UKC

So after a week if learning to lead bolted climbs and trad climbs I'm looking to get my first rack set up!

I plan to buy rope first- as then I can at least get some outdoor top roping done to start with til I buy quickdraws etc.

I'm looking at a Tendon Smart 10mm 50m rope. My reasoning behind this choice is that it is Dry Treated, im used to 10mm and I have been told 50m is a good all round length to buy for Scottish single and multi pitches.

I wanted experienced peoples thoughts before I buy.

Can anybody offer me some advice if this isn't suitable?

In reply to WeeTJ:

I bought the same rope last yr handles great no complaints at all, wish my edelweiss half ropes handled as well

In reply to WeeTJ:

I got a 60m Superdry treat mammut Infinity (i think). 9.8mm. It is a single rated but if needed can be used as double without too much difficulty. I like it.
But kind of wished I had saved a tad longer and gone for twin ropes.

In reply to WeeTJ:

I've got the 60m version (for some reason I have now forgotten, 60m seemed like a good idea at the time) and have found it to be fine as a beginner. It handles well, if anything better than my entry level Mammut 30m rope which I use indoors and for mountain routes with short pitches.

I think 50m is probably the best all round length, feel like I should have gone for 50 myself (but not so convinced as to cut my 60m!)

In reply to WeeTJ:

sounds fine to me.

dry teated is good as it does often add a bit to longevity and handling but i usually dont bother for single ropes. I do get dry treated for half/doubles to use in winter.

50m is fine for UK, if you intend to get into sports trips abroad then 60 or even 70m is worth considering, but at this stage 50m is good choice, cheaper and lighter.

9.8/10 mm is fine, anything less (9.4, 9.1 etc) will generally be sacrificing toughness for lightness, will you be carrying it miles up big hills ?

In reply to WeeTJ:

I use the Tendon Smart 50m for working with groups. Copes with the abuse and still handles well. A good value rope.

In reply to WeeTJ: It's a tricky one.

In an ideal world a lot of UK climbers would ideally have three (or more) different ropes:
A short 30-40m cragging/indoor rope.
50-60m, double ropes for multi-pitch (probably dry treated, possibly shared one each with a partner)).
A good quality, thin, 60m (or even 70m) sport climbing rope.

What this means is that is you are going to be stuck with one rope for the foreseeable future then a 10mm x 50m single is going to be the best compromise. Unfortunately, as a compromise it will almost never be ideal. The bulk of the time it will be too long, but conversely it will probably be too short and a bit thick to double up and for some sport climbing destinations. You will also invariably want double ropes at some point for more adventurous multi-pitch.

My default rope is my short single. It is far cheaper (and lighter) than my other ropes so if possible I will always use it where I can. I find I can use it for a surprising amount of my climbing - indoors, most gritstone and single pitch cragging, over half of my UK sport climbs, scrambling and easier multi-pitch, winter ridges and even dry-tooling.

Therefore, if your local venues tend towards shorter pitches it is certainly not unreasonable to think about buying a cheaper, shorter single initially but with a view to then purchasing a half rope(s) or a much thinner 60m single sooner than you might otherwise.

Anyway, good luck and climb safe.

In reply to WeeTJ:

You won't go wrong with a 50m, 10mm rope.

If you take climbing further you'll end up buying half ropes as well but as a do it all rope what you suggested will be spot on.

In reply to WeeTJ:

Just to second The Ex-Engineer's advice, the first rope I bought was a 35m single and it's still the rope I use on the vast majority of things I climb, despite having a set of 60m half ropes too.

My next purchase will be a 60m triple-rated rope to replace one of the half ropes, and that covers just about everything you could ever want to do I reckon, minus some of the more niche things.

In reply to WeeTJ:

For a 1st rope look at the ederlid python 50m 10mm rope, it feels good and can be used for most of what you want when you climb.

In reply to The Ex-Engineer:

Perhaps a solution would be buying one of the newer triple rated ropes to start off on? The logic being that you can use it as a single for easy trad (or double it up for shorter hard routes) and then when you get into harder multi pitch, you can buy one half rope to go with the triple rated rope. Obviously I wouldn't use the triple rated rope at the wall as you'll end up shagging it, but for the wall you'll probably just want a 30m 10mm ish single (adjust length for however high the routes are at your wall - bear in mind the rope needs to be twice as long as the route!). If you intend to do loads of sport climbing rather than trad then going for the above suggestions of a thicker 50m single might be best.

You can use the triple rated for alpine stuff as well if you ever get into that (although you'd want a dry treated one in that case)

In reply to WeeTJ:
I think it sounds perfect. Seeing as youre starting to lead it should be perfect for improving on single pitch. Starting out, a hardworking 10.5 single will probably take a lot of punishment. I had a 10.5 as my 1st rope, and climbed outdoors indoors leading and toproping and by the time it saw the end of its life i was better able to judge what rope i needed to buy to suit the climbing i was doing.
Buy a rope and get outside.

In reply to WeeTJ:

Another vote for the 50m x 10mm. As a beginner you need a rope that is hard-wearing and you do not need a lightweight. If you see that you are tending to go for trad climbing in the UK, you really need double ropes (8 mm is reasonable compromise), and these become virtually essential IMO on multipitch mountain routes. If you are going to be focussing on sport climbing on the continent or in North America, then you should go for (at least) a 60 m. A 30 - 40 m cragging rope is OK for the UK, but won't be much use elsewhere. Personally I would go for one of the big-brand makes, such as Mammut, Edelweiss or Edelrid or Beal. All modern climbing ropes represent fantastic value for money. While you are about it, get a rope bag that opens up like a tarpaulin: this keeps your rope clean, eliminates the need for coiling (at least when cragging) and leaves the rope undertangled and ready to go for the next climb.

In reply to WeeTJ:

I'd be tempted to jump up to a light decent 9.8/10.2 60. That way you are covered for more of the single pitch stuff, especially if you decide on a road trip to spain or germany. It also makes raps easier. The only problem is it's a ballache at the climbing wall.