UKC

Rope for indoor climbing

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UpTheDale 06 Nov 2009
I have been climbing for around a year now (all indoors) and was looking at getting my own rope so I can lead.
As price is an issue i was looking at the Marmut promo rope as it is the cheapest and says it is designed for indoor use.
Therefore i have two questions
1. Will 40m be alright for most north west (england) walls. i.e. manchester, liverpool, blackburn, rochdale, kendal.or will i need a 50m rope.
2. Also would anyone who has used this rope recommend it.
Will1981 06 Nov 2009
In reply to UpTheDale: i go to rock city in hull and have used a 40m but they prefer you to use a 50m. i'd say go for 50m and rather than buy indoor specific, just get a rope you can use outside aswell. save money in the long run
 Sean_J 06 Nov 2009
In reply to Will1991: Why on earth do Rock City prefer you to use a 50m rope, when their wall is less than 15m high?!
Will1981 06 Nov 2009
In reply to Sean_J: no idea, but thats what they tell me
 melonmike 06 Nov 2009
In reply to UpTheDale: The main walls at MCC require a minimum 45m rope, best get a 50 rather than 40.
 Sean_J 06 Nov 2009
In reply to Will1991: Sounds like they're trying to flog you a more expensive rope from their store to me! Yeah, if you only have one rope then a 50m is a good choice, but a dedicated indoor rope gets trashed very quickly (well mine do anyway) so why bother spending more? Chopping the end 6 foot off a used rope will get more life out of it, sure, but do this more than once or twice and the rest of the rope is probably buggered by now anyway.
 uncontrollable 06 Nov 2009
In reply to UpTheDale:

If you go regularly indoor climbing I think it's a good idea to get a dedicated indoor rope.
Indoor climbing is pretty harsh on ropes, lot's of lead falls + they get very dirty from all the chalk.
Asked the walls which lenght rope you can get by with.
I use a 30m.
The promo rope is in my opinion excellent as indoor rope, good price and quality.

 Mark Stevenson 06 Nov 2009
In reply to UpTheDale: I use a Mammut Promo 40m loads and think it's very good.

First it's an excellent length for most indoor, single pitch trad and many UK sport crags.

Second, it's handling and wear have proved very good. In fact I prefer it to some supposed mid-range ropes including a recent Mammut Galaxy and a Lanex single I've got.

Third, it's amazing value for money.

I'd generally recommend getting one of them rather than 50metres. YMMV but I just find that standard 50 metre singles have surprisingly poor functionality and their length is not well matched to usage. As I've consistently done for years, I'd thoroughly recommend buying a cheap 30/40m for general use and then if you find you do need a longer rope in the future buy a more expensive 60/70/80m rope.
 IainWhitehouse 06 Nov 2009
In reply to UpTheDale:
> 2. Also would anyone who has used this rope recommend it.

The Promo isn't actually 'a' rope. It is a reel-end that is re-packaged cheap, without any of the coatings that it might normally have. It can be anything from the super-budget affairs like delight and passion right up to the Infinity. It's pot-luck but in general they are decent.

HTH, Iain
 uncontrollable 07 Nov 2009
In reply to IainWhitehouse:
but hey, it's not all bad...
they come with middle marker and are between 10 - 10,5mm (or at least the two I use are).
and for indoor trashing you don't need any coatings.
 Dan Lane 07 Nov 2009
In reply to UpTheDale:

If it makes any difference, you need a 50M for Stockport's tallest wall.
 Mark Stevenson 07 Nov 2009
In reply to IainWhitehouse: I've heard that before, but I'm just not convinced. I have occasionally seen odd lengths of Mammut ropes (e.g. 30m x 8.5mm) which would seem to have been reel ends and 5-6 years ago their bargain ropes did seem vary loads in colour. However all the promo ropes I've seen in the last few years in at least 6-8 shops have been exactly the same rope. A brand new 30m I've sitting around is identical to the girl-friend's 40m that she's had for 3+ years as I checked carefully after I'd bought it.
 Richard Hall 07 Nov 2009
In reply to Mark Stevenson: Iain is right Mark. I have 8 in front of me now. 7 are the same, good quality infinity type rope, the last one is definately a budget rope, like a passion or something.

Most of them tend to be very good ropes for the money.
 Mark Stevenson 07 Nov 2009
In reply to Richard Hall: Very interesting.

Were they manufactured at different times? and is there a difference in the technical specs between the two?

Online, most sites quote exactly same spec as the 2009 manufactured 30metre I've got in front of me now, but a few quote higher values for impact force and static elongation (9.5kN vs 9.2kN and 8.6% vs 7.8%).

It'd be good to know for future reference if there was something quick to check on the packaging as I often recommend these ropes to some of the groups I work with.

 IainWhitehouse 07 Nov 2009
In reply to Mark Stevenson:
> (In reply to Richard Hall) Very interesting.
>
> Were they manufactured at different times? and is there a difference in the technical specs between the two?

There is bound to be but Mammut don't admit it. It took several years to get them to admit that they were reel ends.

IIRC They simply quote the worst spec possible in each case. Many of the promos will be much better than the promo specs suggest.

Iain


 Richard Hall 07 Nov 2009
In reply to Mark Stevenson: As Ian says, they always quote the worst figures any of their ropes reach.

They are all marked 6 falls, 9.2kn, 30%, 7.6%.

Most of them will obviously achieve much better results if you were to test them.
 Andy Cairns 07 Nov 2009
In reply to UpTheDale: Awesome Walls in Stockport, and Kendal, are the only ones where you need a 50M. You can get by at the others with a 40M, even MCC, although there won't be much left on the floor after lowering off the big wall there! But as others have said, it's useful getting a 50M anyway, as it is the 3-4M at each end that gets beat up very quickly and it's useful to be able to chop that off and still have a useable length.

I've used Mammut Promos quite a bit, as they are usually pretty cheap, and they are fine, although as others have said they can vary from rope to rope and my latest one doesn't seem to be lasting as well.

Worth shopping round for one-off reductions on any rope - I recently got a 50M Edelrid Python at GoOutdoors, reduced from £104 to £52!! At that sort of price it's as cheap as a Promo and a better rope.

Cheers
Andy

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