UKC

Hi, I'm wanting to get my son who's into climbing some rope as a birthday present. He does a lot of top roping mainly, I know he needs some new stuff to make anchors mostly round trees and was recommended beal 8mm accessory cord or edelrid powerloc expert 7mm cord both rated 14 kn. Do these sound up to the job, any recommendations please. A friend has 2 brand new ropes for sale, a beal zenith 30m and a beal virus 50m would either of these be worth getting him? (for a rope not anchors)
Thanks for any help.

In reply to LeonardRock:

Those are reputable makes of accessory cord if that's what he wants, and they're plenty strong enough. However they're quite thin. If he does a lot of top roping, it sounds like these might be going over a rock edge in which case it's worth considering a length of static rope - the extra diameter will give a lot more durability against abrasion.

If you want to get him a rope they're both single ropes so will do the job - I think the beal virus is a bit more of a workhorse, and at 50m might have more long-term use.

I assume you trust your friend and that they are new ropes - ropes can be silently damaged if they get chemically contaminated. Battery acid in a car boot is a classic example.

In reply to LeonardRock:

Also, if you pop into an independent climbing shop the staff will probably be able to chat to you about what your son actually does and recommend the right gear.

In reply to LeonardRock:


is he an experienced climber ? if so better off asking him what rope he needs, depends on where and what he does.

either of these ropes are ok (if they are new) Beal well kown reliable manufacturer.
30m is either an indoor rope or outcrop rope (eg southern sandstone or
other short places) not much good for longer routes and multi pitch. 50m is going to be more flexible
in where/what it can be used for. Check online for prices, new rops are pretty cheap at the moment

If i was going to get him stuff for building top rope anchors, i'd suggest 10m of static rope rope 10mm or
thereabouts and a rope protector (eg http://www.joe-brown.com/6668/products/beal-10-5mm-antipodes-static-rope-pe... Not the lightest but durable and strong. Has he already got screwgates for setting up anchors etc

The anchors are normally trees from what I've been told. The beal antipodes was also reccomened but is near double the weight, I'll get that if it's worth the extra weight for the extra abrasion resistance. Yes there defiantly brand new ropes, thanks for the heads up.
He climbs quite abit with a friend and his dad but I wouldn't say experienced. He doesn't live with me so not 100% sure what he has. I was going to get the dmm boa for his master point (if thats the correct term) would you get the 30kn version or just the normal one. Also is it correct practice to use 2 at that point even with lockers.
Thanks

In reply to LeonardRock:

where does he climb ? Is he carrying it far ? is he hoping to branch out
(ie are you getting kit specifically for this or for more general)

the 7mm cord is a bit more specialised. you could get 9.5mm or 10mm static that would be lighter. Have to hunt about though. Beware of ebay and amazon, (you can get good deals but need to know what you are doing).
look at oinline caving shops as well eg http://caving-supplies.co.uk/ they have 10mm static

boas are good, 30kn not req. 2 lockers are used by some people (esp instructors and group work), it's not a bad idea.
If he does a lot on sandy places i might be tempted by steel ones for wear resistance , they weigh a ton though.
(eg https://www.alpkit.com/products/fixe-steel-screwgate)

maybe 2 standard sized krabs that are cheap and not tiny.

In reply to LeonardRock:

If he is top roping it is unlikely that he is doing huge walk ins with massive amounts of kit so some extra weight in the rope (which can contribute to making the whole process safer) is unlikely to be a big issue.
Don't bother with the 30kN version of the Boa, I usually use one of the 25 kN ones for anchors without any problems, the largest force which a climber is likely to exert on a piece of gear is in the region of 7-9 kN depending on the climber's weight so the 25 kN Boa is more than hench enough to soak up the abuse.

In reply to LeonardRock:

I'd certainly get the 50m rather than the 30m if you aren't sure as 30 is quite short for outdoors.

Personally I normally set top ropes with either some spare rope (static is fine) or equalised slings (thick ones are better for this purpose).

So what about the 50m rope, 20m of static rope for the anchor and a few screwgates?

In reply to lithos:

He lives in Cornwall, not sure on distances to carry things but he is 14 an a decent size so he can manage the extra weight. Caving supplies is great cheers !

In reply to LeonardRock:

That sounds good. I'm going to get him the 50m virus and then 20m of 10mm static from caving supplies. Does this anchor setup sound right, a fig 8 follow thru round one tree, rope going over the edge then a fig 8 with a bight for the masterpoint carabiner, rope going back to another tree again with a fig 8 follow thru. (I'll ask him for a pic) sorry for all the questions just wanna try understand it abit so I no he is safe thanks

In reply to LeonardRock:

that would do nicely, but its not always as easy as that, and there are issues (like making sure you dont fall off the cliff while setting it up!)

It may be well worth paying for a course or better an MIA/SPA for a day for him and his mate to get some training in setting things up if they dont have any experienced people to 'show them the ropes'

In reply to lithos:

His friends dad who he goes with knows his stuff but I don't have his details to chat. I don't live close but will get his number ect when possible. I'll look into that as well though cheers. Any smaller items I could add on that would come in handy? Slings, quickdraws ect? Thanks for the help and advice

In reply to LeonardRock:

You've made a good call going for the 50m rope and 10mm tat.
A couple of 240 slings (120cm actual length) and a couple of screw gates and you should be able to rig most trees/top rope setups. Just be sure the crabs don't run over edges and the pulley crab (the one you're climbing rope guess through) is just below the lip.
Have fun

In reply to LeonardRock:
rope protector,
couple more screwgates (look for deals on 3 eg rock and run, v12, outside, or any online shop),
slings maybe 1x120 and 1x240 or 2 x120 ( eg http://www.rockrun.com/rock-climbing/software/slings thicker = cheaper but more durable),
helmet ?
forget quickdraws.
libbys /bmc book (http://www.mountain-training.org/publications/rock-climbing)
some prussic tat say 3 or 4m of 6mm

In reply to LeonardRock:

Thanks everyone ! He has a helmet. Will get a few slings and extra biners for him as well. Just ordered Libby Peters book looks good cheers for recommendation.
The gear all adds up, i thought my fishing hobby was expensive haha. Thanks for the links

In reply to LeonardRock:

re you set-up, there is a lot of personal preference involved!

I would either put slings round each tree to a screwgate each then cloves hitch the rope to the screwgates, or, for less kit, just wrap the rope by a few loops round each tree then cloves hitch it to itself. More adjustable than rethreaded figures of 8 too.

Then for a TR rig, at the cliff edge I'd hold the 2 sides the of the V of rope together and put an overhand knot in, which will lie above the cliff edge then a second that will lie below. That way you've got 2 independent strands of rope going over the edge. These should be protected with a rope protector so they don't grate away on the edge.

You can also tie those 2 overhand knots so the 2 strands of rope in between are very very slightly different lengths. That way if any grating on the lip does occur it's likely to affect 1 strand more than the other rather than risk both going through at the same instant.