UKC

I'm considering investing in a semi-static abseil rope for sea cliff descents, and I wonder if anyone is able to vouch for the quality of this one, which seems a little cheaper than some, and available in 60m (not just 50 or 100 as many are). (Make is 'Response LSK').

https://www.accessropes.com/product/low-stretch-kernmantle-rope/

Other recommendations also welcome (but not one only available in 50/100/200m lengths). I know Marlow are very good, but a bit out of my price range.

For the odd abseil any rope to EN-1891 should be ok. That one does seem a bit cheap, but probably fine.

I use Beal Industry 10.5mm on a regular basis, which is great and reasonably hard wearing.

Most places sell by the metre. Check out Dicks Climbing Bristol.

Not sure about that one. The weight per metre is quite high, my rope is 54 gm per metre for a 9 mm. Also, the sheath is not nylon, it's polyester, which is unusual compared to 'normal' caving semi-static ropes. Web site has no address, only a phone number and an email address. 

Have a look at Petzl Club 10mm. Try Up and Under, Inglesport or Starless River.

Ropes aren't something I'd scrimp on, especially an abseil rope that will get chewed up more than a normal climbing rope might with it running over more edges than you're likely to have protectors for. Depending on what rock you'll use it on is also another fairly big factor, Lewisian gneiss and granite will chew through ropes like you wouldn't believe.

Have used both Fixe and Beal before, both are pretty reliable but I reckon the Beal is harder wearing. Sadly, my brand new 50m Beal got pinched on Mingulay by some yatchers last year after it had been used for a single day so didn't get the chance to properly test that one out but previous ones have done me well. 

I'm pretty sure that one is manufactured by a (very reputable) specialist of marine ropes called Southern Ropes, they make huge ropes to moor aircraft carriers, arborist ropes, ropes access ropes, all sorts. They're based in South Africa which is why you are probably not familiar with the company?

I have a 60m 10.5 white LSK rope (semi static) and it's bog standard abseil rope. If you search eBay for "LSK" you can get it for around often £1-£1.10 per metre from a seller called surplus_ropes (who I've used and seems trustworthy).

I'd recommend getting the 10.5mm. I use it underground (old mines) so it gets filthy and abused and seems to take it well. It's no supple top of the range Mammut rope, but it's perfectly useable!

Edit: checked that colour fleck pattern, yeah it's one from Southern Ropes, like my one

I have one of their semi-static and have had no issues with it for abseil use or rigging. Mine is 40m for the crags where I know I need it.

P:etzl Club is designed as a canyoning rope so has a more robust sheath. Edelrid semi-static ropes are also noted for their hard wearing capabilities, but can tend to stiffen up with age. I would want complete faith in my abseil rope when dangling any crag.

Thanks for replies. Will give it a bit more thought. Most likely use is limestone cliffs in Pembroke. On balance, considering what was said about the polyester sheath and edge abrasion I'm most likely to shell out the extra £25 or so on a (possibly) harder wearing caving/climbing one from Beal or Edelrid.

You get what you pay for! If you want a budget one (usually comes in between £1 and £1.20 per metre depending on source) then it complies with EN1981 and is a perfectly fine rope https://www.southernropes.co.uk/products/response-lsk 

But might not last as long as a premium rope. Somewhere in the middle is Petzl club which comes in at about £1.50 per metre (e.g. https://www.inglesport.com/product/petzl-club-10mm-static-rope/).

Personally I have both 10.5mm LSK and 10mm Club and even allowing for the fact the LSK is thicker I find the club much nicer rope. The LSK is a bit higher friction, so at times it annoyingly grabby with a Petzl stop, with a B.D. ATC-XP I ab on it the "wrong" way round (so as not to use the grooved side to add friction, like you might do when ab'ing on 2 thin ropes). The LSK sheath is nice and chunky for jumaring. Never tried the LSK with a Grigri or a fig8.

Personally... is the environment isn't a filthy, wet, gritty, sharp rope-eater I'd chose the nicer and more expensive Petzl Club (or a Petzl Push) but if it is rope-purgatory I use the thicker and cheaper LSK.

Lastly.. if any of your ermmm... "adventures" ever require the added discretion of drab or dark colours (which Petzl don't do) that you can get with LSK is a matter probably better not discussed in more details on forums

Have a word with Tony at Starless River

https://starlessriver.com/product-category/cords-slings-and-ropes-for-srt/p... 

Or has been said Inglesports. 

Thanks for advice, after much online research I got 70m Beal Antipodes 10.5 from my local Go Outdoors - the end of their last spool, as it turned out with their various discounts to be cheaper than others except the LSK mentioned above (and the same rope now marketed as Beal Industry). Can anyone advise on pre-treatment, specifically:

1) As I've got it on a spool I assume there's no special way to unwind it to avoid future kinking, as there is with hanked ropes? Just pull it straight off the spool?

2) I understand it's a good idea to pre-soak it, to tighten up the sheath and make it more hard-wearing (which will also shrink the overall length a bit). Cold water? Warm water? For how long?

Just soak it in the bath for a few hours. Will usually shrink by 5 to 10 percent, and they also shrink a bit with age and use. I'd label it as a 60 metre rope.

Get someone to hold the spool and let it spin as you take it off or you'll be in a world of twistiness if you don't

This will freak out many readers and get disapproving downvotes but what I do is...

Double it up then make into chains (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_sinnet) then put it in the washing machine on its own and no detergent and put it on a cold superquick gentle cycle and treat it to fast spin afterwards to take most of the water out which makes drying so much quicker.

I'm certain it does less damage to a rope than a day out with me, but at your own judgement/risk!

Cheers. Soaked in the bath in warm water in the end and it's drying on a clothes horse in the garden.

... but thinking about storage / packing the rope up to carry to the cliff in a rucksack with other stuff, is that chain sinnet a good idea or not? It seems like a recipe for kinking and twisting to me, but I've seen it's what cavers do with (longer) static ropes.

I don't normally bother to chain a rope unless I'm washing it so it doesn't tangle in the machine, but I find "loose flaking" into a tacklebag or a small rucksack, works really well and avoids tangles!

The "trick" is to clip a krab somewhere like head height so it acts as a pulley and you pull the rope down into the bag. You can feed a rope really fast into a bag, pausing now and again to bang the bag up and down to settle/tamp it down. Worst case I turn my back on the rope and feed over a shoulder into the bag but that's not as good, especially when the rope is muddy. Tacklebag good for an ab rope but rucksack ideal for  rope-solo.

Don't forget to tie a big stopper knot in the end before loose flaking it into a bag! or if the bag has a haul point inside, tie or clip the end of rope to the bag.

Plus, if the bag has a haul loop you can clip it to a long sling and hang it below you (e.g. from belay loop) as you ab which comes in handy if you are taking a lot of rope or gear down with you. Loose flaked rope feeds out as you descend. I *once* ab'd with a heavy gear bag on my back and when I got to an unexpected free hang section I discovered the weight/moment of the bag was slightly more that the turning moment of my legs bolt out straight. Never again!!!

Useful insights, thanks! 

just something to consider, EN1891-A is probably more suited to what you're looking for than type B, so I would make sure you go for type A.