UKC

Is there anyone out there who has bought a pair of beal ropes to use mainly as half ropes? In the market for a new pair of ropes and was wondering if they are overkill to use as their main use in this way. I climb regularly with a 15 stone guy and think it may make it easier holding falls etc with slightly thicker than normal half ropes. I also like the idea of how versatile they could be using a little for sport or easy climbing, scrambing etc.

I can probably answer my own question, but just wondering if I should go for these over say the usual genesis/cobras?

thanks

In reply to boywonder: I considered this using one as one one of my half ropes, but didn't in the end. Seems would be really useful for straight lines or short pitches. I would only use it for sport climbing if you are doing comfortable onsighting where you are unlikely to fall or buy at 70-80m and be prepared to chop it regularly, as the ends get trashed quite easily on bolts. I guess it's designed as a hard send rope, but unless you got loads of cash you don't wanna be falling on it that often. Great rope tho. Also interested in others experiences with this. k

In reply to boywonder: Some experiences in this thread: http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=446048

In reply to TobyA: Dats interesting. Is the 'impact force' difference between ropes significant enough that you shouldn't use the majority of ropes for trad? I'm sure I've been out a few times tradding on other peoples gear and we have used thickish sports ropes as a single or doubled as halves. That thread implied somewhere that even a 9mm 'versatile rope' may not be rated for trad for this reason??

In reply to koalapie:
Apparently the difference of impact force between a single rope and a similar half rope is not that much. Most of it is down to the half rope test being a weight of 55kg and a single using 80kg (I may have the weights slightly out, but I'm going out now!)

In reply to boywonder: having re read my original post, I realise it should say Beal jokers and not just Beal ropes in general

In reply to boywonder:

When I'm abroad with airline weight limits I often use the the Joker with another normal half rope on multi-pitch routes for the abseiling.
As a bonus the extra thickness of the Joker adds a boost to confidence when climbing compared to my normal half ropes of two 8.2 icelines!!

In reply to boywonder: I climbed on a pair of Beal Jokers when we were in Riglos. We were climbing as a team of three and no-one particulary wanted to second on a single 8mm line.

Used as a pair of halves for leading they are pretty heavy,noticably much more weighty and draggy than a lighter half rope setup on the longer pitches (over 30m). While I love them as a sport single and for their versatility I wouldn't rush back to using a pair of them again, just too heavy for me (but then I'm small and fairly weedy). For dedicated half ropes,I'd go just a bit thinner - something like a cobra should really be sturdy anough for most things.

I see that the Joker is sold as a half and single rope, anything I should be aware of before I replace my 71g/m single 10.3mm with the Beal Joker at 53g/m but only 9.1mm thick? I like the sound of the g/metre.
Main use at the moment would be as a single in winter, with option of using as a half certainly a bonus. 50 or 60m? Dry or Golden Dry treatment?

In reply to boywonder: I have a Joker as one of my half ropes with a cobra as the other. Obvious advantage being that the Cobra is lighter than the Joker if I need 2 ropes, but if I a climbing with one, I can use the Joker so don't need another rope.