Most climbers own a rope bag, but few take much trouble in choosing one. Considering how much use you'll get out of it, however, a little extra thought could prove worthwhile. In this review we compare 11 rope bags from the main brands.
A rope bag helps you sort out your rope at the crag, keep it clean and pay it out smoothly. They are even more useful at the climbing wall for moving around quickly between the routes. Additionally, all rope manufacturers recommend the use of a rope bag to protect your rope from dirt and abrasive particles, which reduce a rope's strength and performance. It will certainly increase the life of your rope, and easily pay for itself.
We did a similar test in 2011 which included a few of the bags here, plus some models which are no longer available. In that review we also considered some rucksacks that doubled up as rope bags. This time we have concentrated on dedicated rope bags.
The bags were tested over the winter at the climbing wall and spring at the crag. We tried them all with a 10mm x 80m rope for size and have assessed them for design, features, how easily they pack up, how easy they are to carry, how robust they are and value for money.
Rope bag style
Dedicated rope bags come in a variety of styles these days, but the most usual carrying method is a shoulder strap since the rucksack style prevents you from carrying anything else on your back. We have looked at one rucksack style bag here, and we've also reviewed one rope tarp which is the simplest variation on the rope bag theme.
Stand-alone bags
Although we haven't considered rucksacks that have built in rope bags, several of the bags can be considered as stand-alone bags that carry everything you need. This is especially applicable for climbing wall use where you often want to carry a bag with your valuables, extra clothes, water bottle, etc. around with you, and pack it all up at the end of the day ready for next time. All the bags have been assessed with this in mind.
Valuables pocket
Valuables pockets are extremely useful for rope bags used at climbing walls where you may want to carry your possessions around with you. They are less useful at the crag when you will almost certainly have a rucksack with you with plenty of pockets.
Tarps
Tarps come in all shapes and sizes. Some are removable and all of them considered here are of a decent size. Several of the bags have a funnel tarp which is designed so that you grab the corners of the tarp in one hand, and the bag in the other, and tip the rope down the funnel into the bag. Although this does seem easy, in our experience it is more likely that the rope will end up a little tangled if you do this and we tend to recommend just rolling up the tarp with the rope.
Handles for quick carrying
When you are at the crag, grabbing the corners of the tarp to pick it up and shift it along to the next route is useful. Some bags have specific handles for this, others require you to bunch-grab the corners. The 'shopping bag style' allows a middle option to part pack away your kit and shift it easily to another section of the crag without fully packing everything away.
Tie-in loops
All the rope bags we've looked at here have tie-in loops for the loose ends of the ropes. Some have two, some four. These are sometimes coloured coded. Colour coding isn't crucial but it is a good practice to get into the habit of always tying the bottom end of your rope to your rope bag with a secure knot (not a single reef knot). This ensures that you will always have a knot (and more) in the end of the rope so as to avoid dropping your partner when lowering from a long route. Making this a habit and using a set procedure involving one coloured loop, or a distinct tie-in loop, helps establish this good practice in your daily climbing routine.
Buckles
The frustration of broken plastic buckles being the only thing that doesn't work on an otherwise perfectly good rucksack or bag, has plagued climbing kit for years. Thankfully most brands are now slowly moving back to metal buckles. The one conspicuous omission from this is the drawcord closing buckle which all still seem to all be made of plastic. Historically, these have always worn out or broken faster than the rest of the bag. They can be easily replaced but it would be nice not to have to. In this test we experienced a wide discrepancy in how much force, hence how much wear and tear, was required to use these drawcord buckles, and we have commented on that.
Zips
Only two of the bags considered used zips. Zips are not ideal for rope bags since no-one has designed a system of cinching up a bag before you have to use the zip, and hence the cinching strain often falls on the zip. Coil zips tend to have a short life if you start putting strain on them although a well designed bag should be able to get around this.
Overall summary
Make and model |
Ratings | |
Petzl KAB Rope Bag Price: £39 Style: Shoulder/shopping/bucket Valuables Pocket: Yes Detachable Tarp: Yes
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Design Closure and pack up Value Overall
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DMM Classic Rope Bag Price: £38.50 Style: Shoulder rucksack combination Valuables Pocket: Yes Detachable Tarp: Yes
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Design Closure and pack up Value Overall
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Climbing Technology City Rope Bag Price: £35 Style: Shoulder/shopping bag Valuables Pocket: No Detachable Tarp: No
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Design Closure and pack up Value Overall
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Black Diamond Super Chute Rope Bag Price: £40 Style: Shoulder Valuables Pocket: No Detachable Tarp: No
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Design Closure and pack up Value Overall
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Grivel Rope Station Price: £40 Style: Rucksack Valuables Pocket: Yes Detachable Tarp: Yes |
Design Closure and pack up Value Overall
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Moon S7 Rope Bag Price: £40 Style: Shoulder/shopping bag Valuables Pocket: No Detachable Tarp: No |
Design Closure and pack up Value Overall
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Sterling Rope Bag Price: £40 Style: Shoulder Valuables Pocket: Yes Detachable Tarp: Yes |
Design Closure and pack up Value Overall
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Edelrid Caddy Rope Bag Price: £40 Style: Shoulder Valuables Pocket: No Detachable Tarp: No |
Design Closure and pack up Value Overall
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Alpkit Rope Bag Price: £15 Style: Shoulder Valuables Pocket: No Detachable Tarp: No
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Design Closure and pack up Value Overall
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Trango Cord Trapper Rope Tarp Price: £20 Style: Tarp only Valuables Pocket: No Detachable Tarp: No |
Design Closure and pack up Value Overall
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Mammut Togir Rope Bag Price: £40 Style: Shoulder Valuables Pocket: Yes Detachable Tarp: No |
Design Closure and pack up Value Overall
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Petzl KAB Rope Bag £39
The KAB initially looks a bit different being made of canvas rather than the usual nylon. It is shoulder-style with a detachable tarp and very large main compartment. The closure system is a flap over the top of the bag. It has two corner handles for quick carrying and two tie-in loops. It has a broad strap with padding for the carrying plus a thin waist strap if you want to put the bag on your back. There are two valuables pockets - one internal and one external - plus some gear loops inside the main compartment.
This bag has loads of features, many you didn't even know you needed when you thought you wanted a rope bag. The innovative design manages to incorporate a shopping bag style (as the CT City bag) but the stiffness of the material means it also doubles as rope bucket. The vinyl base, canvas material and metal buckles make it very solid feeling although it is quite heavy. The tarp is detachable and can also be neatly stored away in the main compartment if you wish to use it as a rope bucket. The tie-in loops leave you in no doubt which end is the bottom since one is tucked in the top of the central compartment. It is also very solid making it an ideal point to tie your rope to to avoid lowering off the end mistakes. Although the tarp is triangular-shaped, it doesn't have a funnel side to it so you need to roll up the rope. This drops easily into the main bag leaving loads of room for extra gear. It has two shopping bag handles for quick carrying along a crag, and a gear loop for clipping stuff to. The main bag clips closed and then the whole pack bundles together with the lid which can be cinched nice and tight.
Once packed up the bag is easy to carry although probably too bulky to fit in any rucksack. It has an extra waist belt which makes carrying it on your back easy and more comfortable.
Summary: An excellent and well designed bag with loads of extra features. Dual use - with a tarp or as a rope bucket - is a great feature. The two valuable pockets and gear clip loops make it great as a stand-alone bag. It is ideal for climbing wall use. It might be a bit bulky for some people but this is the deserving winner of our Best in Test. It is also fairly priced.
DMM Classic Rope Bag £38.50
The DMM Classic Rope Bag is a versatile design that works either as a rucksack or a shoulder bag. It has a detachable tarp and an external valuables pocket. The closure system is two compressions straps and a zip. It uses plastic buckles throughout. The four colour-coded tie-in loops double as corner handles for quick carrying.
The large detachable tarp makes this a versatile bag and it combines this with loads of extra features. There are four colour-coded attachment loops on the tarp, which is fastened to the main bag with a solid double velcro system. The rope needs to be rolled up in the tarp but this tends to keep your rope in better order anyway. Once rolled up the main bag is big enough for a bulky 80m rope although there is not much spare space. Closing the bag runs into the problem encountered by all rope bags relying on zip closure - namely the compression has to be done using the zip. In this case there is enough room in the bag to mean you don't usually need to force it but you do need to take care. It uses a coil zip which is susceptible to wearing out so this could be a problem in the long run although we have had one of these for a long time and haven't had problems yet. Once the zip is done up the actual cross compression straps are almost redundant although they do allow you to close it a bit tighter. An excellent extra feature though is the lengthways compression strap which creates a tidy rectangular bundle.
The DMM Classic offers two different carrying systems - a shoulder bag or a rucksack system. A very clever use of one of the back straps means that you can attach it to the lengthways compression strap to create the shoulder strap. The addition of a valuables pocket makes this an excellent choice for a stand-alone bag, especially for climbing wall use.
Summary: An extremely well designed versatile rope bag with alternative carrying systems. Great for stand-alone use as your only bag at the climbing wall. Plastic buckles and coil zip on the closure mean that it may not last as long as some other bags.
Climbing Technology City Rope Bag £35
Climbing Technology's City Rope Bag uses a standard shoulder bag design with a fixed funnel tarp, but adds a shopping bag system to the main bag. It doesn't have a valuables pocket, uses two closure straps and has an adjustable shoulder strap with a pad. The tie-in loops aren't colour coded but they do double up as corner loops for quick carrying.
The bag is relatively lightweight and packs up easily using the funnel system (or a wrap bundle) which leaves a shopping bag with plenty of extra space at the top. This is improved by the fact that the tarp isn't attached to the top edge of the bag which leaves an even larger section for your extra 'shopping'. This makes it very versatile for moving along the crag easily without having to do up any straps. To cinch up the bag there are two compression straps that close it into a tidy bag. The straps themselves are a little on the sort side for an 80m rope and a bit of gear. The buckles are also quite stiff to pull although they are solid metal, so they won't wear out.
For carrying it uses a simple courier-style shoulder set-up. The shoulder strap is a little on the thin side although there is a moveable pad. Something slightly more substantial would have been better. It is big enough for a stand-alone bag and good for climbing wall use although it could be improved in this respect with a valuables pocket.
Summary: An excellent shopping bag design for easy movement around the crag. Thin and short straps detract slightly, but overall, a very good bag.
Black Diamond Super Chute £40
The Super Chute is a shoulder bag with a fixed funnel tarp, drawcord closure with two compressions straps and adjustable shoulder strap. It doesn't have any extra features like valuables pocket although the tie-in loops double up as corner handles for quick carrying.
The tarp is a good size with big colour coded tie-in loops. It packs up nicely and the main bag is a very generous size, making it easily swallow an 80m rope with room left over for some extra gear. A really good feature is the long compression straps - something some rope bags skimp on - and solid metal buckles. The drawcord closure system works ok, but the plastic drawcord lock will wear out faster than anything, which is a shame, although the design is such that you don't have to put too much strain on the buckle.
The bag works well as a shoulder bag but is big enough to be a stand-alone gear bag if required too. The shoulder strap is well padded but not easily adjustable which is a drawback. The addition of a valuables pocket would make it great for climbing wall use as a stand-alone.
Summary: A very good implementation of a standard rope bag design and a nice generous size. Well made for the most part but with one plastic drawcord buckle that may wear out.
Grivel Rope Station £40
The Grivel Rope Station is a rucksack which is similar in design to the original rope bags that came along in the 1980s and 1990s, although with a few extra features. It has a big square detachable tarp with the standard tie-in loops but no corner handles for quick carrying. It uses a drawcord system and compression straps for closure and has an internal valuables pocket.
The large square and lightweight tarp is attached by a clip buckle. To pack up you use the roll technique which drops nicely into the main bag, which has plenty of room for an 80m rope and a bit of gear. It uses a drawcord cinch system for closure. This does have a plastic buckle but the design is such that you can usually close it without putting much strain on the buckle itself. It is also slightly larger than other plastic drawcord buckles meaning we think this one will last. The clever bit of this bag is the compression straps. These fasten nicely around the pack making a tidy bundle, but they are very long and the extended straps have clip back buckles that can be used to attach stuff to the outside of the bag, making it versatile as a stand-alone bag. It also has clipping loops on the sides although we have never found much use for these.
With it being a rucksack design, the Rope Station has to operate as a stand-alone bag although you could bundle it into a big rucksack and the compressions system is good in that respect to easily make a small bundle. The size of the bag and the addition of the extra straps mean that the person with this bag doesn't get away with just carrying the rope. The valuables pocket make it useful for climbing wall use as your only bag.
Summary: A good take on a classic old design with some nice extra features. A solid closure system and plenty of potential for putting extra gear on the bag make it a stand-alone option. The fact that it is rucksack only carrying may rule it out for some though.
Moon S7 Rope Bag £40
The Moon S7 rope bag is a shoulder style bag with a fixed funnel tarp and two compression straps. It has tie-in loops in the corner that double as handles for quick carrying.
This bag is similar in design to the CT City rope bag. The funnel tarp is a wide triangle which you can lift to deposit the rope in the bag or roll it up. Of the funnel tarps we used this one was the best, with the most room and least tendency to add tangle to the rope. It loses out to the CT City bag in that it hasn't got the shopping handles for quick carrying. The attachment of the tarp to the top edge of the bag also means that there isn't as much space in the 'shopping bag' to put extra gear. It improves on the CT City bag though by having excellent solid and long compression straps with solid metal buckles.
The shoulder strap has no padding although it is nice and wide. It carries nicely with a pack on your back. The lack of valuables pocket means that it is not great as a stand-alone bag for the climbing wall.
Summary: A nice simple shoulder bag which works well but could be improved by the addition of some shopping bag handles. The best funnel tarp of the bags we used. Light enough and easy to use, with solid straps, but slightly expensive compared to the more substantial bags on offer.
Sterling Rope Bag £40
The Sterling Rope Bag is a simple and standard shoulder bag with drawcord cinch system. It has a detachable tarp, two long compression straps and an internal valuables pocket. There is a single carry handle and a padded shoulder strap. The tarp has two tie-in loops although these don't work as corner handles for quick carrying.
This is a familiar design with a few added extras. The tarp is decent but could do with one extra corner loop to allow for quick carrying. You need to roll it up to get it into the main bag. This is a very tight fit with an 80m rope and there is no extra space. It really needs a much bigger bag like that offered by the Black Diamond Super Chute, which uses the same system. The drawcord has the usual plastic buckle but, as with the Grivel Rope Station, this is well implemented so that it is possible to tighten it without putting much strain on the buckle. It has nice long compression straps with good metal buckles. The internal valuables pocket is small but useful.
The bag bundles up nice and small meaning that you can stuff it in a bigger pack. The lack of extra space means that it doesn't really function as a stand-alone bag. The shoulder strap is good and it is a comfortable carry when on your front with a rucksack on your back.
Summary: A reasonable take on a simple and standard design but the main bag is too small for an 80m rope, or indeed a 60m rope and some extra kit. Well made though and should last.
Edelrid Caddy Rope Bag £40
The Caddy is a shoulder bag with an innovative bundling system which consists of a large square tarp with the main storage bag attached in its centre, and four tie-in loops on the corners which double as loops for quick carrying, plus one for the rope end in the bottom of the central bag. It has a drawcord and single compression strap for closing and doesn't have a valuables pocket.
This is a solid feeling bag. Once spread out, the tarp is plenty big enough and the central bag section lays sufficiently flat. The pack-up method requires you to grab all four corners and lift them up. This deposits the rope nicely in the central bag section. The tarp itself is heavyweight fabric, making it pretty bulky itself, without the addition of a rope. This means that the fit with an 80m rope and all the spare tarp is very tight and quite a struggle. It does now come in a lightweight version which may well alleviate this problem. Closure is using a drawcord with a plastic lock buckle which will wear out before anything else in the long run. There is also a single compression strap which works fine. The problem with this bag tends to come when you try and unbundle it again for use. The rope in the central bag is not really ready for use since the system tends to tangle it all up a bit. You will usually have to feed the rope through again which slightly defeats one advantage of the quick four-corner closing system. The distinct tie-in loop for the bottom of the rope in the base of the central bag is a nice touch making it completely obvious which the bottom end is.
When carrying the bag it creates a big football shape, and it is difficult to compress it smaller - maybe the lightweight version is better in this respect. It is not the most comfortable carry and very difficult to pack into a rucksack if you wanted to. The lack of valuables pocket and the limitations of the closure system mean that this isn't great for stand-alone use.
Summary: An interesting design of bag but with a flaw in its system which means it usually tangles your rope to an extent when closing it up. An awkward carry but solidly made, apart from the plastic drawcord buckle. It is available in a lightweight version.
Alpkit Rope Bag £15
The Alpkit Rope Bag is a shoulder bag with a built-in funnel tarp and a single strap. The bag closes with a zipper. It has a more elongated shaped than most bags but is basically a no frills system. It does have corner handles for quick carrying. The main appeal of this bag though is the price at an exceptional £15 only.
In use the bag has a decent sized tarp and the standard tie-in loops. The funnel tarp is easy to pack up but the bag itself is too small for an 80m rope. This puts strain on the zipper when closing and the lack of any other form of compression means that the zipper takes all the strain ... terminally so in our testing, since the zip broke after only a few goes. We had a word with Alpkit about this and they thought it might be a size problem with the batch we had, or a bad bag since they hadn't had any returns yet.
The simple design creates a sausage-shaped bag that carries nicely slung around your front leaving your back free for the rest of your gear.
Summary: A reasonable design and a superb price; but a poor closure system which is too small for an 80m rope, and puts too much strain on the zip. Had it been slightly better made, it would have won our good value badge, but we fear that it isn't going to last much rough treatment and rope bags should be resilient to use.
alpkit.com (The Alpkit Rope Bag is only listed when it is in stock)
Trango Cord Trapper Rope Tarp £20
The Trango Cord Trapper Rope Trap is exactly that - a tarp for your rope. There are no other features and this is only included to highlight a budget option. It has tie-in loops and a single strap and that's it.
This does what it aims to do. The tarp works fine although corner carrying handles would have been a nice touch. You do need to roll it up quite carefully to avoid creating a baggy mess, but this isn't too difficult. Once rolled up you cinch it closed with a single strap.
There is no carrying system so you have to put this in your pack.
Summary: As a lightweight and low cost solution this fits the bill although for less than twice the price you can get a rope bag that is more than twice as good. It also looks over-priced when compared to the Alpkit bag.
Mammut Togir Rope Bag £40
The Mammut Togir Rope Bag is a simple shoulder bag with fixed tarp, tie-in loops and an external valuables pocket. It closes with a drawcord cinch system and a single compression strap and has a wide shoulder strap for carrying. There are two tie-in loops.
The fixed tarp doesn't have a funnel system. There is a curious handle on the bag where the tarp is attached - we haven't figured out what this is for although you could use it as a tie-in loop. There are two others although, since these aren't on the corners, you can't use the three handles for quick carrying. Once rolled up the rope bundles into the main bag but it is a tight fit with an 80m rope. Unfortunately this is where the problems start. The drawcord closure system is very stiff, making it difficult to cinch it up tightly and putting a huge strain on the plastic buckle and metal eyelet - we don't think these will last very long. This is compounded by the diagonal compression strap which is too short for easy fastening and creates an odd shaped bag when you cinch it up. It seems to squash the corners out making a figure-of-eight shaped bag. There seems to be no practical reason for the strap to be diagonal.
As mentioned, the closed bag is a bit of an odd shape although this doesn't prove an issue when carrying. The shoulder strap is good and solid and the inclusion of a valuables pocket means that you could use this as a stand-alone bag - although it doesn't have much extra space.
Summary: A simple design but let down by a poor drawcord closure system and short diagonal compression strap. It is not really big enough to use for much other than the rope. Well made for the most part but let down by the plastic drawcord buckle and eyelet which will not last long.
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