UKC

Hi
Thinking about taking an old rope to replace at least 1 knackered one, one of the Battleship edge descents, which is bared to the core for 1m.
Is it ok to put a 9mm on this?
I suppose furry 11 would be ideal, but i haven't got any. Was going to put loop knots in every half meter or meter, using alpine butterflies.
Would that be a good way to do it?
Would definitely be an improvement, but 9mm won't last so long i suppose.

In reply to Rock to Fakey:

Obviously dependant on the length of the step you are protecting, but how about plaiting it?

In reply to Stairclimber:
Erm?
Different colurs too?
Is there something sensible i missed in your reply?

In reply to Rock to Fakey:

I got what stairclimber meant, go away and think about it again as to why someone may decide to plait/braid a rope to be used as a hand rail.

In reply to Rock to Fakey:

The one at coastguard was worn halfway through so I fixed that earlier today.

Probably find most of the in-situ ropes around the island are in poor condition!

In reply to Stairclimber:
Ok, sorry i'm not sure i get this, just it seems that plaits / braids would use up a lot of rope, but then again, so may 10 alpine butterflies.
Plaits would be easier to get hold of, and have "slots" u can put your hand in, if braided loosely.

The step to be re-roped may only be a 15ft drop in this case though.

Am i getting it?

I can picture old hauser braids, very grippy, but climbing rope braids, esp with 9mm, could still be slippy when wet?
I probably don't know how to braid, but i guess theres a u tube vid demo.

In reply to Rock to Fakey:

Could the rope be ok if it was 1m shorter - if so then cut out the damaged bit and then tie the two parts together.

In reply to Rock to Fakey:

Another suggestion. Take 2 x 10m lengths of your rope and tie the ends into the same anchor, then put a combined overhand knot using both ropes as they run parallel, every metre or so.
I applaud you for doing something about this dodgy rope situation as it is in some ways worse than having no rope in place at all.

In reply to Rock to Fakey:

I think you are "getting it". My understanding is that braiding a thinner (9mm) rope will give you some redundancy (2 or even 3 "strands" as opposed to just 1) plus something thicker and grippier to hang on to while hand over handing up or down the 15 ft section you describe, and yes it will use up more rope, but if you are decommissioning an old 50 or 60 m rope there should be enough to cut 3 by 16 - 20 m lengths and braid them.....

In reply to Rock to Fakey:

And.... thanks for doing this )
Plus, (rambling on now) as others have said, if you don't have enough rope to braid, then a single or perhaps a double strand of 9mm rope with simple overhand knots in it would be fine and perhaps preferable to alpine butterflies which are by nature relatively easy to undo after loading, so could come undone or be undone by (less helpful) others making your lovely new rope ladder, less ladder like.

In reply to Rock to Fakey:
Cheers, i did the rope today, not as good a job as some of the ideas suggested, but 1st i put a new length of the 9mm on, with plenty of overhand knots + big loops, then i decided to cut out the bad metre on the old rope and fix it back together, it looks a mess, braiding would have been a good idea, but anyway, i didn't see some of the suggestions here until i got home.
The old rope is wearing a bit thin at the staple bolt too, but i left it, maybe it should be chopped. There's 2 ropes now, perhaps that could trip someone up!

What i found unbelievable was that at about 6pm after i started to exit, and saw in the distance someone flipping untieing it. I got close enough to shout up + asked him to stop. His mate was laughing down at me + taking the piss.
Not climbers... when i got up there to discuss, 4 big lads, 30's possibly 40's,! The guy untieing it said he wanted some rope.... for his mower! I said well it's tied on at the bottom as well so u can't pull it up, plus its got loads of knots in, etc, pointless u having it, if u leave it alone i'll give u some spare.... Oh i don't want it now.
They were alright i suppose, just being daft/ stupid / having some beers n smoke. Could have beat me up + robbed me but were fairly civil
So i had to fix it back on again.

He did ask why do we trust it on just one bolt... That i thought was a good question.... Its no different to lowering off a route, u r 15 ft up, probably stepping down backwards, a bit off balence + weighty bags with you... Why only 1 staple on this vertical bit?

Perhaps it might be safer with no rope on so people avoid it?

In reply to Rock to Fakey:

Which is the descent you're talking about - the south end of Battleship Back Cliff down a bit of a gully? I put a bolt at the top of this probably nearly around 20 years ago now (no fixed rope, the idea was to ab on your own rope) - re the "only one staple" question, two are usually for psychological reasons only!

In reply to Nic:
The south end, yes, but not down the steps with rope tied to a big trolley. For that u turn left at end of access path from reap.
As u come up path from reap ln, at end, go right about 50?m to a large flat block, go down the scoop to a flat area with rocky, loosish, vertical, descent, has rope after you step down to a smaller ledge, then 10 or 15 ft vertical - ish.