UKC

Quick question for people more knowledgeable in gear then I am!

For years now I have been climbing trad with a pair of 8-9mm half ropes. I was always taught that when using half ropes on a route, you could clip in to a runner with only one rope if said runner is off the line of the route in order to prevent zig zagging of the ropes.

I have recently bought "The mountain skills handbook" which states that climbing on half ropes should only be done if you clip BOTH ropes into each runner.

My question is this; have I been extremely lucky for the past 7 years climbing using a dangerous technique on ropes that wouldn't hold my fall or does this advice refere to "super lightweigh" half ropes and not beefy 9mm buggers?

Any advice on this matter would be great as I'm a little confused now!

In reply to ScaredOheights: did the book say half ropes or twins? Big difference

In reply to ScaredOheights:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=376

Half/double: clip only one into each piece of gear.

Twin: clip both into each piece of gear.

In reply to JIMBO: the book said:

"Twin rope (two , thin, half weight ropes both needing to be clipped into each runner)"

In reply to ericinbristol: thanks mate, that clears things up perfectly. I've not come across twin ropes before. Aside from the weight what would be the benefit of these over half weight ropes?

In reply to ScaredOheights:

You're welcome. Re advantages, as the article says
"They also of a greater level of safety in situations where a rope may be cut in a fall. However, twin ropes aren't popular since they are awkward to use and less versatile than a 1/2 rope system. A twin rope is indicated by a circle with two overlapping smaller circles inside it."

There is an element of fashion/tradition in all this too.

In reply to ScaredOheights:

I've not seen twin ropes used in the UK in over 20 years of climbing, though I have occasionally seen double ropes used mistakenly as twins.

In reply to ericinbristol:

Seeing as I've never been fashionable I think I'll stick with my double ropes

In reply to ScaredOheights: that's great, thanks for all the advice guys, it's certainly put my mind at ease that I've not been risking my life and the lives of my mates when we've been climbing.

In reply to ScaredOheights:


Or have you? You don't make clear with your OP whether you have been clipping each piece with one rope only, or just the occasional piece with all other runners clipped with both? That would be bad news...

In reply to Jamie Bankhead: one rope, one runner and a monster anchor as my climbing buddy is a 16stone Northern monkey!

In reply to ScaredOheights:

Some ropes, like my Genesis 8.5mm, are rated as BOTH half ropes and twin rope if you read the small print. Of course, if clipping both ropes into the same piece of pro, the impact force will go up.

Some people say you should not mix and match. Like start off using twin rope technique and switching to double rope technique because one rope may abrade the other in a fall. But, I'm fairly certain that I saw this was asked of one rope manufacturer and they responded that there was no evidence that this actually happened. I dunno. I'll try to find that.

In reply to wivanov:

OK. Although I personally use DRT and do not switch to TRT mid pitch here is where I saw it: http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/school-me-on-twin-vs-double-ropes-t60874-1...

"you had a question on your Mammut rope Phoenix 8mm and whether it can be used in twin and half rope technique in one single pitch. This is the case, you can always clip the two rope strands as twins, then split them as doubles, join again etc. This is exactly the advantage of half ropes compared to twin ropes where you always need to clip both ropes.

Hope this helps you,
best regards from Switzerland,

<named removed>

Productmanager Climbing Equipment
Mammut Sports Group AG, Birren 5, CH-5703 Seon"

In reply to wivanov:

Good discussion here too:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/833631/physics-of-Half-rope-method