UKC

Why are the patterns on the sheaths of ropes symmetrical? Are there any available with arrows on them, or some other pattern without vertical symmetry?

I can think of a couple of situations where having a symmetrical pattern on a lead line is a disadvantage, but the main one involves belaying a second. When using a Reverso in guide mode, it's important that the upper rope should be the end coming up from the climber, with the part coming out of the bottom of the device going to the stack. I've heard that it is worryingly common for the belayer to get these the wrong way round when rigging the belay. If the sheath had arrows on it, going up from the second to the device, wouldn't it be harder to make this mistake?

I realise this situation can be avoided with sufficient attention, as a lot of accidents could, but there are other situations where vertical symmetry on the rope sheath misses an opportunity to spot potential cock-ups. Is there any manufacturing or functional advantage to symmetrical ropes?

In reply to 19G:

"whut you talking about , Willis?"

do you want arrows to show which way is up? What about when people lead through? Or the fact you want to be falling on both end of the rope when single pitch working / sport climbing to get any appreciable length of service out of it.

In reply to ultrabumbly:

It wouldn't really matter what the pattern is or which way round the rope is - it's more just a case of wanting a rope where you can tell one direction from the other (or one end from the other, for that matter).

In reply to 19G:


Bi-patterned ropes, allowing you to tell one end from the other and where the halfway point is, are not unusual.

E.g. http://www.backcountry.com/maxim-pinnacle-bi-pattern-2x-dry-climbing-rope-9...

In reply to 19G:

I use a pyropen to make chevron marks on my ropes so I can tell which way round it is, it works really well... except for the time I dropped my second after leading a pitch which was less than half the length of the rope and threaded it the wrong way round.

In reply to 19G:


The simple solution, that surely everyone does anyway, is to check you've threaded the guide plate properly by giving the ropes a couple of pulls to ensure it's locking properly.

In reply to 19G:

Also, the sorts of situations where you might be using a belay device in guide mode are often on multi-pitch routes, where you'd be swinging leads. So, while you might have a margin of safety by making sure you've threaded the belay device correctly (and this really isn't that hard to do if you just a) do it properly and b) check it's done properly by tugging each end) you lose time by having to swap ends of the rope and re-flake it on every stance....... Still, as all the Euro's overtake you, laughing as they go, at least you'd be super safe

In reply to 19G:

Always thought it would be useful to have printed marks at 5, 10, 15m etc. A good aid to help judge pitch length and also how far a climber may be from a belay when he's out of sight of the belayer. But only where the ink doesn't end up all over your hands, which seems to be fairly common

In reply to 19G:
Perhaps a helmet with an arrow and the words "This way up" would also be of use to you?

In reply to becauseitsthere:


Agreed.

I'm sure I remember seeing a rope that had tufts of thread sticking out of the sheath for this purpose. I thought it'd be asking for icing problems on winter routes, but maybe it'd just break off when feeding through the belay. It doesn't appear to have become a standard feature, so maybe it wasn't a good idea after all

In reply to nufkin:


I do this with my ropes, as long as you sew it in correctly , it stays put. Only problem is if I forget to point it out to a new partner they can get a bit anxious when they spot it in the middle of climbing.

I thought of quarter marks as well as half way, but felt if I got confused in an epic, mistaking which mark was which would be bad