UKC

I'm looking to buy my first rope for sport climbing and could do with some help on what features to look for. I want a 70m in the price range of £130 max. I've found a 9.6mm that could be promising, but not sure if I should go for something thicker. What actually makes a good rope?

In reply to ConstaBern:
When looking to buy a rope something to look for is the treatments on the rope...

If going outdoors an outer sheath treatment is highly recommended to keep the dirt/grit from getting into the core of the rope. I know that mammut use something called 'super dry' coating which is for that purpose. Other manufacturers have their own style...

There is also a coating on mammut ropes called 'coating finish' which uses Teflon to lessen friction between the sheath and core when taking falls.

Just a couple of things to look into to

I think 9.6 is a good diameter for your first sport rope as it is not too heavy but is plenty durable.

Joe

In reply to Joey C:


Super Dry and similar treatments are meant to stop the shealt of the rope from absorbing water. This is important when winter climbing (wet rope that freezes is a biatch to handle, but more importantly it might actually break easier.


That said, yeah dry treated ropes tend to be slicker when new and thus less prone in getting grit and grime in 'em.



For normal sport climbing though... get something cheap in the correct lenght. The ticker the rope, the more it will take a beating. So ~10mm is pretty spot on as a general workhorse sport rope.

~9mm (so around 8.7 to 9.3 or so) ropes are more for harder redpoints for perhaps some alpine adventures. Not really that stellar for generic single pitch clip-ups.

In reply to ConstaBern: I disagree about buying a rope that is treated unless you anticipate ice climbing with it. You will pay extra for the treatment which wears off anyway. Using a rope bag will help preserve your rope enormously. Thinner ropes do not last as long as thicker ropes which unfortunately tend to not handle as well. Mammut and Edelrid produce good ropes. My mates Beal half rope wore out quicker than my Mammut even though they were always paired. The Beal did feel nicer to handle however.