ArboristSite Lurker
Thanks. I'm looking at some PMI rope, their Sport Static. It comes in 9, 10, and 11mm.
(REI has the 11mm on sale right now for $84 for 150') I'm wondering about the 9 or 10 mm. Equipment gets really heavy going up the hills.
Yeah it's for hemlocks. We went on a little expedition at the end of April. I didn't get time to climb though. You can read about it at tnhemlockrescue.org Not much of a website but I'm working on it. I'll be going again soon. The trees are in really bad shape. Tell me what you think
(REI has the 11mm on sale right now for $84 for 150') I'm wondering about the 9 or 10 mm. Equipment gets really heavy going up the hills.
Yeah it's for hemlocks. We went on a little expedition at the end of April. I didn't get time to climb though. You can read about it at tnhemlockrescue.org Not much of a website but I'm working on it. I'll be going again soon. The trees are in really bad shape. Tell me what you think
2DTop
ArboristSite Lurker
onrope1.com sells the PMI for something like 50-60 cents/ft
I just checked your link to the hemlock rescue project. You guys grow some big hemlocks down there! The tallest one I could find here in my town in south central Maine I measured at about 113 feet. The one with the largest girth was 44in DBH. I've been to the top of both of them, and both are healthy. Apparently the Wooly Adelgid is only found in one county on the southern Maine coast.
I think your main problem in getting up into hemlocks growing in the forest is finding a suitable limb to get your line over. You don't have to isolate the limb, but it is nice to have one leg of your line dropping more or less straight down (the leg you would climb). You also want your limb to be high enough that you can free climb beyond it. This means it needs to be up in the zone of living limbs. There are plenty of hemlocks around here that I would not attempt to climb because I don't think I could safely set my initial line. It could easily take you an hour or two to set your line in a suitable tree.
The PMI rope would probably be excellent. I think they specialize in caver's ropes and equipment, and caver's are the SRT specialists.
I think your main problem in getting up into hemlocks growing in the forest is finding a suitable limb to get your line over. You don't have to isolate the limb, but it is nice to have one leg of your line dropping more or less straight down (the leg you would climb). You also want your limb to be high enough that you can free climb beyond it. This means it needs to be up in the zone of living limbs. There are plenty of hemlocks around here that I would not attempt to climb because I don't think I could safely set my initial line. It could easily take you an hour or two to set your line in a suitable tree.
The PMI rope would probably be excellent. I think they specialize in caver's ropes and equipment, and caver's are the SRT specialists.
BobEMoto
ArboristSite Lurker
PMI specs
Took awhile, but I found the following strengths
PMI CLASSIC - SPORT
size(mm) breaking strength(lbs)
9 4350
10 5700
11 6550
12.5 9400
Depending on the safety factor, the 9mm is good for a few hundred pounds.
Took awhile, but I found the following strengths
PMI CLASSIC - SPORT
size(mm) breaking strength(lbs)
9 4350
10 5700
11 6550
12.5 9400
Depending on the safety factor, the 9mm is good for a few hundred pounds.
moss
ArboristSite Guru
Take a look at Snake Bite sold by Sherrill. This is the 5981 lbs. tensile Sterling HTP 10mm static:
Snake Bite
-moss
Snake Bite
-moss
