UKC

Short version: Would you trust an eight-year-old rope, that looks to be in decent condition, for scrambling?

Long version: I bought a 60m, 9.8mm rope in 2013, used it fairly occasionally until 2018, then chopped it in half for regular gym use and the occasional Southern Sandstone top-rope. I've since cut a furry, flattish end off of one of the halves, but otherwise both halves look (and feel) to be in decent condition. Do you think the longer half would be suitable for scrambling? I'm headed to North Wales tomorrow and given the forecast it seems I'll end up doing less proper climbing than I'd hoped. But I'd rather not buy a new rope just for scrambling, nor get my double ropes wet in the unlikely case the heavens part and the sun shines on Llanberis Pass.

My Beal Cobras 8.6mm can have a 15 year life, 5 years possibly having been in storage. It really depends on what usage they have over that period. But any doubt in your mind about it will undermine your confidence in its continued use anyway.    

Short version: Yes

Long version: Yeeeees

If it was mine - definitely yes.

Yes.

I'm still using a 10.5mm rope I've had for 20+ years for top roping and indoor leading and a 9mm rope of similar vintage as a 1/2 rope on easy stuff I'm unlikely to fall off.

I'll get new ropes if I get back into leading hard-ish (for me) stuff again.

What's the difference between an old rope and a new one? higher impact force and ultimately fewer falls with the old one.  The latter is unlikely to be an issue, so the question is, is the first? I'd suggest not, sheath wear and associated cut resistance would be my prime concern.

Took my first ever single rope (15 years old at the time) to pembroke a few years ago as an abseil rope having retired it many years before

Abbing in to huntsman's all I could see was this thing that didn't resemble a rope sliding through the belay plate , it had gone as flat as a piece of tape,urrrrgh !!!

Didn't seem to put off the other people that happily slid down it that day😂😂

Second time down it was even worse, it was never used again!!

A rope could be wrecked in under 5 years, or barely broken in at 8. It's a judgement call, if it's been treated well, you've washed any grit out of it occasionally etc.. not fallen on much and so on, then it's 'likely' to be safe for several years. You should spend half an hour literally shuffling every cm through your fingers to feel for any damage or flat spots inside it, for greater reassurance. If in doubt, then replace, life is short, but you don't need to risk making it even shorter. 

Thanks all. On inspection it looked to be in quite good shape still so I took it on a lovely and very wet scramble yesterday up Clogwyn y Person arete. Didn’t fall on it of course, but never doubted it either. 

Oh my god, the only time I did that (soloing) I got off route on it. So exposed. Was very glad to get back on the terra firma of the Snowdon Horseshoe, having been in a state of 'terror infirma'.

Climbing ropes are designed to take a number of big lead falls without physically damaging shock loads, so stretch quite a bit. As they get older through use, the performance declines..they get a bit stiffer. As ropes age they don't snap, unless weighed over an edge, or chemical or otherwise damaged; the problem is they do increase shock loads in a lead fall.  In many respects this means slightly old climbing ropes can be a bit better for scrambling.  Ropes with an intact sheath, kept away from damaging chemicals, and with no obvious local uniformity problems, as you feel the whole length, will always be OK for a scramble. Some people use walking confidence ropes: thinner and more static than a climbing rope.

Two points here:

1 Psychological.

You clearly doubt the rope, otherwise you would not have asked for confirmation. These doubts will come back to haunt you in extremis.

2 Cultural

It is the culture to use "best" gear for Rock climbing then relegate it to scrambling/winter climbing. This is poor logic. The longest run outs and biggest falls could be taken on the poorest gear. 

Yeah, I was (mostly pleasantly) surprised by the exposure in places — all the more heady in the sopping wet. Was very glad to have a rope. Good value for a grade-3 scramble!

I think all my ropes are coming up or over 8 years old now. 

They'll be good for another 8 years of I don't trash them somehow. 

A few burrs here and there. Some relentless redpointing, maybe a dip in the sea and washing machine a couple times etc etc and then they'll go to being repurposed. 

Or if I see a particularly attractive deal on a web site one boutique beer too many late on a weekend night...... 

On point 2, I’m inclined to side with Offwidth... Any scrambling fall would be low-angle and you’d probably hit a ledge before rope stretch or peak fall forces were the issue, no?

Point 1 is interesting but there’s an important difference between rational and irrational doubt. Having done some research (for example Black Diamond has tested old ropes and slings and found they hold up surprisingly well barring other issues) I now see my doubt was unfounded, and so I never worried about the rope even at the most exposed (and wettest) sections of the scramble. Seems wasteful/expensive to throw gear away based on the logic that any doubt, well-informed or not, is self-fulfilling.  

I trust my 58 year old belayer; I'd definitely trust an 8 year old rope (and for more than just scrambling).  

On a side note (only mention it because I'm currently involved in a similar FB exchange) where has this absurd view come from that gear has to be renewed every five minutes?  You'd think from manufacturers, but in all fairness I don't get that sense.  I put it down to mollycoddled youth and the banning of school leopards.