UKC

Last winter I found out the hard way that 50m isn't really enough so was looking for a lightweight dry treated 60m. I've seen the Petzl Volta advertised for 'elite climbing performance' but also figured it'd be handy for a lazy punter looking to save a few grams.

I've read that it might be more difficult to catch falls with skinny singles but at 9.2mm would the Volta be drastically different from a standard single? It'd largely be for pottering around at grade II and III so unlikely to take many whippers...

In reply to stouffer:

9.2 seems more than adequate. I've used less for sport climbing.

That said I don't climb winter and therefore could be speaking utter bullshit.

In reply to stouffer:

If you're aware of you're rope you'll have no problems. If you're worried about catching serious whippers you can always use a an extra carabiner to your belay loop or just get a grippier device to compensate.

In reply to stouffer:

For that I'd get 9 mm (or 8.9) triple rated rope. http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=3765 More versatile than a single and even lighter potentially.

In reply to TobyA:

Toby, I actually think the Volta is triple rated... 9.2mm and so on.

But yeah for easier stuff (or really hard stuff) a single rope will be good.

In fact, I mostly climb with triple rated ropes these days (summer and winter).

In reply to stouffer:
Just one word of warning, a few Winters ago we trashed a Beal Joker on grade II ground, although admittedly it was probably in descent doing lowers and abseils.

Thin singles generally have much thinner sheaths so will probably be much more susceptible to sheath damage than either more traditional (8.5-9mm) half ropes or thicker singles.

In reply to The Ex-Engineer:
I thought most triple rated thin ropes have unicore construction these days? I'm surprised the Volta doesn't considering the way it's marketed.

I use an Edelweiss Performance 9.2mm which is triple/unicore and claims to be everdry, but I've used it in the pissing wet and it got completely waterlogged. I got soaked abbing on it as the rope passed through the plate and water got forced out of it onto my legs/feet similar to the way those old rolly machine things worked by forcing wet clothes through a pair of rollers.

In reply to stouffer:
Am I the only person who , briefly, thought this was an ad for a dating site ? Petal volta being an excellent name for a Czech super model, and. hence hoping for a torrent of abuse for the OP for seeking an unnatural look.

In reply to mike123:
Haha it did occur to me that if I simply named the thread 'Skinny singles' I'd have to start with an appropriate disclaimer.